In the 1970’s, Satan and the paranormal were all the rage. The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey was published in 1969. In 1971, William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist was released, followed by the film in 1973, directed by William Friedkin. Throughout the 1970’s, UCLA had a lab that studied Parapsychology, and in a report since released to the public, the CIA had also researched its use. And then, in 1980, to close out the decade and ring in the new one, a book called Michelle Remembers hit the public. The book featured the formerly repressed memories of a woman named Michelle Smith, who said she suffered childhood ritual abuse at the hands of a Satanic cult. The memories were drawn out by her psychiatrist (and later husband, unsettlingly), Lawrence Pazder during 600 hours of hypnosis. Smith and Pazder became overnight sensations, promoting the book and Michelle’s disturbing tale while also earning tons of money in the process. Pazder became an “expert” in Satanic ritual abuse, teaching seminars and providing consultations to churches and police departments. However, it wasn’t what it seemed – investigations into Michelle’s claims turned up nothing, and her family denied her allegations. Eventually, the book was debunked, and Smith and Pazder faced scrutiny for the book’s role in the Satanic Panic. Still, Michelle has never taken back her claims, and the book has left a dark impact that is still felt to this day. Was Michelle a misguided person swept up in junk science and a culture caught up in the beginnings of a moral panic? Or were was she a con artist who made a deal with the devil – at least in the fictional sense – for overnight fame and fortune? These are the questions Late Night With the Devil makes us sit with as we watch Jack Delroy and his guests descend into hell.
Late Night With the Devil, written and directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, is a found footage film, telling the story of Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), the host of late night talk show Night Owls in the 1970s. Handsome and charismatic, he has taken his show from humble beginnings to great success with his beautiful wife, Madeline (Georgina Haig), and his brusque long time producer, Leo Fiske (Josh Quong Tart), by his side. It seems like life is good for Jack. However, despite all of his personal and professional success, Jack has never been able to dethrone Johnny Carson as the top late night host, something he considers a personal failure. To make matters worse, Madeline develops lung cancer despite never having a cigarette in her life. She eventually passes away, and Jack is never quite the same after her death. The show suffers as a result, and is on its last legs when our film starts on Halloween 1977. Jack, in a desperate bid for ratings during Sweeps week, brings guests associated with the occult: Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), a psychic, Carmichael the Conjurer (Ian Bliss), a former magician who now debunks the paranormal, June (Laura Gordon), a parapsychologist, and Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), a mysterious young girl June has written a book about. During the show strange things start to happen, and Jack and the other guests may have gotten more than they signed up for.
One of the Late Night With the Devil’s biggest strengths is its performances, led by a dazzling David Dastmalchian. Jack is affable and charming, and when he makes bad decision after decision, at the possible expense of his guests and crew, you still can’t help but root for him to succeed. This is all because of Dastmalchian’s ability to humanize Jack. Jack is of course driven by a need for his show to succeed, but there are moments when you can see that his decisions, as selfish as they are, are driven by someone who has never moved on from the grief and guilt over his wife’s death. Things eventually go off the rails, and those scenes are also the perfect showcase proving Dastmalchian’s star power. He is one of the best parts of the movie, and I’m hoping it’s a breakthrough for him. The other performances can’t be overlooked either. Everybody is bringing their A-game here. Another standout is Ingrid Torelli, who plays Lilly. She really nails the unsettling nature of the character, and as things get more intense, she matches the energy so well.
I also personally liked the formatting of the film, although I do think it could be a point of contention. As I mentioned above, it is classified as found footage, but there are different “segments,” starting off as a documentary style leading into the episode, with scenes showing what happens during commercial breaks spliced in. I thought this was interesting and I liked the use of “mixed media” to tell the story, so I was happy with it. However, when I went into the movie, I was expecting a more “pure” found footage experience in which the entire movie was the Night Owls episode. If you are expecting something similar, you may be disappointed. The actual episode segment is definitely the strongest part. Late Night With the Devil successfully captures the 1970s aesthetic – the hair and makeup, the costume design, the set design, the way the show itself is filmed and presented. It’s clear that, although this is an indie movie with a small budget, a lot of care was put into it.
Since a lot of this happens during a late night talk show, it’s no small feat to nail the delicate balance of humor with possession horror, but thankfully the tone is balanced well. It’s funny and entertaining, but there is a sense of permeating dread – we know something bad is going to happen, and we, as another member of the audience helplessly watch as that tension builds. The pacing does feel a little off-kilter, though. It’s a slow burn, but the finale culminates so quickly it feels a little rushed, which is a shame because there are some disturbing and interesting things happening that I wish they had more time to explore.
The biggest letdown of the film is the use of AI for the title cards. For anyone who may be wondering why I saw this movie instead of boycotting, I usually don’t look at anything for a film I want to see ahead of time. No trailers, no reviews or articles, no reddit threads, nothing. I also don’t really use my personal social media, and I started my social media for this blog after I had already seen the movie and launched this site, so by the time I learned of the AI debacle, I had already pre-purchased tickets. I was very disappointed by this news, and considered not going, but since I already spent the money, I decided to watch it to at least support my local theater and use it as an opportunity to talk about AI. I do think that at the time the movie was made, AI was not as big of an ethical dilemma, and I do know this movie had a very low budget and they needed to save money, but AI is not okay. Not only are you taking work from talented artists (and there are artists who I am sure would work with the filmmakers and their very limited budget), AI creates its art by stealing from artists who post their work online. Not only that, but the title cards did not look that great, and all I could think about was how an actual artist would make the most fantastic 70-inspired Halloween art.
Now that I’ve gotten online, I’ve seen the theory that this was done on purpose to generate controversy so more people would be interested in seeing Late Night. At first, I wasn’t sure I believed this. The movie has gotten a lot of hate, it’s been review-bombed, and people have threatened to pirate it, among other things. It’s a big gamble to take, especially for an indie film. However, I had seen it the Friday it opened. Once the numbers came in and it was revealed that Late Night broke the record for IFC’s highest opening weekend, that gave me pause. It’s entirely possible the controversy intrigued viewers enough to get them to see it. Of course, Late Night was also one of the most anticipated movies of the year after getting high praise from last year’s SXSW, and I think horror fans were desperate for something good after a disappointing first few months. Or who knows? Maybe the Devil himself got involved. Regardless of what you believe, it’s a tough situation. In a world where there are countless reboots, remakes, and sequels, we need more good movies with original stories, and Late Night With the Devil gave us that. I want people to see it and support it, but the use of AI means I don’t know if I can recommend it in good faith, or at least without an asterisk, and that’s a shame.
Overall, Late Night With the Devil is a fresh twist on the possession genre, one that needed a boost after The Exorcist: Believer failed to deliver. With great performances, well-built tension, fantastic production design, and a good sense of self-awareness, Late Night With the Devil is a lot of fun and an impressive undertaking for a low-budget film. However, there are some pacing issues and the use of AI art is incredibly disappointing. If you still want to see the movie despite the AI, you will definitely be in for an exciting ride. However, if the AI is something you can’t overlook, you won’t be blamed if you sit this one out.