I feel like, Australia is on a winning streak when it comes to amazing horror. Talk to Me, Beaten to Death and Sissy come to mind when I think about titles I thought were awesome. Late Night With the Devil is a recently released horror movie that has had everyone talking since its premiere at SXSW in 2023. Big publications like Variety and author Steven King were reported to have viewed it positively.
Explained simply, Late Night With the Devil is what might have happened on the David Letterman show if one of his guests made a deal with Hell and someone from that location came to collect on-air.
In this oddly framed heaven-adjacent universe, Late Night With The Devil presents Jack Delaroy. Coincidentally the actor David Dastmalchian could pass as Jimmy Falon’s cousin. He seamlessly embodies a credible talk show host who presents a late-night TV spot called Night Owls. Rivaling Johnny Carson and set in 1977, the film embarks on a journey that testifies as a first-hand witness to the circumstances surrounding a fateful live Halloween special.
The Devil is in the Details
Slow-release details are delivered with precision concerning what’s happened to Jack since his rise to fame. The poster child for married people everywhere, Jack and his wife were the darlings on nighttime television. Audiences tuned in for the chemistry of their on-screen hosts who proposed to implicitly assist Americans heal their troubled lives. As their star rose, Jack’s adoring wife Piper succumbed to cancer and died leaving him to try and pick up the pieces. His TV show tanked and for 3 months, Jack was MIA.
Returning to the stage, just shy of a year after his wife’s death, Jack has a plan. A Halloween extravaganza promises a supernatural runway for a well-known celebrity parapsychologist, Dr. June (Laura Gordon), a magician and skeptic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), and a scary young girl called Lilly (Ingrid Torelli). Buzzing with the anticipated successful re-emergence as the new King of Late Night talk shows, Jack and his showrunners pick up where they left off.
The Night Owl show looks great as far as the set design goes. A highlight of the film is that there was obvious care taken in replicating a 70s television studio. Torelli’s embodiment of a possessed girl with a heart of gold is a delight to watch. She reminded me of the doll from M3gan due to both her aesthetic features and the way her character moves about. There are several nods to supernatural universes many will know like The Conjuring and Lorraine Warren. The Late Night With The Devil movie does an excellent job of insisting the Night Owl talk show belongs in the real world.
Found Footage Done Right With “Late Night With The Devil”
The show has plenty to ensure hit ratings and loads of views. The scene is set for the age-old battle between skeptics and the believers of paranormal entities, which commences with the speed of an exorcism on Sunday. The guests converge front and center with vastly opposing viewpoints to debate their stories.
The conglomeration of whether the devil possesses a young girl is swept to the side when it becomes apparent that her handler Dr. June is very worried. Jack Delaroy takes the focus off the antagonistic Christou by showing his smarmy talk show ways. He is orchestrating something behind the scenes and the slow burn build is an intense one. The tonal shift that develops takes the narrative from a comedic stained platform and hefts it straight into a horror movie with obvious glee.
Late Night With The Devil showcases a novel approach to the found footage horror movie sector and weaves a spell that ensures the absolute requirement to see this catastrophic live television event to the very end. The setup is clever, the execution is dynamite and overall the movie is every bit deserving of the positive buzz surrounding git.
Late Night With the Devil is rated
4 high-concept nightmare fuel out of 5
Late Night With The Devil Streaming
For where to watch Late Night With The Devil, check the handy information below from our friends at JustWatch.com
For another movie with a devil in the picture, watch The Deliverance, The Exorsicm of St. Patrick, or Prey for the Devil next.
Late Night With The Devil is streaming on:
Late Night With The Devil review
The found footage feature film is delivered by Australian writing-directing team Colin and Cameron Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres, Scare Campaign).
Theatre Dates: USA March 22, 2024 and Australia 11th April, 2024
Streaming on Shudder in North America, the UK, and Ireland from April 19, 2024. Distributed by Umbrella Entertainment, IFC Films and Shudder.
Written and Directed by: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Starring: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli, Fayssal Bazzi, Rhys Auteri
Late Night With The Devil 2024 A Little Australian Horror Goes A Long Way - Mother of Movies
Director: Cameron CairnesColin Cairnes
Date Created: 2024-03-19 10:10
4
Pros
- Late Night with the Devil looks good
- Great performances and casting choices
- Slow burn with excellent pay off
Cons
- Been done before
