‘Late Night with the Devil’ Is Further Proof of the Merits of Independent Horror Cinema

Late-night television has evolved quite significantly over decades of television history. What started as a simple variety show made to sell ads, soon became an important platform to discuss hot-button political issues.

But these days, late-night television doesn’t have the cultural power it once had. If people of different political persuasions come together at all, it’s not through their mutual appreciation of late-night television. With the rich bounty of choices between television and streaming content, it’s much easier to ignore anything that could challenge one’s perception of reality. Nowadays, the format has become another victim of partisan politics with its hosts appealing to different demographics.

Nevertheless, the history of late-night television remains a rich place to examine American culture. If one wants to understand the zeitgeist of the 60s or 70s, for instance, one could do worse than watch a bunch of Dick Cavett interviews.

The independently produced Late Night with the Devil takes place in 1977 — back when late-night television still had that cultural hold on the country. A few notable films have taken place in the late-night television world, as it always has been a rich place for satire; Network and The King of Comedy come to mind.

But what makes Late Night With the Devil stand out is its ingenious horror spin on the subject, though with plenty of satirical jabs as well.

The story is told as a documentary regarding the last ever broadcast of “Night Owls with Jack Delroy,” a late-night show that focused primarily on the paranormal and the occult.

The opening narrator (the great Michael Ironside) informs us that something horrific happened on that last show. Using exclusive, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage, we are given an intimate glimpse of what exactly transpired that night.

With the show being on a steady ratings decline, its desperate host (David Dasmalchian) brings on Dr. June Mitchell (Laura Gordon, a parapsychologist who recently wrote a book on a young girl named Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the lone survivor of a satanic cult, whose supposedly possessed by a demon.

Jack naturally doesn’t believe any of this, but he brings them both on the show, hoping Lilly can provide some sensationalistic television and save his show from being canceled. Dr. June, however, warns Jack that Lilly’s behavior has become rather unpredictable of late and mentions too that Lily’s demon (nicknamed Mr. Wriggles) spoke about having some sort of past acquaintance with Jack…

One of the film’s essential strengths is its strong period detail and stylistic choices. The filmmakers (Australian brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes) made the inspired choice of showing the TV footage through the classic 4:3 aspect ratio, while the behind-the-scenes footage is shown in black-and-white.

This makes all of it feel quite authentic. It never feels like you’re watching actors in costumes. The style of late-70s late-night television is replicated without it ever feeling like a homage. Though it’s clear that the film has been made digitally: its color timing is just perfect.

For years, David Dasmalchian has been toiling as a reliable character actor, but with Late Night with the Devil, he proves to be excellent leading man material. David perfectly portrays the multifaceted sides of the character, switching from the deceptively charming persona of the late-night host to the ruthless careerist behind the scenes, and then to the wounded man at the center of it all.

David never lets you forget that he’s human. His character is, in a way, a sort of late-night Ahab, steering himself and fellow guests into certain doom. It’s a character that could have been quite one-note with a lesser actor. But thanks to Dasmalchian, despite Jack clearly being a morally compromised character, you never hate him — even when certain uncomfortable truths about his past are revealed.

The supporting cast is also noteworthy. Rhys Auteri is perfect as Gus, the hapless sidekick to the late-night host that nobody seems to respect. Ian Bliss is deliciously smarmy as the skeptic guest who delights in debunking paranormal charlatans (his character has a particularly hilarious payoff). Laura Gordon is effective as the conflicted parapsychologist, torn between her affection for Jack and her professional responsibility to Lilly’s wellbeing. And of course, we mustn’t forget Ingrid Torelli as Lilly, a creepy delight, despite the countless renditions of “girl possessed by a demon” we’ve seen over the years.

The film does have a few niggling issues. With its brisk 90 minutes, the film never wastes a second, though I couldn’t help but wish we would have gotten an extra ten minutes to flesh out some of the story and its characters.

The issue lies a bit with the narrative. The film takes place only on the few hours the characters spend making the show, and even during the ad breaks, we only get sparse dialogue between the characters. While the script does a good enough job indicating the character dynamics without excessive exposition, the characters nonetheless feel slightly underdeveloped.

Seeing as this is a found-footage horror film, the film also suffers from the genre’s most common issue: the camera being placed so perfectly that all naturalism is lost and it all feels so staged. However, if you can suspend your disbelief for this, it shouldn’t be an issue.

For all its period accuracy, its use of digital effects does feel out of place, most notably a vomit scene that’s bafflingly rendered through CGI.(They could have easily used pea soup, considering the period.)

Some of the effects tend to look a bit cartoony, and while its artificiality might have been intentional, the digital sheen still doesn’t seem to fit. Perhaps this was a compromise due to its modest budget, but it would have been nice if they could have used period-accurate special effects. Nonetheless, most of the effects work well enough and there’s one impressive sequence of practical effects gore that will surely please those who love their Cronenbergian body horror.

The film did create some controversy with the directors admitting to experimenting with AI to enhance certain images. The ethical ramifications of using AI are rightfully still debated — and I’m personally against it. But with only a handful of images reportedly being used, I don’t think it negates the film itself or the hard work involved from the cast and crew.

None of its issues take away that Late Night with the Devil is likely going to stand out as one of the best horror films of the year. It will likely garner a strong cult following, but let’s hope the film gets the recognition it so richly deserves right now.

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