Movie Review: Late Night with the Devil
13th May 2024
Time is running out to catch this “found footage” film during its official theatrical run in New Zealand (the first run was as part of the 2023 NZIFF line-up). Late Night with the Devil follows the long-lost, final broadcast of the flagging late-night talk show Night Owls with Jack Delroy, as its titular host pushes the envelope to get a very special guest that no one will soon forget.
We often connect satanic panic to the 1980s through to the early 1990s, but Australian brothers and screenwriting team Cameron and Colin Cairnes weave a tight narrative with a setting that feels authentic to its late 1970s setting, which teetered between occult curiosity and a fear of anything unseeable and unknowable. There is a sufficient commitment to the amount of brown in the costuming and set design, but the extent of their commitment to the bit is evident in the flairs of detail in both the exposition and side characters. There are the mundane references to sweeps week and more apropos callbacks (or should that be callouts…) to Anton LaVey and Ed and Lorraine Warren. If you want to know more about the deep-cut references, you can check out this article by Warped Perspective.
David Dastmalchian gives a seamless performance as the grieving but scheming Jack Delroy, and equally strong turns are given by all the supporting cast. But possibly the most interesting character for skeptics will be the James Randi coded Carmichael Haig, aka Carmichael the conjurer, $100,000 cheque and all. In the film, Haig is a stage magician turned skeptic who refuses to take the high ground with his fellow guests. Haig goes so far as to elicit a response from Delroy that has been likened to that of Australian talk show host Don Lane to James Randi. It’s hard to pin Haig as either a hero or anti-hero, protagonist or antagonist. He’s slimy and unsympathetic to the suffering of those around him, but he does spare the preteen Lily his more spiteful barbs. For the most part he is the smartest man in the room, until he isn’t and unwittingly becomes Delroy’s accomplice in the events that unfold.
I suspect his depiction and his closing scenes will be a topic of discussion for some time.
Billed as a supernatural horror film, there are occult overtones for sure but, to me, this isn’t a scary film. I feel it is more akin to films like Midsommar and The Wicker Man, films I enjoy immensely mind you, where all the horror is saved for the awful conclusion. The special effects are similarly subdued, but escalate as the film reaches its climax, including a possible nod to David Cronenberg. Late Night with the Devil is an immensely entertaining film that I recommend to skeptics and casual horror/supernatural film fans alike. You may even find yourself watching it twice to catch the numerous easter eggs and blink-and-you-miss-it moments.