Late Night with the Devil - Review
Substance over style, with some troubling aspects
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
From director Cameron and Colin Cairnes, comes an intriguing horror film about a late night host, Jack Delroy (played by David Dastmalchian), who on Halloween night in 1977, while battling poor ratings, attempts to spice things up on his flawling show to draw in viewers, only to have a guest he did not intend. Before discussing this movie there are two things I want to cover. First, it has been a long time since I have watched movie trailers regularly, and I have also pulled back a great deal from online film discussion forums. I did this because I felt that watching trailers constantly, in addition to reading updates about film productions, can be oversaturating and dampen the effect of a movie being released since it has been built up so much. Instead, I like to be surprised by films, either when browsing streaming platforms, or through word of mouth, or rather, when the discussion of one particular film is so pervasive that I cannot help but hear of it. Second, Late Night with the Devil stands out from the pack of recent films with standardized floating head, or action scene, posters that are hard to distinguish. I love the vintage look, and creative appearance of the poster, it reminds me somewhat of that John Carpenter’s 1982 classic horror film The Thing.
The reason I brought those two points up is to say that I stumbled across this film while knowing very little of what it was actually about. I always enjoy learning about, and seeking movies, in this way, almost as if they are a gift I did not expect, rather than one whose welcome I wore out long before I ever got to see it. Based on the title, and the beautiful poster, I had assumed that the movie was about an evil late night talk show host, a sort of exaggerated version of Jimmy Saville.
In reality, the main character of Jack Delroy has more in common with Gary Shandling’s staring role in The Larry Sanders Show given that he is a failing late night talk show host, rather than one who appears entirely without morals or a good heart. Similar to The Larry Sanders Show, much of the film operates more as a drama, where the audience gets to see the ins and outs of production at Delroy’s set while his team bicker about the best way to improve ratings, or air qualms about their dissatisfaction with the direction Delroy is taking the program.
While this was interesting, and compelling so far as it all made sense and properly explained the character’s motivations, it was somewhat uninviting. The movie is heavy handed with nostalgia, and though it is mostly convincing at replicating the 1970’s, the montage that opens the film where we see a recap of recent happenings in Delroy’s life made me somewhat check out of the film before it properly started.
I must note that I found the production quality, at least for the first two acts of the film, underwhelming. It reminded me of the hit Comedy Central series The Eric Andre Show, a favourite of mine that has given me plenty of gut splitting laugh attacks. The Eric Andre Show is known for its shabby production, not that it is lacking in production quality, but that it exudes a fly by the seat of your pants energy that helps to give the whole ridiculous operation life. Thus, while watching this movie, and its understated production, I felt that it more more resembled that of the style of The Eric Andre Show, and its comedic tone, rather than that of the classic Johnny Carson led Tonight Show.
One last thing that I could not help but think of was the 2019 Todd Phillips film Joker, whose climax takes place at a knock off Johnny Carson talk show. There the production is brought to vibrant and vivid life such that while you are able to glimpse the grime, and antiquated technology, of that bygone era, it all felt alive. In comparison, Late Night with the Devil felt closer to a SNL skit set in the 1970’s that was hurried into production and assembled in a short time. Perhaps that added somewhat to the movie, given that it is supposed to be a combination of recorded footage of an episode of Delroy’s ill-fated talk show in found footage style, but given that the entire movie is presented in this fashion, it took me out of the movie to a degree given that it felt artificial and lacking.
The plot, as compared to the set and cinematography, was decent. As I have already stated, each of the characters is given a sufficient backstory, and acted competently, enough to give this underdrawn set a compelling level of credibility. Much of the credit for making the film feel authentic rests on the shoulders of David Dastmalchian who expertly embodied the chameleon like demeanor of a late night host who has to convey enthusiasm for the mundane and peddle drivel as fascinating insights. Dastmalchian conveys a range of emotion, from the greasy front man for a late night show, to the grieving husband who has not gotten over his wife’s recent death due to cancer. Furthermore, as the movie goes along, and the supernatural elements are brought into greater focus, Dastmalchian embodied a gripping sense of fear and foreboding. When the film reaches its conclusion, which I thought was exceptional and mind bending, there is a gravity to the outcome of the plot given that the arc Dastmalchian’s character goes on to reach that point in the film.
