Horror on TV in “Late Night With the Devil”
Directed by Colin and Cameron Cairnes, this low-budget horror film has received plenty of good reviews from critics and audiences.
Summary
Desperate to improve ratings, Jack Delroy, host of the talk show Night Owls, plans a captivating episode for the 1977 Halloween night’s special. His star guest is a young girl, a former victim of a satanic cult, who claims to be possessed by a demon.
What starts as a cheap attempt to draw viewers turns into a nightmare when the evil proves to be real, unleashing its power in the TV studio and uncovering some dark and turbulent truths.
The Footage of a Terrifying Event
The film starts on a very intriguing note. The first few minutes are framed as a documentary on a mysterious event that happened in the 1970s, during the live broadcast of a variety late-night show. Those scenes give a small account of the events leading up to that night and the background of the show’s host, Jack Delroy.
After that short prologue, we dive into the rediscovered footage of that particular episode of Night Owls where everything went wrong.
The production design is one of the stronger aspects of the project. From the set to the costumes, everything looks convincing and makes you feel like you are really watching a TV show from the 1970s.
While all the cast does a pretty good job, David Dastmalchian is incredible in the lead role. His character is a charismatic TV host, hungry for success, who is going through a terrible period in his life. As the story moves on, we will find out he has a dark secret.
There Was More Potential Here
I think Late Night With the Devil’s biggest shortcoming is that it takes way too long to establish the plot and the characters. It feels like the film is stalling, and interest starts to decay after the first hour. But as the running time is barely an hour and a half, once they are done introducing everyone and everything, there are just a few minutes left before the end. Therefore, the conclusion is not as satisfying as it could have been. Maybe another half hour would have been necessary to close without being in a rush.
Special effects look like they belong to a 70s or 80s film, which, I believe, may have been intentional. In fact, there is a certain scene featuring a lot of worms, with effects that reminded me of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome. But personally, it took me out of the story. Having more realistic-looking special effects would have worked much better with the tone of the film.
Reception and Box Office Results
The exact production budget for Late Night With the Devil was impossible to find online. Allegedly, it was made with less than $2.000.000 total. According to ScreenRant, only $150.000 was spent on VFX. The global box office amounted to $15.433.721, so if the other numbers are correct, it was a financial success.
While both the critics and the audience’s responses were mostly positive, I’ve heard some disappointed comments from people who watched it in theaters. I think whether you enjoy it or not will depend on what you look for in a horror film. Personally, I don’t enjoy very morbid or violent scenes, I don’t like to be really scared, so for me, it was fine. On the other hand, if you are a die-hard fan of the genre, maybe you will find it too light for your taste.
Late Night With the Devil is not a perfect film, but it’s a project that was made with care and that achieved a level of quality that bigger films don’t have these days.
