Late Night With The Devil Review (2024)

Synopsis

Late Night with the Devil is a horror set in 1977 on a live Halloween episode of the talk show Night Owls.

Host Jack Delroy brings on strange guests, hoping to boost his ratings, but as the show goes on, creepy and dangerous things begin to happen, turning the broadcast into a real-life nightmare filled with supernatural events.

My Thoughts

Late Night With The Devil takes a mockumentary approach, and mixes the live episode format with behind-the-scenes footage.

It cleverly combines horror with sharp satire, poking fun at the lengths late-night shows go to for ratings, and the square aspect ratio and dim lighting give it a nostalgic 1970s vibe, almost like discovering a lost piece of television history.

The Cairnes brothers do a great job building the tension, dropping little details throughout that pay off in the final act, and rewarding those who watch it again if you miss those details first time around.

As a found footage film it cleverly stands out, especially with Joel Anderson, the creator of Lake Mungo, as an executive producer, whose influence you can clearly see.

Plus, it pays homage to Ghostwatch, the famous BBC broadcast from 1992, which if you haven’t watched, you should.

While the storyline might not be the strongest, it’s still a very enjoyable watch, and the cast is strong too, in particular David Dastmalchian, who plays the host of Night Owls, Jack Delroy.

And Ingrid Torelli, who plays Lilly, the young possessed girl the film features around, puts in a solid creepy performance as well.

Visually I really liked it as well, with the film switching between being in color or black and white depending on the scene.

In the final part of the film though it changes to a widescreen format with a completely different look, which again, I personally liked.

The film also resonates with today’s media landscape, where sensationalism often rules, and overall I really enjoyed it.

It has had some controversy though because of the use of AI in the film, while personally I do not care one bit, many do by all accounts, with lots of people asking why they could not have just hired an artist instead.

But they should have been more transparent about it as well, I think.

Good Points

Visuals/Aesthetic: I really liked the visuals in the film and thought it was pretty well done, and felt quite immersive as well as capturing the 70’s vibe incredibly well.

Premise: While this type of film has been done before, it still feels fresh today and offered something different from the usual.

Brilliant Lead: David Dastmalchian is superb as the host Jack Delroy, capturing the desperation of a late night host whose ratings have fallen, who quickly becomes overwhelmed by the events around him and portrays it all superbly.

Bad Points

Scare Factor: The film isn’t really particular scary with no real jump scares, with just a few creepy moments thrown in and is more suspenseful than anything.

Slow Burn: The film is a bit of a slow burner and has a few pacing issues, so if you don’t like that kind of film, you may lose interest.

The Ending: Going to put this as a bad point, as first time around I was a bit WTF, but as mentioned, upon repeated viewings I understood it more and enjoyed it, but many will have issues with how Late Night With The Devil ends.

Is It Worth Watching?

Yes.

Late Night With The Devil is a really good film in my view, and one I had to watch a couple of times to fully appreciate it, and notice all the subtle details the film portrays.

While the ending has divided opinions in particular, I thought it was quite well done and overall is an interesting film and I would recommend watching this one.

Late Night With The Devil on IMDB

Where To Watch

Shudder
Apple

Director and Cast

Director – Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes.

Main Cast – David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, and Josh Quong Tart