Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Creepy found-footage horror movie has violence, language.
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Late Night with the Devil
What's the Story?
In LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian, of the Ant-Man movies and The Suicide Squad) is a late-night talk show host in the 1970s. Although he's had a measure of success, he's never been able to beat Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show in the ratings. But on Halloween night in 1977, Jack has special plans for his show, Night Owls. His guests will include a psychic, Christou (Fayssal Bazzi); a former magician-turned-debunker-of-the-supernatural, Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss); and Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), who's written a book about Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), a young girl who seems to be possessed by a demon. Christou's act goes sideways when he detects the presence of something powerful and ends up carted away in an ambulance. Dr. Ross-Mitchell reluctantly calls up Lilly's demon, and it looks legitimate. But then Haig makes a demonstration on Jack's sidekick, Gus (Rhys Auteri), showing how things can be faked. However, Jack is convinced that Lilly is the real deal.
Is It Any Good?
Making incredible use of the found-footage subgenre, this near-great horror movie feels so authentic it tickles, and Dastmalchian's performance is a mesmerizing piece of showmanship. Written and directed by Australian siblings Cameron and Colin Cairnes, Late Night with the Devil opens with a bio of the fictitious Jack Delroy, providing essential backstory and dropping hints about his involvement with a cult-like group in Hollywood. Then the show itself begins, presented as the complete Oct. 31, 1977, broadcast, with behind-the-scenes footage filmed during commercial breaks included. (The broadcast footage is shown in fuzzy color and a narrow aspect ratio, and the behind-the-scenes footage opens up to widescreen and switches to black-and-white.)
It all feels like an honest-to-goodness piece of history. Jack and Gus have the type of banter that effortlessly recalls Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon or Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter, as if they'd really been working together for years. In this setting, all of the horror elements have an organic feel, as if this is all happening right in front of us, rather than being engineered by clever filmmakers. The spooky stuff builds in ways that are genuinely shocking, moving slowly from realism to unhinged terror. If there's one flaw, it's the movie's ending. While it certainly works, is a little bit of a mess. It just runs out, rather than having that satisfying snap that a movie this clever might have had (and deserved). Nonetheless, that's just a quibble, and Late Night with the Devil is sure to become a horror -- and especially a Halloween -- favorite with fans.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Late Night with the Devil's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of scary movies? Why do people sometimes enjoy being scared?
What's interesting about the "found footage" subgenre of horror? Does it always work? Why, or why not?
Is Jack's scheme to earn better ratings an act of hubris (overbearing pride or presumption)? Is hubris often punished? Why, or why not?
How are smoking and drinking portrayed? Does the 1970s setting make these activities feel less glamorous? More glamorous? Why?
Movie Details
- In theaters : March 22, 2024
- On DVD or streaming : April 19, 2024
- Cast : David Dastmalchian , Laura Gordon , Ian Bliss
- Directors : Cameron Cairnes , Colin Cairnes
- Inclusion Information : Middle Eastern/North African Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studios : IFC Films , Shudder
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 93 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violent content, some gore, and language including a sexual reference
- Last updated : August 9, 2024
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