Late Night with the Devil (2024) IFC Films/Horror RT: 93 minutes Rated R (violent content, some gore, language including a sexual reference) Director: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes Screenplay: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes Music: Glenn Richards and Roscoe James Irwin Cinematography: Matthew Temple Release date: March 22, 2024 (US) Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Josh Quong Tart, Georgina Haig, Steve Mouzakis, Gaby Seow, Michael Ironside (narrator).
Rating: *** ½
I don’t like found footage horror movies. I’ve made this abundantly clear in my reviews of such headache-inducing titles as Cloverfield, Apollo 18, The Devil Inside, Devil’s Due, As Above So Below, The Pyramid, The Gallows and Blair Witch. These films are fundamentally the same. They either deal with a group of young dummies going somewhere they shouldn’t or somebody documenting some kind of supernatural event. The makers attempt to make them look as real as possible by way of shaky camerawork and naturalistic “acting”. But we all know it’s total BS. I can’t speak for everybody, but I’ve been onto them since The Blair Witch Project (highly overrated!) back in ’99.
I honestly thought we saw the last of these films with the last Paranormal Activity installment a few years back. Well, guess what? THEY’RE BA-ACK! Not that they ever went away completely; they just haven’t been taking up space at cinemas lately. That’s a good thing. Also, I’ve been dying to use the line from Poltergeist II.
Now I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about Late Night with the Devil these past few weeks. I have to admit I liked the premise, scary happenings on a 70s-era late night TV show. I was psyched when I saw it was coming to my local multiplex. However, I developed a mild case of skepticism when I learned it was found footage. I briefly experienced flashbacks to the terrible FF titles that preceded it. Then I decided to set all that aside and take Late Night with the Devil on its own terms. Is it really fair to pre-judge it based on how I feel about the genre as a whole? No, it is not.
So strong was my desire to see Late Night with the Devil that I did something I don’t usually do anymore. I went to the movies at night. I had no choice actually; the theater was only showing it at night, no daytime shows. Crossing the lobby after getting my ticket scanned, I silently prayed to the movie gods to let it be worth the extra effort. I am elated to report in the affirmative. This is one freaky, f***ed up fright flick!
Written and directed by Aussie filmmakers Colin and Cameron Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres), Late Night with the Devil is framed as a documentary about a lost episode of a late-night talk show called Night Owls. The brothers kick things off by giving us some background on the host Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian, Ant-Man), a former disc jockey from Chicago who somehow got this gig despite having no previous television experience. I’m not going to tell you what else is revealed in the opening as it would constitute a major spoiler.
The episode in question aired on Halloween night in 1977. It started out like any show with Jack telling a few scripted jokes before bringing out his guests for the evening. The first is a psychic named Christo (Bazzi, The Merger) who does a few cold readings on audience members. It’s clear from the get-go the guy’s a charlatan. Next up is Carmichael the Conjurer (Bliss, The Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions), a former magician who now makes his living debunking magic and other supernatural phenomena. He’s an arrogant ass with a scientific explanation for everything. After him, we get Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Gordon, Undertow), a parapsychologist/author hawking her new book. With her is Lilly (Torelli, Five Bedrooms), the lone survivor of a mass suicide by a Satanic cult. The polite 13YO claims to be possessed by an evil entity she calls “Mr. Wriggles”.
I’m going to leave it at that. Your enjoyment of Late Night with the Devil depends on how little you know about it going in. What I will tell you is that the show goes from weird to weirder to utterly INSANE. This is not hyperbole either. It makes any given episode of Jerry Springer look tame by comparison.
Until recently, it’s been a bleak year for horror. It started getting a little brighter with last week’s Immaculate. The lights are now at 75% with Late Night with the Devil. First and most importantly, it’s legit scary and suspenseful. It doesn’t happen often, but this one got me, BIG TIME! It had me on the edge of my seat waiting for the brothers Cairns to lower the boom. When they finally do, it’s positively visceral. In the interim, they really play with your mind. Also, they mostly use practical effects (save for three digital images, you’ll know ‘em when you see ‘em) which is in perfect keeping with its setting.
The cinematography isn’t at all what I expected from a FF movie. Instead of all that shaky nonsense that does nothing except induce nausea, it looks just like a late-night show from the 70s from the aesthetic to what goes on when the cameras go off. The guys really lean into it and the demonic goings-on as the show progresses. The only thing missing is the cheesy commercials that typically came on after hours. Instead, we see the behind-the-scenes hustle and bustle during breaks, rendered in black and white to set it apart from the program.
Dastmalchian is very good as Jack, a cut-rate Johnny Carson desperately trying to keep his ratings up. He’s the perfect blend of charm and smarm. It’s obviously a losing battle as there’s no competing with the “King of Late Night”. Rhys Auteri is perfect in every way as Jack’s sidekick Gus. On air, he’s every bit the yes man as Ed McMahon. Off, he’s not afraid to express his misgivings about the direction of that night’s show. Josh Quong Tart (All Saints), looking like the brother of Sean Penn’s character from Carlito’s Way, is a hoot as the show’s sleazy producer Leo. He’s more concerned with pleasing the sponsor than the physical and mental well-being of the staff, guests and audience. Torelli is creepy-cute as Lilly, not the innocent kid she pretends to be. There’s something sinister behind that smile.
If you’re a horror fans, heed this advice. RUN, don’t walk, to the closest theater showing Late Night with the Devil. See it at night as late as possible. You will NOT regret it.
