Vertigo Releasing presents Late Night with the Devil in UK cinemas from March 22, 2024 and streaming on Shudder from April 19, 2024.
Synopsis
Dastmalchian stars as (Dune, The Dark Knight) as Jack Delroy, host of a late-night talk show. On Halloween night 1977 havoc unfolds when Delroy interviews a parapsychologist and the subject of her recent book, a young teenager who is the sole survivor of a Satanic church’s mass suicide.
Review
Late night TV talk shows. They’re something we’re all familiar with. Regardless of where you are in the world the lat night TV talk show is a universal concept. Familiar faces, much-loved hosts and the odd out-of-the-box feature all cobbled together in to an often-live pressure cooker of a TV studio. They’re the home of celebrity interviews, musical performances and sometimes the oddly-scripted skit. So coming in to Late Night with the Devil, written and directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes, it feels like we’re in familiar territory. At least to begin with.
At the centre of the film is talk show host Jack Delroy played incredibly by David Dastmalchian. A quick spot of corporate spiel opens the film and lays out his history. A rival to Johnny Carson but always second in the ratings, Delroy has risen the ranks to recently become host of Night Owls. A sometime member of a most likely shady secret society, Delroy has recently been widowed after his wife passed away from lung cancer. It’s a quick fire round of exposition but exactly what we need to centre ourselves in time for the shenanigans to begin.
With the get to know your host section out of the way, Late Night with the Devil wastes absolutely no time in getting down to business. The setup is that we become the audience at home watching this latest live episode of Night Owls with Jack Delroy unfold. Only during the commercial breaks does the film break character to give us more insight, quickly explaining them away as found footage used to explore the events of that night. The concept works so well that at one stage when Jack Delroy threw to a commercial break I got up to boil the kettle. Without pausing the film. The atmosphere and attention to detail is such that it’s easy to be swept up in the action.
It’s easy to criticise contemporary horror for its immediacy and an overblown sense of melodrama. But what works in 90s and 00s slashers isn’t necessarily what works for all horror. Here, Colin and Cameron Cairnes take a much more measured approach to the story. For much of the first act there’s no sign that anything is wrong. Even the subtle cues which lead us in to the eventual chaos are played so slight that some in the audience may miss them. Again Late Night with the Devil plays tricks on its audience, lulling us in to a false sense of security.
First up to be interviewed is a psychic named Christou (Fayssal Bazzi). Christou hits all the right notes, obviously searching for connections to members of the audience in the most slavish manner. Calling out random letters and names until a connection is made. Even the audience in the studio aren’t falling for it. But when Christou makes a genuine connection with another member of the audience we begin, even just a little, to believe there might be more going on than meets the eye. Then there’s famed supernatural debunker Carmichael (Ian Bliss) who is able to point out how all the tricks were done. Almost the entire first half of the film is constructed to debunk what comes later which is a brilliant move to keep the audience on their toes.
Whilst the audience may be putty in his hands, Jack isn’t impressing the producers or the audience at home. Insights during the commercial breaks show the pressure on him to succeeds but also that he has an ace up his sleeve. The third and final item in tonight’s Halloween spooktacular is parapsychologist June (Laura Gordon) and her teenage patient-cum-ward Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), a former cult member who is strongly hinted to be harbouring a demonic spirit. Their arrival marks a turning point in the trajectory of the film. What was once restrained instead swings for the fences but importantly never undermines its own integrity.
The final act reveals much about the host of Night Owls, ultimately bringing the failure (or success depending on your opinion) of the show back to his appetite for fame. The surprisingly un-twisty film is able to deliver a couple of seismic curveballs after attempting what is touted as a “a live television first” in communing with a demonic spirit. Whilst the direction of travel might not be a surprise, how it reaches its end point is and that’s inherent to Late Night with the Devil’s success.
From a practical standpoint the film realised on fairly low tech practical and visual effects to achieve its goal. Makeup effects are typically blockbuster. Shudder content may not have the biggest of budgets, but this production team certainly has used what funds they have to great effect. The relatively low key first and second act allows for more bang during the finale, torching sets, actors and careers in one major blow. The 70’s grain filter also hides plenty of the seams which make this such a compelling watch.
Verdict
Late Night with the Devil is certainly an early contender for 2024’s best horror. Exquisitely restrained but delightfully demonic, the film is enthralling from start to finish. An incredible starring role for David Dastmalchian.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
