REVIEW: MISCHIEF NIGHT / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: RICHARD SCHENKMAN / SCREENPLAY: RICHARD SCHENKMAN / STARRING: IAN BAMBERG, NOELL COET, ADAM C. EDWARDS / RELEASE DATE: JULY 28TH

‘Mischief Night’ apparently being a holiday in which children engage in petty vandalism and general naughtiness, annoying their neighbours by egging windows and throwing toilet paper at trees. And, in the case of Mischief Night, breaking into a blind girl’s home and harassing her with a hatchet, rain mac and mask. The mask is a little redundant though. Because, you know, she’s blind.

There are Daredevil jokes abounding as Emily (not convincingly) sidesteps broken glass, detects her boyfriend’s change in hair colour and fights off a crazed psychopath, all while looking oddly like iCarly. Not that I know what iCarly looks like. It’s not a bad concept for a horror film or thriller – think Blind Terror crossed with You’re Next – but Mischief Night regularly fails to live up to its promise.

Pedestrian in terms of atmosphere, direction and action, it’s too slow, not scary enough and lacking in tension. That’s a shame, since its villain looks effective, decked out in an ugly Halloween mask and bright yellow rain mac. We’d like to say that the yellow mac is another Daredevil reference, but that would probably be giving the filmmakers too much credit. Set almost entirely in Emily’s home, Mischief Night invites unfortunate comparisons to Halloween and – as the film plays in one scene – Night of the Living Dead, neither of which it could ever hope to hold a candle to.

Like kids egging your window or writing on your microwave door with tomato ketchup (a thing, apparently), Mischief Night is a minor irritant. Sure, it’s annoying and stupid, but it’s not really worth getting worked up about. Like this film, Mischief Night is just a poor man’s Halloween.

Extras: None