Late Night with the Devil

"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.

There's a lot to like about Late Night with the Devil; the first being the absolutely fantastic performance of David Dasmalchian as Jack. He really nails the 1970s late night talk show host vibe perfectly and has a lot of wit and charisma, yet an underlying darkness that you know (or I guess hope) will come into play later on.

I also really loved the aesthetic for most of the film, with the grainy, multi camera look, excellent period costuming and hairstyling, and amazing aesthetic touches that drew me in immediately. The film makes great use of practical effects and while it may look a bit silly, I thought it had a charm that was appropriate for the era.

(Side note: The filmmakers opted to use AI for some of the transition cards in the film and it's caused a bit of a stir. To be honest, I don't think this is an application of the technology worth getting angry over. It's a low budget film, AI use is inevitable, and this was probably the least intrusive way to use it)

I also felt really compelled by the story and the structure of the film, which felt longer and meatier (at least for most of it) than it would seem. It moved at a quick pace and I was never bored.

However, I do think this movie wears its numerous flaws on its sleeve. The entire conceit - that this is an unaired episode - should've been stuck with. The movie confusingly switches between the gorgeous 70s talk show style to a baffling black-and-white handheld camera look, which I found necessary for the story, but ultimately confusing by the end of the film when it switches it up completely. Either this is supposed to be "found footage" or it isn't.

I also felt a lot of the performances were pretty subpar, especially the girl playing Lily (Ingrid Torelli) and the woman playing June (Laura Gordon). Torelli just...didn't have the screen presence necessary for the role and her line delivery was baffling. I couldn't make heads or tails of her character and maybe there was stuff left on the cutting room floor, because her character's "journey" through this film was utterly confusing and disappointing. Gordon just did not deliver her lines well. I just didn't buy her at all.

Then there's the ending...which...I can forgive to an extent for being "interpretable," but I can also totally understand feels incoherent. It's almost like when someone writes and essay and it's already 11 pages long so they rush the conclusion. There's no real satisfactory explanation for a lot of the questions you hope the film would answer, which made me wonder why they introduced some plot elements to begin with (i.e. Jack's backstory with the thinly veiled cult). It's not rocket science as to what happened; it's just not given the emotional weight it needs nor the explosive payoff you'd want.

I think this is a fine and fun movie that I'm happy I saw and I'd probably show other people. One question I have is...why on Earth was this released in March and not Halloween, when the film is set? It's bizarre.

Late Night with the Devil is a new and unique horror flick. Even having seen 500+ horror films, I can't compare this to anything else. It's not groundbreaking or mind-blowing, but it's different and original.

It's also really good, well-made in most aspects. It hooks you early on, even before any of the horror starts. For a while you're just enjoying a fabricated late night TV talk show. And then when the horror kicks in, oh does it kick. There are a few memorable and jaw-dropping scenes.

My headline is referring to something that drives me crazy. People, including close friends, complain that Hollywood has run out of ideas and only makes sequels, remakes and superhero movies. I respond by showing them all of the original movies released in a year, and how they did not watch any of them. They only go to the theaters a few times a year, and only for the blockbusters. What they're complaining about is their own fault.

If you're a fan of horror and are looking for something far from traditional, Late Night with the Devil is for you. And if you're sick of the perceived lack of original ideas, this is the kind of movie you should be supporting.

(1 viewing, 3/31/2024)

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 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.