Late Night With The Devil (2024)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Not every horror film needs to have a slasher or jump scare component and Late Night with the Devil reminds us that visual terror is often less scary than the anticipation and fear of what could be coming.
David Dastmalchian is fantastic, with one of the first great performances of 2024. Perfectly cast in the role of the smarmy talk show host at the center of the happenings.
Inventive, clever, found-footage-style premise keeps you on the edge of your seat as writer/directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes heighten the stakes scene by scene and moment by moment.
NO
Unfortunately, the film does not hold to the rules it makes and loses much of its magic when it abandons the found-footage approach it sets up for viewers.
For some, the fact that the film used three interstitial images through the use of AI (in the form of bumpers coming in and out of commercial breaks) proves to be a deal breaker and worthy of never seeing the film.
Overthinks certain elements of its premise and can sometimes fail to get out of its own way.
OUR REVIEW
A novel concept makes for a movie that flirts with greatness in the inventive and engrossing midnight madness-style horror flick, Late Night with the Devil. With a stellar and committed performance by character actor David Dastmalchian, this film presents quite unique and different - a found footage horror film that depicts an episode of a late night talk show gone horribly awry.
The conceit here is that the believed-to-be-lost final episode of 1970s talk show, “Night Owls with Jack Delroy” has recently been recovered and what we are watching is a documentary that shows everything that went down in a horrific series of events on live television. The show, airing on October 31, 1977, saw Delroy (portrayed by Dastmalchian) go all in on an episode which features special guests Christou, a mentalist (Fayssal Bazzi), Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), a magician-turned-skeptic, and Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), a young girl reportedly possessed by a demonic force. Joined by her guardian (Laura Gordon), a best-selling author who documented the girl’s alleged possession, they prove to be the centerpiece guests on a show specifically oriented to draw a big rating for Delroy and company during the contentious network “Sweeps Week.”
In a terrifically produced opening segment, narrated by Michael Ironside, we learn Delroy is well-liked but always in second place, competing against the wildly popular “Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” Having recently lost his wife to a mysterious form of lung cancer, Delroy has returned to his show but ratings have not recovered. Desperate to make an impact, he books this fateful show we watch unfold in real time.
The brotherly tandem of writers/directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes have crafted a nifty little film, fully awash in a 1970s retro look and feel. With Dastmalchian, they have the perfect talk show host - as disingenuous as he is engaging, as shameless as he can appear rather endearing. As we absorb into this world, things may not appear as they seem with Jack Delroy. Listen carefully to the opening narration, some interesting anecdotes about Delroy are sprinkled in, foreshadowing some of what will ultimately go down.
For a good long time, I was riveted by all of this. The sets and costumes look as synthetic and cheap as they do authentic to the time period, while cinematographer Matthew Temple really captures how a multi-camera talk show felt in the 1970s. The attention to detail is fantastic and, if you sit back and let Late Night with the Devil work its darkly-hued magic, you will become enamored with the clever and novel way the film is presented.
The unfortunate downside to this however is that, along the way, the Cairnes Brothers abandon their very own set-up in key moments. When the show goes to break, we witness backstage and side-stage conversations between Delroy and his increasingly concerned on-screen sidekick Gus (Rhys Auteri). While this adds exposition and a sense of context to what is happening, those moments run the risk of removing an engaged viewer from the thrill and excitement in watching how the film is conceived and laid out.
For me, the joy I experienced with Late Night with the Devil comes from a stomach-knotting of unsettling unpredictability, the film often nerve-rattling and intense. When that is removed from us as viewers, we are tossed into moments which feel inconsistent with the presentation we have been watching. It’s a shame because the movie seems to sabotage itself unintentionally and squander a premise that is quite fun and intriguing.
Over the course of Delroy’s Halloween program, it is safe to say everything goes to hell. The Cairnes maximize clever use of practical effects and old school makeup design to create one moment in particular that will make horror fans jump for joy and non-horror films cringe and cover their eyes. In the film’s best moments, the Cairnes play loose and fast with the audience, heightening the anticipation for a handful of “OMG” moments we may or may not be ready for.
I would be remiss to not address the controversy which has engulfed the conversation around the film. Interestingly, for a film steeped in the occult and nods and winks to the paranoia that consumed the 1970s with psychic powers, devil worship and demon possession, we are actually talking about the use of AI in three interstitial cutaways used as “bumpers” for the television series. People are seemingly outraged that these were added after the film debuted in March 2024 at the annual South by Southwest Festival.
While the film reportedly does not utilize AI imagery for any live action or effects work, understandably AI is such a volatile touchpoint in movies and television, that some have called for boycotts of the film. As stated above, if the appearance of three AI-altered images is too much for you to endure, then I’m sure you can find another movie to spend 90 minutes with.
In summary, I really like Late Night with the Devil but wanted to love it. I simply wish it held true to its conventions. Despite some narrative missteps, Cameron and Colin Cairnes are talented filmmakers with a unique vision and approach to storytelling. David Dastmalchian finally gets a chance to be a leading man and is fantastic in every scene. A film with the potential to find an audience and become a modern-day cult classic, Late Night with the Devil proves to be a great discovery, just missing the mark of becoming something truly special.
CAST & CREW
Starring: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli, Fayssal Bazzi, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, Josh Quong Tart, Steve Mouzakis, Michael Ironside
Director: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
Written by: Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes
Release Date: March 22, 2024
IFC Films