“Knock, knock, and let the devil in…” Oh no, wait, that’s a song for a different movie review coming later this month. But for now, I’m finally getting to Late Night with the Devil, which looked so good when it came out back in April. And I’ve actually seen The First Omen now, and Immaculate, and hopefully, I’ve saved the best demonic possession movie for last 😈 This movie was popularized at the start of the year accompanied by the fact that this be the first lead performance for David Dastmalchian, after many years as a recognisable face on the sidelines in other big projects. So congratulations to Dastmalchian in advance for his achievement, and let’s get thrilling!
As the story goes, Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) is a flailing late night talk show host, constantly in the shadows of Johnny Carson and pleading for new ways to improve his ratings. One spooky Halloween show, Jack invites on a few guest experts of the paranormal, including June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), who has just written a book on Lilly (Ingrid Torelli); a girl found as the last surviving member of a local death cult. Much to Jack’s hype man’s chagrin, Gus (Rhys Auteri), Jack secretly plans to have June demonstrate her supernatural discovery, putting Lilly into an unstable trance to commune with the spirit inside. Low budget and good times ahead, is what Late Night with the Devil promises us, directed by Aussies Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes.
Hmmm. Okay. I have to write about the format. Late Night with the Devil is a complete missed opportunity as a “found footage” movie, whereby the original television broadcast is presented to us in the modern day as part of some sort of documentary that has uncovered the recording. The documentary prefaces us that there will be some behind-the-scenes footage included as well, and… how? “How?” is my question, plain and simple. Because we’re never told that there was some auteur filmmaker rolling concurrently on the night, following Jack around behind the scenes; and even still, the background footage ends up filling in everywhere, wherever it’s needed, anyway. And what’s most agonizing about all this is that I imagine this movie would work so much better in a traditional format, where we follow Jack for large portions of the movie in real time, as if he were Nic Cage at the beginning of Snake Eyes. This would allow us to get closer, inside the mind of Jack, and I think it would hype up the tension further, as Jack’s control of the situation later slips away too. But I get it, the temptation to play with the 70’s TV format, to pretend we’re watching a piece of recovered history, that allows for an opening introduction that gets all the tricky exposition out of the way early, so the movie can then focus on its practical effects 😐 It’s not what I would’ve done, and I would’ve hoped to infuse more of a character piece inside this premise, but I digress…
And so now that I’ve said what I’ve said, thrown my toys out the cot like some proverbial toddler, as I do, could I still enjoy Late Night with the Devil for what it is? And the answer is yes. Yes, the movie still does a good job of transporting us back to the set of the 70s, and keeping us perpetually intrigued as the night unfolds. For all the promises of a devil conjuring, by Jack and the movie’s title, the most spectacular scene probably ends up being the mass hypnosis, where Carmicheal Haig (Ian Bliss) convinces Gus that his body is full of worms and they’re crawling out of him. Lilly constantly stares down the barrel of the camera and that’s freaky too. I found Dastmalchian as Jack a little less charismatic than I might’ve expected as the TV host, but I was able to explain that away by thinking that he was probably suitable for the 70s, where everything is always a little too slow and polished by today’s standards; and he’s also obviously less charismatic than the best in the biz because he’s not at the top, and so it adds to how he’s losing to Johnny Carson. Yet, the other strong swing I may take at this movie, is that for all the setup and anticipation this story plants intrinsically, I thought we might find more in the payoff. Like, what rituals did Jack perform at his exclusive retreat that made him familiar to Mr. Wriggles? What’s truly the connection between Mr. Wriggles, and the presence of Jack’s wife Madeleine (Georgia Haig) reappearing on this very night? Even Wikipedia’s plot section has that “it is revealed” Jack made a pact with the devil at The Grove, but I disagree, and think it’s important to be clear about what’s “implied” and what’s “explicit”. Have Jack and June been dating, and only recently? I mean, it doesn’t matter, but I’d still like to know. And why did poor Gus have to get his neck snapped just moments out from retirement, readying to remove himself from a radically desperate and sinking ship? Okay, I know the answer to the last one, and it’s because it’s salacious 🤩 Late Night with the Devil is captivating, for sure, but when all is done and laid bare, is the content a little thin?
So Late Night with the Devil – my take is that it’s fun, but probably not deep enough to be a movie that commands much thought after it’s finished. I’m bummed because I really do believe it had the potential to be greater. But that would be a negative final thought to leave on, in the grand scheme of things; a glass-half-empty position when the movie itself is still enjoyable. And even though I’ve said my share, Late Night with the Devil could still get my vote for boasting one of the most exciting premises of the year; and perhaps it will remain memorable just for that.
3.5
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