Rhys Auteir, who plays Delroy’s sidekick Gus McConnell (pictured below) bared such a striking resemblance to Jeffrey Tambor’s character Hank in the Larry Sanders Show (pictured above) that it was almost uncanny to watch. Furthermore, both characters act the fool, demeaning themself, and being the brunt of the joke much of the time. I am not sure if this was a nod to the Gary Shandling HBO series, or is just a standard trope of late night sidekicks, but it too worked to take me out of the movie to a degree since it was hard to separate it from things I have already seen.
On the bright side, to the point of blinding luminescence, is the performance of Ian Bliss (pictured below). He plays Carmichael Haig, the resident skeptic and part time slight of hand magician who claims to know all the tricks of the trade and who constantly undermines any of Delroy’s attempts to test the boundaries of what is possible to try and win over his fleeting viewers. Bliss’ performance here will probably never receive award recognition, as is the fate of almost all performances in horror films, which is a shame since he is incredible here. Bliss exuded charisma, wit, and a fun contrarian nature whose quips and remarks lent credibility to the plot since it was constantly being tested by Bliss.
As the movie progresses, Bliss helped to reign in the plot, such that even after a mind reader reveals seeming secret information from the audience, and a pseudo paranormal event occurs, much of the movie still felt believable. If not for Bliss, and his dynamic performance, my opinion of this film would be greatly diminished, that is how consequential he was to making this whole thing work.
In terms of capturing the moment, the movie did do a good job of portraying the “Satanic Panic” that was rampant in the 1980’s. Specifically, it was a craze that took over much of the western world where parents feared their children were taking up the black arts, while many so called “experts” supplanted memories in innocent people’s minds and/or peddled falsehoods of occult behaviour. In the film this is brought to life through the performance of Laura Gordon who plays the caretaker June Ross-Mitchell who is responsible for the oversight of a teenage girl, played by Ingrid Torelli, who, it is explained, is the last remaining member of a cult who committed mass suicide. Though I found the outcome of this plot somewhat lacking, as compared to those elements of the film I was more intrigued by, the historical context of this story helped to at least make it feel authentic to a degree, and thus interesting to watch.
The third act of the film completely changed my view of the film where the plot took an unexpected turn and the horror came from a new direction. For the first two acts the audience is worried about what will happen next, and the seeming encroachment of the paranormal. The third act is altogether different in that now the audience is made to focus on their perception, and question what is real, such that paranormal may, or may not, already be here, depending on your perspective and susceptibility to trickery. Here, the performance of Ian Bliss became pivotal, again, as his skepticism was utilized to challenge the seeming “scary” elements of the film. When his efforts to disprove of the paranormal fail, after he was so convinced of his ability to do just that, the audience is likewise frightened since Bliss seemed to be able to guide us all through the bumps and terrors of the night for much of the film.
The end of the film is exhilarating, though I do fear that it is somewhat problematic. First, I will speak of what I enjoyed. I appreciated the way in which the movie played with the audience, and seemed to do a sort of “Mythbusters” experiment after each supernatural occurrences. Thus, in the third act, where things go off the rails, and we gain an understanding of what is really going on, it is given added depth given how ordinary much of the film had previously felt, even as it seemed to stray into the paranormal, much of that, as I have already stated, is due to the grounding performance of Bliss. In the end we are made to question the nature of the plot, and the character of Jack Delroy, and whether or not he is a reliable narrator, which culminated in a thrilling sequence.
To properly explain my fears about the end of the film I must delve into spoilers, so skip this section and go to the end where I sum up my thoughts if you wish to go in blind when watching the film. The above image is of a discredited video conspiracy theorist Alex Jones peddles to his misguided followers. He claims that it is a video of a ritual sacrifice performed by the most affluent citizens of the United States. I was taken aback when Late Night with the Devil seemed to play into this internet conspiracy theory by having Delroy be a member of a cult like group, similar to the one Jones claims exists, and later has it shown that Delroy sold his soul to the devil to improve his ratings, which cost his wife her life, and resulted in him being transformed into an evil entity. While the movie is interesting, especially given that it seems to draw from real world urban legend, I do fear that it could be turned into something the filmmakers did not intend, where the likes of Alex Jones, and his ilk, could point to it as proof backing up their nonsense which could result in violence at the worst, or people being led astray, at the very least.
Ultimately, Late Night with the Devil, is a movie that is intriguing, given that the audience, and the characters, chart the same path down the bizarre where both are unsure of what is real. While the production quality is somewhat lacking, and some of it feels too reminiscent of projects that came before, the unorthodox conclusion and chilling payoff in the third act made for a compelling watch, even if the movie often times does not feel like a horror film.
Here is the trailer for Late Night with the Devil: