Late Night with the Devil: In onda con il diavolo

I really enjoyed this.

Sort of found footage, sort of faux documentary, I really loved how this movie was presented.

David Dastmalchian is really very good. And the supporting cast are enjoyable, particularly Ingrid Torelli.

This movie is pretty creepy, and there are tones of exorcist and of VHS 85. There's a kind of Faustian deal at the stories core that I really liked and I found myself smiling quite a lot during the third act.

This movie may not be for everybody. It's obviously not big budget and the effects may not land with everyone but I thought it was a whole lot of creepy, campy fun.

Late Night with the Devil is nothing like I have seen before. It has an amazing narrative, which is in the form of a showing of recorded tapes of a late night TV show led by a host who's grieving his wife's death and facing low ratings. The frontman is terrific and a sight for sore eyes. He manages to keep your attention as you see the plot unfold from a mild talk show into something drastic, horrendous as the guests come in. Late Night with the Devil bends a few horror genre tropes and manages to entertain throughout. I had a ball watching this with a packed audience at the 2023 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. If you like fun horror films that grow on you, this is for you.

One of the most unique and entertaining horrors I've seen in a LONG time - I really didn't want it to end!

Far from the tired Blumhouse cookie cutter approach to the genre, LNWTD is vibrant, entertaining, gripping and above all - creepy as hell.

I particularly loved the old-school style practical effects and filmmaking. Apart from a few electrical sparks, there wasn't really any CGI - a huge relief, as I feel it's a real detriment to creepy, organic horror films.

The cast were fantastic and had great chemistry, with David Dastmalchian once again proving he's a charming and compelling leading man.

The opening narration does a great job at setting the tone for the rest of the film. It gives off that creepy mystery documentary vibe and it draws you into the story right away. The narration provides us with a quick summary about Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) without spending too much time building up his character. Usually that would be a negative but it does it in such an interesting way that we are automatically intrigued by the character. The narration also sets up the story perfectly by letting us know that we will be witnessing an episode from this late night talk show that goes horribly wrong.

The episode begins and we are entranced into this 70's talk show. It does feel like we are watching this show at home. With each guest being interviewed and building upon this Halloween episode. The host makes jokes and interacts with the live audience members and even cuts to commercial breaks. But instead of commercials we get insight into the behind the scenes footage of this programing. All of this builds the story and is fun to watch.

David Dastmalchian delivers a very believable performance as a 70's late night talk show host. All of the cast does a great job and their chemistry helps to sell this story. The production design and the wardrobes are also well done.

Where the film fails is in its ending because the build up just didn't pay off. The ending feels rushed and the film could have benefited from a longer run time after it spent so much time building up this story. The ending isn't terrible but may seem confusing. Some might find the ending enjoyable but personally I thought the character Lily should have been explored more. The film seemed more terrifying when she was more of the focus. Instead the film downplays the horror elements and dishes out an overall theme of "the price of fame". Not to mention there are also some scenes with special effects that seem dated and diminished the films early efforts.

I would still recommend this film but I expect many not to enjoy the ending.

"Late Night with the Devil" takes us back to 1977, where it envisions a fictional fourth commercial broadcast network competing against the reigning king of late-night talk shows, Johnny Carson. The rival host, Jack Delroy (played by David Dastmalchian), is a local Chicago talk show host who gets bumped up to the national level. The film opens with a five-minute prologue that sets up Jack's backstory, including a key biographical fact that hints at the movie's eventual outcome.

During sweeps week-a quarterly event when networks try to boost ratings by airing their most outrageous content-Jack and his producer, Leo (Josh Quong Tart), decide to take their Halloween broadcast up a notch. They invite a psychic named Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) and Carmichael the Conjurer (Ian Bliss) to the show. Things take a dark turn when bestselling parapsychologist Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) interviews Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the sole survivor of a satanic cult's mass suicide.

The film expertly balances absurd dark humor with eerie horror elements, with a perfect mix of 70's tone and atmosphere. Dastmalchian's performance as Jack Delroy is fantastic, and the practical effects add to the overall creepiness.

However, the movie stumbles in its execution. The insistence on being a "found footage" film built around a buried broadcast creates unrealistic expectations for everything that follows. While the gooey practical effects are impressive, the movie doesn't always feel beholden to the visual conventions of circa-1977 American late-night talk shows. Perhaps this departure from realism is intentional, but it can be jarring for viewers expecting a more consistent tone.

And then there's the ending. Unfortunately, it's a complete shift that destroys the atmosphere the rest of the movie worked hard to establish. The terrible CGI undermines the tension, leaving viewers disappointed. It's a shame because "Late Night with the Devil" had the potential to be a really good movie, but that awful ending prevents me from wholeheartedly recommending it.

This might have been a 8-9 but that ending drops it to 6-7.