Mischief Night (2013 film)

For the role of the film's main protagonist Emily Walton, extensive auditions were done to find the right actress for the role, "it had to be somebody young, somebody whom the audience would believe was only 17. She also had to be able to be convincingly blind, somebody who could find the humor in the role, somebody funny & charming because it certainly wasn’t all screaming and crying" as Schankman later stated in an interview. The role later went to Noell Coet, who had previously starred in minor roles before being cast in the film. Coet did extensive research on blindness in preparation for the role. Stephanie Erb and Richard Riehle, both of whom Schenkmen had previously worked with, were later cast for the roles of Aunt Lauren, and Trucker respectively.[2]

Jamie S. Rich from The Oregonian gave the film a positive review stating, "It works fairly well, and Mischief Night should make for a pretty good pregame show the night before Halloween".[8] Felix Vasquez Jr. from Cinema Crazed.com stated in his review on the film, "Surely it won't win awards for originality, but it takes a pretty old idea and transforms it in to a very entertaining stalk and slash horror film worth watching".[9] Alan Spencer from Cinesploitation.com gave the film a positive review stating, "Mischief Night is based more on execution and suspense rather than bloodletting. If you've seen them all, I say give this one a try. It stands out against the current standard slasher tripe".[10]

Eric Havens from Downright Creepy.com called the film "shallow and superficial". Havens concluded his review by writing, "What could have been a fleshed out story of a girl dealing with grief and guilt becomes nothing but a scream session filled with vague intentions and no real resolution. While this fits in fine with the theory of horror film as symbolic sacrifice, it does little to make Mischief Night a good film."[11] Brad McHargue from Dread Central gave the film a score of 2.5 out of 5, calling it "a The Strangers rehash, replete with similar motives and set-ups". McHargue also criticized the film's uninspired direction, slow pacing, and performances, which he called "a mixed bag".[12] Patrick Cooper from Bloody Disgusting offered similar criticism, stating that the film was "too bogged down by its disjointed pacing and narrative to really hit the mark."[13]