Late Night with the Devil

This film is proof you don't need a ton of money to make a good movie. You just need the right talent and some thought.

Late Night with the Devil starts out with a documentary style very similar to Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run. It soon morphs, however into a Halloween episode of a late night talk show, purporting to re-air a live episode including scenes never show on TV.

This part is a bit weird because the scenes shown during the commercial would have never been filmed, so how did they have them? No matter, the movie is so compelling, you'll probably disregard this minor point.

The show's first guest is a psychic, then a skeptic, then a girl who is supposed to be possessed by a demon. It unfolds really well and I really loved the movie.

Until the ending.

For me, the ending took two stars away from the review. It was just too abrupt and ethereal. Still worth a watch, however.

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 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)

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.

"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.