Late Night with the Devil

It’s been a long while since a movie caught my attention so much so, that I actually sat down for an hour and half without counting down to the end time. From the first trailer to hearing it popping up on podcasts, I was very excited for this to come out on streaming. And just in time so I could watch it on my birthday.

Late Night with the Devil takes place Halloween night 1977 on the set of a late night talk show that is seeking a ratings boost following the host, Jack Delroy’s, absence after suffering a personal tragedy. David Dastmalchian portrays Jack and certainly reminded me of late night talk show hosts of the past. Cheesy jokes, quirky but Dastmalchian/Delroy is a much more charming and handsome version of those nostalgic hosts.

Itty bitty summary > Minor Spoilers

The show is a Halloween grab bag with a physic who can commune with the dead, for reals, a skeptic who is an annoying ass as expected from a debunker, and the true spotlight – Lilly and Dr.June. Lilly, a 13 year old survivor of an evil cult who can allegedly commune with a demon and Dr. June who took on her treatment and guardianship. And can call and dismiss the demon in Lilly. Multitalented. As the guests do their thing and the segments get out of hand, including the psychic being carted off in an amubulance, the big event begins. After some back and forth, Jack convinces June to summon the demon on live TV and……strangeness ensues.

So, did it disappointment? Not at all. The montage of how Jack’s life and career led up to that night is brief but a good momentum builder. The ‘behind the scenes’ footage left more questions than were answered and played out some of the dynamics of the crew structure – Jack, Gus, Leo and a little of June and Jack’s connection. Lilly was suitably creepy. The ending was odd and certainly left a question of well, what happened after that spectacular display (honestly, I could have missed something).

Controversy and the not kind normally associated with a satanic movie. The directors have confirmed that AI was used for 3 sign boards in the movie. I believe this means AI prompts were used to produce the image but the movie’s graphic designers built off of those images. That is my general understanding and personally, I did not notice or know until reading reviews. The boycott of the film or comments about not being able to enjoy the movie because of this minimal use of AI to me is a good discussion point on how the arts are being impacted by the continuing evolution of technology. Now back to the program.

David Dastmalchian is a talented actor and is so very good in all aspects of portraying this character and evoking an entertainer doing whatever he can to stay famous and relevant. This certainly will not be a movie for all and not for all horror fans but it is one that I quite enjoyed and will watch again. I recommend to others who want a taste of TV’s past, halloween and a taste of campy evil.