David Dastmalchian takes his leading role shot as fictional late-night host Jack Delroy in a horror film that could invoke the best supernatural occult scares of the 1970-80s in a fresh found footage package.
Late Night with the Devil
Directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes
Starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Michael Ironside, Ingrid Torelli, Fayssal Bazzi
Runtime: 1 hour, 33 mins
**Reviewed for the 59th Chicago International Film Festival**
Synopsis
Late-night talk show host Jack Delroy’s show Night Owls (Dastmalchian) was considered one of the best late-night shows, second only to Johnny Carson. However, when personal tragedy strikes and he loses the love of his life, his ratings start to plummet. In a desperate bid to regain his former stature, Jack takes on wilder guests, eventually inviting a demon-possessed girl onto the show with disastrous consequences.
Refreshing A Nearly-Dead Horror Niche
When I say you’re going to enjoy yet another found footage horror film, your eyes may immediately gloss over. Ever since The Blair Witch Project came out in 1999, there’s been a litany of copycats, some that have been rather good, like REC (2007) or Paranormal Activity (2007), while others were completely forgettable and terrible… like every Paranormal Activity Sequel. It’s understandable with horror already being a super cheap genre for aspiring directors, that found footage lowers the bar even further. It, unfortunately, invites plenty of poorly thought-out, cheap thrill material.
Credit: Umbrella Entertainment
However, lumping Late Night into that same bucket of low quality would be a major disservice. Sure, the movie frames itself as a found footage, but it’s more like a well-constructed film that’s been lost to time rather than exerting the trappings of a Blair Witch. It hews much closer to a mockumentary style with the occasional camera perspective shift-away from the show to give us additional context with Jack and other cast members. As the film gets weirder and weirder, that line gets harder to distinguish, especially when all hell breaks loose in the finale.
One way this film emulates the best parts of found footage films is with its length: the pacing of the film is great, clocking in at 1 hour, 33 mins. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, it doesn’t try to overpack with explanations nor feature too many moments of dead air (looking at you, Skinamarink), and it only drags at some points with the occasional awkward laugh or joke. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a joke was intentionally bad, meant to invoke the usual miscues that could occur in real live television, or if there was an actual miss between the actors and director. Luckily for the final product, it’s not distracting enough to diminish the pace or affect your enjoyment factor.
David Dastmalchian Delivers
Trying saying that 5 times fast…I’ll wait
I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize how exciting it would be to see Dastmalchian pull off this role, especially since he effectively has to play two different versions of the characters. There’s the happier, chirper version of Jack that appears in the early montage as we’re getting brought up to speed on his life as an early comic, eventually taking over the show. Then there’s the pivot into the sadder version that we see for most of the runtime after he loses his wife. This more stoic version of Jack has to balance being someone who clearly has comedic chops but isn’t tapping into them nearly the same way. That’s an incredibly hard feeling to convey and it would be easy for this portrayal to slip into a one-note, one-emotive range, but Dastmalchian was more than able to meet and exceed that challenge.
Credit: Umbrella Entertainment
Since the film was made in Australia, many local performers lent their talents to the proceedings and may not jump off the page for American audiences. However, they have each had their own successes and bring the right amount of gravity to their roles in this film. Ian Bliss (played the character Bane in both the 2003 The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions), as the skeptical magician Carmichael, along with Laura Gordon as Dr. June, the psychiatrist monitoring Lilly (Torelli), get the most screen-time opposite Dastmalchian, each matching and delivering great serves to one another. These make up the core of the film’s conversation on what’s real or not, as Carmichael debunks a few claims early in the fictional show’s runtime, which sets up great tension between him and Dr. June when Carmichael starts to fail in his explanations of what’s happening.
Conclusion
Late Night channels occult horror into a mockumentary-style setting, letting it borrow the cheaper design elements of a found footage flick without diminishing their desired impact. David Dastmalchian shines with this small cast, delivering a memorable leading performance and elevating the whole chaotic affair as it descends into madness.
I highly recommend catching this film during its short theater run so you can get some nice jumps and scare with a late-night audience. But if you’re squeamish and need to pause, Late Night will also release April 19th on the horror streaming app Shudder.
Score: 9.3 out of 10
- Strong Eclectic Performances- 9
- Headlined by Dastmalchian, this cast delivers in all the right places and makes the movie feel like a legitimate late-night show before the chaos consumes them.
- Great Niche Genre Use- 10
- Found footage movies aren’t dead, but Late Night takes them from life support and injects them with serious new life, even if it leans more mockumentary-style than found footage.
- Fast Paced- 9
- There’s no time for boredom to set in as the runtime and editing keep this show moving fast and avoids any stagnation with the host and guests.
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