Coming to UK Cinemas on March 22nd.
Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes’s “Late Night with the Devil” might prove to be one of the best horror movies of 2024 and one of the best movies, period. In a year that’s been tough on horror so far, in swoops what is a wonderful amalgam of found footage, analog horror, and possession cinema. “Late Night with the Devil” carries the torch from gems like “Ghostwatch” and “WNUF Halloween Special” as a truly stellar mock documentary that places a great emphasis on dread and a larger narrative rather than cheap scares and gimmick.
Set in 1977, Jack Delroy, the host of a struggling late-night talk show is anxious to deliver the ultimate ratings grab. On Halloween night, havoc unfolds when Delroy interviews a parapsychologist and the subject of her recent book, a young teenager who is the sole survivor of a Satanic church’s mass suicide.
While the film has every chance to be a gimmick and jump scare marathon, Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes’s horror film has so much to it. It’s so much more complex and well rounded teeming with overtones about the lengths we’ll go through to obtain success, and the price we can pay for selling our souls in the long run. Most of all, “Late Night with the Devil” is an immense and brilliant showcase for such a small but wonderful cast of actors, all of whom offer absolutely stellar performances. In particular there’s David Dastmalchian, a man who’s proven that he can take on literally any role and lend it just an absolute impressive depth that sucks us in.
Directors Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes are committed to the aesthetic of their film, delivering what is a movie that reflects the Satanic panic culture of the 1970’s where hysteria ran rampant, as did television exploitation. With the advent of late night television and talk show formats, TV hosts would do anything they could to attract viewers, and Dastmalchian is marvelous as Jack Delroy. There’s so much going on behind the scenes with a back story that we don’t see in full detail that comes in to play with the central possession theme. Ingrid Torelli is equally haunting as Lily, a young girl who may or may not be possessed by a demonic force. After being cared for by June, as played impressively by Laura Gordon, she’s a young girl whose mental stability comes into question the moment she enters the film.
A lot of what arises is dependent on whether we the audience are being tricked or if there really is a demonic possession afoot. Are we being deceived, do we want to believe this, or is there something bigger? The more that the hours pass on the set of this television show, the more we’re called to decide what exactly is unfolding and how Jack might ultimately be the key to everything. “Late Night with the Devil” might serve as one of the more haunting and eerie analog horror movies made in the last five years.
It’s a marvelous horror tale with its nihilistic tongue planted firmly in cheek.