'Late Night with the Devil' A Review

Late Night with the Devil is a period horror film found footage adjacent. Set in 1977, through voice over narration and "archival" footage the body of the film is set up which is the infamous Halloween show of Carson rival Jack Delroy(David Dastmalchian) which focuses on the occult. It includes the episode in question as well as "behind the scenes" footage within the commercial breaks.

Dastmalchian is a great leading man, grounded, emotive, and in full control of the screen. Its wonderful to see him in this kind of role, being most frequently cast as the character or the creep. He's a soulful actor and he's able to bring that quality effectively to bear here in a context that really needs it. The supporting cast is all talented but have less to do, the exceptions are Laura Gordon as Dr. June Ross-Mitchell and Ingrid Torelli as Lilly, the duo that are the mainevent guests for the show as Lilly is possessed. Torelli is deliciously creepy and Gordon sparks good chemistry with Dastmalchian in the limited scenes they have. Ian Bliss is the one squeaky wheel, the character, as written, is pretty irritating but his performance doesn't bring much life to the plot's necessary contrarian.

Clearly on a limited budget the film looks authentic, evoking the 70's and late night network vibe. All the production elements, the narration, the montage, the costumes, the score, the show itself, all work together to evoke this cool transportive mood. The film doesn't fail in ambition or talent but it does fall a short in pacing, periodically it drags, and the ending isn't quite coherent or work particularly well. At times the plotting gets in the way of its impact. But it does feel fresh, there's a vitality to it, some edge, some danger.

Not a homerun but a solid base hit, satisfying with a great turn from Dastmalchian.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Rent It.