'Late Night with the Devil' Out Exercises Most Exorcism Flicks
Writer/Director/siblings Cameron and Colin Cairnes out horrify the Exorcist sequels with Late Night with the Devil, a film that is both horror and comedy that puts a unique spin on the scary movie genre. The concept is unique in itself. The film takes place in a single location, trapping the audience with the terror that has been brought on stage. The movie plays like a found footage film. As an audience, we're viewing a tape of a broadcast that has never again been put on the air after its initial release. When the episode cuts to a commercial, we view black-and-white documentary footage of what happened during the sponsored breaks.
If there's one small gripe I have with the film, it's that they could have dirtied up the footage a little. I'm not just talking about the broadcast but the documentary footage as well. The tape is supposed to be a 1977 broadcast, but it looks too clean. It has the appearance of being filmed by current-day digital cameras. If the sound was more muffled and the image was more scratchy, the terror would really stand out. You'd really believe you were watching a lost late-night broadcast instead of a movie. The flick's already a found footage film, so why not take it one more step?
Leaving such a small nitpick aside, Late Night with the Devil is a fantastic horror film that takes the viewer by surprise. The movie centers around Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), a late-night talk show host who will do anything to get ratings. Jack's life has been in turmoil ever since witnessing a tragic loss. Furthermore, losing his show's audience in the ratings, Jack goes to extreme lengths to make his program stand out. Most of it is critiqued as being tasteless entertainment. To get the audience's attention, Jack brings a little girl to the show who's supposedly possessed by an evil spirit. To challenge the factuality of Lilly's demonic possessions, Jack invites Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), a psychoanalyst and master hypnotist. But more than anything, Carmichael is a condescending jerk.
The movie plays with its genre conventions by bringing them right up on stage. Often, we question if what is going on is real or fake. In the film's final moments, it's without question that everything going on is real. That's not a spoiler, as we can all guess from the title the Devil is involved. What makes the movie work is how far it goes. Yet stays believable within the confines of this world.
We all know there's that desperate talk show host who will do anything to keep their ratings up. Jack Delroy is no different than Jimmy Fallon or Jerry Springer. His show can be low-brow and tacky, as he's not trying to be the most original show. The guests for the evening on the show are from the bottom of the barrel. He doesn't have on famous artists anymore, so Jack will take what he can get. Whether or not Lilly D'Abo (Ingrid Torelli) is possessed or not isn't important to Jack. He just needs her to be convincing so he can win over a Halloween audience looking for a good thrill.
Jack is warned by the girl's doctor and caretaker, Laura Gordon (June Ross-Mitchell), not to push Lilly too far. But Jack doesn't listen, knowing that going halfway is not enough. The audience wants more, so he'll give them what they want. When the crap hits the fan in this film, the filmmakers crank the dial up to eleven. Late Night with the Devil is completely bonkers. The film is gruesome as hell and shocking. It's not hard to guess what will go wrong in the film. But that doesn't stop the movie from taking things way over the top to elicit some chuckles and gasps. The tension is always in the air. We don't know what will go wrong or when. All we know is that Jack doesn't know when to quit while he's ahead.
Jack isn't the most complex character. But he's far from simple. To bring Jack Delroy to life is David Dastmalchian. It's nice to see Dastmalchian not play a social introvert as he usually does. As a talk show host, he's not exactly funny, but that's because the jokes in the film's opening monologue aren't. David Dastmalchian brings a degree of charisma and charm to make us believe he can helm a late-night show. The most impressive performance in the film comes from Ingrid Torelli. When Lilly gets possessed, it's pretty convincing. Mostly, that's thanks to the makeup and sound department. However, Lilly is even scarier when she's an innocent little girl. Each line delivery sounds almost angelic, where you wonder if Lilly is telling the truth or if it's the demon inside of her trying to convince others to bring him out.
Late Night with the Devil could have used an epilogue like how it had a fantastic prologue. Narrated by Michael Ironside, the prologue highlights a divided nation two years after the Vietnam War and Watergate, to name a few things. In the middle of all this is Jack Delroy's once-popular show, Night Owls, a once wildly popular show, now in the dumps. You get an idea for the atmosphere of the environment and a taste for the times the film takes place in. When the film ends with disaster, I would have liked to have known what happened afterward. A little explanation from Mr. Ironside with an epilogue could have wrapped the plot in a neat little bow.
Even without an epilogue, Late Night with the Devil has an unforgettable ending that will have you rewinding the tape of the lost broadcast in your head on a repeated basis. It's another film that elevates the horror genre by not just making dumb entertainment. But rather entertainment that is a meaningful character portrait like X, and Pearl were. It's a wonderfully original film that plays as a great period piece and a character study of a flawed man who will stop at nothing to stay famous.
LNWTD also shows how desperate people are for entertainment. The audience doesn't care if other people get hurt as long as their short attention spans are being held. At any moment, the audience could have left or asked for Lilly to be left alone. But they always clapped for more. Our senses of morality are taken apart when we vote for entertainment over substance. Whether it be the polling place or studio audience tickets to Maury Povich, Late Night with the Devil casts a gloomy reflection on our thirst for cheap diversions.
Late Night with the Devil opens theatrically on March 22 and will be available to stream on Shudder on April 19
