Late Night with the Devil

It is 1977, and Johnny Carson reigns supreme over the world of late night television. Looking to usurp his throne is Jack Delroy, host of Night Owls, a programme that has always played second fiddle to Carson in the ratings. Delroy thinks the show he has planned for Halloween night will finally land him the top spot on the Nielsen ratings list. A psychic, a conjurer-turned-sceptic and the sole survivor of a Satan-worshipping cult are to be his guests- though when the broadcast gets underway, his dream show turns into a nightmare.

Written and directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes, 'Late Night with the Devil' is an original, enjoyable comic-horror packing chills and thrills a-plenty. Taking on the form of a piece of found-footage, the narrative has some genuinely unsettling moments, which are very well-realized; a worm-filled display of conjuring power in the latter half being particularly hard-to-forget. Furthermore, the Cairnes brother's characterisation and satirical take on 70's programming is consistently entertaining, if not exactly profound, and their dialogue is sharp.

However, the whole affair is rather predictable, with the denouement effectively given away in the film's opening minutes. In addition, although much mention is made of the rivalry between Delroy and Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett- whose show Delroy's more closely resembles and who, in reality, was often a close second to Carson ratings wise- never comes up. Neither, in fact, do the numerous others who had late night style shows at the time; which seems like an oversight.

Further, the found-footage gimmick doesn't make much sense, as during the ad-breaks that would have occurred in the broadcast, the film adopts a documentary style- begging the question: why were there two documentary cameramen filming a behind the scenes look at a show that doesn't do particularly well in the ratings?

Despite that, it is a fun film, and a fine looking one to boot. In fact, the only reason that the aforementioned issues with realism matter at all is because the 1970's visual aesthetic is so faithfully recreated. Production designer Otello Stolfo, alongside costume designer Steph Hooke, perfectly capture and reproduce the look and feel of a 70's, Dick Cavett-style talk-show, from the orange and beige dominated colour scheme to the cartoon intertitles- created with the help of AI.

Moreover, director of photography Matthew Temple makes clever use of the traditional three-camera set-up, lending proceedings additional authenticity. Furthermore, Glenn Richards' score is stirring, while Roscoe James Irwin's arrangements with The Night Owls Studio Orchestra are headily atmospheric. Additionally, the special effects and make-up are effectively disquieting and the aforementioned sequence involving worms features some truly stomach-churning practical effects.

David Dastmalchian, starring as Delroy, gives a thoroughly convincing performance as one powered by ambition, willing to risk it all to get ahead. He carries the film squarely on his shoulders, working well with his co-stars, all of whom do fine work. Ian Bliss is particularly good, as the arrogant, James Randiesque sceptic Carmichael Haig, as is Fayssal Bazzi as the psychic Christou, whose abilities might be greater than even he thinks. Although each of the characters are essentially one-note parodies of real people; the cast elevate them nevertheless.

An entertaining comic-horror, Colin and Cameron Cairnes' 'Late Night with the Devil' may not be perfect, but it is an awful lot of fun. The production design and costumes effectively harken back to the 70's, while Glenn Richards' score is stirring. Boasting brilliant practical special effects and make-up, as well as a frighteningly strong performance from star David Dastmalchian, 'Late Night with the Devil' is well worth staying up for.

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.

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.

Where to start with this movie, the acting from David dalmastchian is top drawer and for me he makes the movie, it has a uniqueness about it. The way the movie is very much just like watching a chat show on television and how it goes for the interval and we see backstage is freaking cool. I think the ending was very strange and as I said earlier unique to say the least. Dalmastchian does a grand job and hope this gets him some more unusual horror flicks. I always liked the way on the big screen it was just like an old 70's TV screen. I would like to rate the movie higher but the movie for me was too short.

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.