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Film: Late Night with the Devil
Year: 2023
Director: Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes
Writers: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Starring: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon and Ian Bliss
Review:
This was one that I was excited for with horror releases for the year. Seeing that this featured David Dastmalchian, who is an actor doing more in the horror genre lately, that was a perk. Then hearing the buzz for this from film festivals was another. This is a movie that I got to see during the opening weekend at the theater. I've now given it a rewatch on Shudder.
Synopsis: a live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.
Now this is presented like a late-night talk show called Night Owls. The host is Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian). He is competing with the likes of Johnny Carson, which adds realism to this world. Jack is successful and his show does well, but it is never the best. It keeps coming up short. The backstory is also filled with his personal life. His wife and muse is Madeleine (Georgina Haig). Jack takes a blow when she passes away from lung cancer. There is another darkness to him that he’s a member of a secret organization like the Free Masons.
The fateful episode we are shown aired at the beginning of sweeps week. It happened on Halloween. There is a theme with that. It starts with Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) who is a psychic. They’re following it with Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss) who is a renowned debunker of the supernatural. The last guests are June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and Lilly D’Abo (Ingrid Torelli). The latter was a member of a Satanic cult. She was the sole survivor of a house burning down during a ritual. She is only a teenager as well. June is there to help here. The movie does well in filling in Lilly’s backstory in the fashion of a documentary.
The original recording of this episode was thought to be lost. It has been found and restored, along with other footage of backstage events. This also adds to the realism making it a variation on the found footage shooting style with that. Things get weird when Christou makes a strong connection that messes with the electronics of the studio. It also makes him ill. Carmichael goes about proving him wrong. That is when Jack blindsides June to allow Lilly to bring out the demon that possesses her, on live television. This will make for an episode of Night Owls that no one will ever forget.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this does an excellent job in its set up. I did hear Duncan from the Podcast Under the Stairs’ non-spoiler review of this before watching it, so I knew things coming in. I love that this sets up the character of Jack. There are things about his personal life that we learn, like the organization he’s a member of and what happened with his wife. Also, the set up to his show is good. Using people like Johnny Carson, his show and real events in the world bring realism to what is fantastical here. There are also vibes of Ghostwatch from the premise and things that happen as well.
Where I’ll then delve deeper is that this doesn’t have the deepest story. It doesn’t need it either. This is more of a character study of Jack, Carmichael and June/Lilly. Those around them are pushing things to where they end up, but it is centered around this group. Now I’ve given aspects of Jack’s history already. His show is on the verge of being canceled. His heart isn't necessarily in after losing his wife. That causes him to push the envelope. This has good writing throughout with things that get said or introduced coming into play later. That is what I’ll always appreciate. Dastmalchian also has the right amount of charisma to fit this role, which adds to it as well.
Let’s then go over to the skeptic, Carmichael. I wasn’t expecting them to have a character like this, but it is also perfect. This makes sense since there is a character like this in Ghostwatch as well. He points out flaws in what Christou does to set the stage. We then learn about Carmichael and what’s done in the past as well. He then watches the presentation with June and Lilly, doing a demonstration of his own. It makes you think that what they do is staged. I would like to deepen this, that the act he does was what made him famous originally. What is great is this build-up, he might be right, but there is a way they prove him wrong. It wasn't like he thought. Bliss has enough of being arrogant and angry that it works as well.
Lastly, let’s go over to this duo of June and Lilly. The former is a doctor of parapsychology or something along these lines. She has been the guardian of Lilly since her family perished in that tragic fire. June also has a connection to Jack. She doesn’t want to do a demonstration, but she is ambushed into it. It seems like she can’t refuse. This starts a chain of events that go off the rails. I thought she was good balancing as this scientist who does care for Lilly. The better performance though is Torelli. She seems so sweet and innocent, but that changes on a dime to being creepy. She got under my skin in the best way possible. Things that go down there to also go back to Ghostwatch while still doing its own things as well.
Where I need to go next then is filmmaking. I thought that the editing was good here for splicing the footage that was shown on air during the commercials going backstage. What is interesting there is that off air stuff is black and white. That helps to differentiate. Also setting the stage with the documentary information was also good. Having this be a ‘found footage’ film or at least a variation is as well. That makes it feel more real to me. That’s not always easy to do when you have an actor like Dastmalchian starring. The effects for the most part are good. I did have slight issues with CGI. Since this is set in the 1970s, it feels like a throwback there. Not enough to ruin it. Other than that, I thought what they did with the sound design and the music was good.
I’ll just finish out here with others from the cast to bring up. Bazzi helps set the stage with the supernatural. I liked seeing him struggle with this psychic act, showing that he is a fraud. Then something supernatural seems to happen involving him. There’s Rhys Auteri who is the co-host with Jack. What is intriguing here is he’s religious so the deeper we get into things; it upsets him and he tries to stop it. Josh Quong Tart is good as Leo Fiske, who is the producer that makes this show work. Other than that, Haig, Steve Mouzakis, Gaby Seow and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed. I also didn’t realize until writing my review, Michael Ironside is the narrator which is great.
In conclusion, this one had hype surrounding it and I thought it lived up to it. The best part here is the acting. Dastmalchian leads the way with Bliss, Torelli and Gordon rounding out the important characters. The rest of the cast push them to where they end up. I thought that this was unnerving. There’s an added element that this is a variation on found footage. This is well-made from the cinematography to the editing. My only issue is minor things with CGI. I’d recommend giving this a watch. I’m excited to revisit to see where this falls with my end of year list.
My Rating: 9 out of 10