Movie: Late Night with the Devil
Cast: David Dastmalchian, Ian Bliss, Laura Gordon, Fayssal Bazzi, Josh Quong Tart, Ingrid Torelli, Georgina Haig, Christopher Kirby
Director: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
Rating: 2.5/5
Duration: 92 min.
Set in 1977, the film imagines a commercial broadcast network emerging as a competitor to the reigning king of 1970s late-night talk shows, Johnny Carson. Rival Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), who has risen to the national level from a modest local Chicago talk show, is doing everything he can to make his ratings skyrocket. But even after 6 seasons he hasn’t been able to surpass Carson. A quarterly event where the ratings company decides how much a network can charge for airtime becomes an opportunity for all the networks to become as outrageous as they can in order to boost their ratings. Jack and producer Leo (Josh Quong Tart) have been doing supernatural-themed Halloween broadcasts with a costume contest, but “Night Owl” went on hiatus following the tragic death from cancer of Jack’s wife, Madeleine. Due to the breakup, Carson’s ratings plummeted, leading to the special in which they decide to go all out by inviting psychic/mentalist Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), conjurer/skeptic Carmichael (Ian Bliss), Successful parapsychologist Dr. June. Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and her ward Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the sole survivor of a satanic cult’s mass suicide during a confrontation with the police. An intriguing mix of guests who believe in their own versions of the paranormal and the supernatural.
Things just go crazy from there. Wild, strange and gory, television antics have to be seen to be believed. One of the guests even vomited some kind of black slimy substance and another had worms coming out of every part of his body. But the internal audience simply stands by, raising questions about the premise that this is a found footage setup. It just gets weird and incredulous as the runtime increases. The narrative in no way feels like a found footage film. All attempts to segregate found footage material from current narrative frameworks through the discretionary use of black and white and color may assist in delineation, but they do not involve us in any way. Everything seems to fit together as the directors ordered, so there is hardly any room for suspense or surprises. However, shaky camera work and occasional technical glitches lend authenticity to the shenanigans that happen on set.
The film takes place over the course of a single episode, which aired on Halloween night in 1977. The prologue itself is a clear indication of what will happen in the next 81 minutes. The experience would have been much more immersive if that prologue simply wasn’t there and left the audience wondering what would happen next. As a result, there is no real sense of mystery throughout. The broadcast with people talking to Jack on air about what happened in the years leading up to the disaster is quite interesting. The images found come mainly from the studio’s television cameras used to record the program. The black and white images appear stark enough to look authentic. Additionally, the production design, costumes, makeup, and house band music give us a general understanding of that period.
However, this is a richly imagined original idea. The Australian directing duo may not have been able to pull it off convincingly, but there’s no doubting the plenitude of the craft. The strange and disturbing world of a paranormal disaster broadcast on television seems pretty good. From its opening moments, we see documentary-style images with a well-crafted vintage aesthetic, a grainy visual style, and decorated with wood panels. The Cairnes brothers, who write and direct, deftly capture the essence of 1970s low-budget television.
Cinematographer Matthew Temple’s lighting fits the grungy ’70s look, Stephanie Hooke’s costumes fit the era quite well, and Otello Stolfo’s production design nails the ’70s TV vibe. For the purists, the The fact that the writing and directing team of Cameron and Colin Cairnes admitted to using the “art” of “AI” in their production design may come as a disappointment.
Dastmalchian as Jack, manages to work some empathy when he briefly appears vulnerable. But his banter and pranks in his previous hosting job seem tedious. He certainly doesn’t seem to have either the personality or the smoothness to make his self-deception pay the way Carson does. So he is in no way believable as Carson’s closest competitor.
Cameron and Colin Cairnes create an intriguing horror story about the supernatural. Setting it on Halloween night, on a late-night TV show from the ’70s, and having the Devil appear inspires creativity. It’s not exactly scary, but it goes all out for the tropes and the practical effects are pretty good. This may not be an outright horror movie, but it does make you take a step back when the goo starts flying!