Connect with us

Home Video

[BD Review] ‘Mischief Night’ Ups the Home Invasion Ante But Fails to Follow Through

Published

on

Ghosts, demonic spirits, and the whole rainbow of monsters horror has come to embrace can take a hike. Nothing scares the hell outta me more than a home invasion thriller. I always find myself triple-checking the locks in my house after watching one. And when the perpetrators’ motives amount to nothing more than mayhem (Funny Games, The Strangers), it’s all the more disturbing.

Richard Schenkman’s Mischief Night follows the same motif, only his baddies target the home of a blind girl to up the ante. The portrayal of the girl is terrific and her handicap makes for some exciting moments, but Mischief Night is too bogged down by its disjointed pacing and narrative to really hit the mark.

The film’s prologue involves a sexy couple getting ready to have sex on Halloween eve. Then they hear a sexy disturbance downstairs and when they check it out, someone has put their sex tape on. Instead of being scared shitless that someone broke into their house, found their sex tape, and is playing it, the husband gets even more turned on. He even goes “Oooo, naughty school girl!” Finally his penis snaps out of it and the carnage begins. It’s a mean little opening that sets the tone for the rest of the film. You would think. Instead the film comes to a screeching halt. If anything, the prologue insinuates that the masked baddies are targeting multiple households in one night.

Next we’re introduced to our heroine, Emily (Noell Coet). Years ago she was in a car accident that left her mom dead and her blind and crippled with asthma. Her therapist insists that her eyesight will come back if she could get over her mother’s death. Emily’s got a super supportive dad and boyfriend, who sneaks in her room when the old man isn’t around. Her dad heads out on business, leaving Emily alone and seemingly defenseless.

The invaders, dressed in creepy masks and raincoats, don’t consider Emily’s blind ingenuity though! They toy with her extensively and it usually ends up backfiring. The most intense moments come when they’re in the same room as her, not hiding or anything, sometimes standing two inches away. However, all the intense moments are spaced too far apart, so the film gets into a boring lull several times that’s too deep to claw out of. There are some nice cathartic moments, most notably a blood-drenched note of triumph for Emily – but these instances are too little too late.

Coet is perfectly fine as Emily, although she isn’t give much to work with. I was hoping Emily’s traumatic event was going to somehow tie into the invaders’ motive. Instead the two are completely disjointed from another. The invaders just happened to target the home of a blind girl who needed to overcome her fear to be rid of her blindness. Works out for Emily, who regains her sight but is probably even more fucked up now that even more loved ones are dead and she’s got blood on her own hands. Some kids just can’t catch a break.

Mischief Night hits DVD from Image Entertainment on December 17. The disc comes with a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Patrick writes stuff about stuff for Bloody and Collider. His fiction has appeared in ThugLit, Shotgun Honey, Flash Fiction Magazine, and your mother's will. He'll have a ginger ale, thanks.

Home Video

‘Lisa Frankenstein’ Shambles Onto Blu-ray in April With Audio Commentary and Deleted Scenes

Published

on

lisa frankenstein trailer 2

The horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstein is headed home to physical media, with the film zombie-walking its way onto DVD and Blu-ray from Universal on April 9, 2024.

Directed by Zelda Williams and written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), Lisa Frankenstein will also be available for a lower price on Digital beginning March 29.

Special Features include:

  • Audio commentary by director Zelda Williams
  • An Electric Connection featurette
  • Resurrecting the ‘80s featurette
  • A Dark Comedy Duo featurette
  • 5 deleted scenes
  • Gag reel

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review for Bloody Disgusting,” Billed as a coming-of-rage tale, Lisa Frankenstein instead offers a celebration of outcasts and weirdos.”

“It makes for a sugary sweet, almost wholesome effort held together by a trio of infectiously winsome performances,” Meagan’s review continued. She added, “As a celebration of teen girls and outcasts who just want to be loved, Lisa Frankenstein ultimately charms.”

Kathryn Newton (Freaky) and Cole Sprouse (“Riverdale”) lead the cast for Focus Features, and the new film is rated “PG-13” for “bloody images and sexual material.”

Carla Gugino (The Fall of the House of Usher), Liza Soberano (Alone/Together), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things) and Henry Eikenberry (The Crowded Room) also star.

[Related] ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ and ‘Jennifer’s Body’: A Match Made in Hot Pink Heaven

In Lisa Frankenstein, “Set in 1989, the film follows an unpopular high schooler who accidentally re-animates a handsome Victorian corpse during a lightning storm and starts to rebuild him into the man of her dreams using the broken tanning bed in her garage.”

Here’s the full official plot synopsis: “A coming of RAGE love story about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness… and a few missing body parts along the way.”

Continue Reading