Mischief Night was written and directed by Richard Schenkman, from a story idea by Eric Wilkinson and Jesse Baget. Development for the film began in 2007 after the release of
The Man From Earth, which Schenkman produced. Baget and Wilkinson had both grown up in
New Jersey where
Mischief Night was "celebrated" by the two filmmakers, according to Schenkmen " with real vigour". Lifelong fans of the horror genre, Baget and Wilkinson developed a scenario for a horror film centered around the holiday, which they subsequently pitched to
Image Entertainment. After successfully pitching the film to Image, Baget then worked on the film's screenplay, with the intention of directing the film himself. Baget, however, was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with other projects. Instead, the filmmakers approached Schenkman with an offer to direct the film, as the group had become close friends after their work together on
The Man From Earth. Baget's initial screenplay contained many of the film's action and key plot points, including Emily's blindness, which was carried into the film's final draft.
Casting and filming 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. ==Release==