SPOILERS FOLLOW!
This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year and though I liked it, it fits in a weird place for me.
The 1970s aesthetic is making a big comeback (just look at Best Picture nominee, The Holdovers) and I was excited to see it in this film. The 70s offer us some of the greatest horror movies of all time, so paying tribute through style and setting seems more than appropriate. Unfortunately, not all movies that set out to achieve the look or feel of a different era achieve it. I wish I sat down in my theater seat and thought this movie was from 50 years ago. This wasn’t the case.
What would’ve helped put me in that time frame is knocking off that intro. It felt unnecessary. I guess it was just used as a device for backstory and explaining Jack Delroy’s dead wife. I just feel like that could’ve been told in a different way, more subtly even. Finding out his ties to a secret society at the same time as the studio audience in the film doesn’t seem like a bad thing to me. It kind of felt like forced information told in an uncreative way. This sort of set a negative tone for me going into the meat of the movie.
Going into it, I wanted this film to truly be a television broadcast. I wanted to see the events play out as if I was at home, watching it late at night in the 70s. The filmmakers obviously had different plans, making it feel more like a documentary in the beginning and a regular old horror movie throughout and into the end. I was left a little disappointed, but the format grew on me a little and I’m kind of sitting on the fence now. There are parts of this film where the format works for me and other parts where it feels weird and out of place. The first time the show goes to commercial break, I was confused by the audience’s ability to see behind the scenes. Then I assumed (as set up by the intro) that this was just footage shown that was filmed on other cameras and compiled for the “documentary.” The cameras even had a shaky quality to them as if someone was holding them and running towards the characters as they took a rest during the break. I was proven wrong when the characters started talking, knowing they were no longer on camera. It would’ve been obvious for them to see a behind the scenes camera following them and having them able to be picked up on the microphone. Even if the intention was for these black and white scenes to be footage caught between the breaks, it makes no sense why they would be filming every commercial break in its entirety. This adds to the reasons why I hate the intro, it doesn’t narratively fit. Same goes for the ending, but I’ll get there.
It feels like the filmmakers didn’t really know what type of movie they wanted this to be. It’s not truly a found footage film because of the added intermission scenes and ending, but it seems like it wants to be one.
I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of found footage films, but I liked this movie because it really didn’t fit into that category. It feels like there’s more meaning added with the commercials and the ending. This is why I’m on the fence about whether adding these scenes was the right decision. I think I’m leaning towards yes, it was the correct call. I just don’t think I can really call it found footage.
For the actual film itself, I thought it was very enjoyable. I had a good time with it and don’t really think anything about the story itself is negative. They made a great choice in casting David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy. He is amazing in everything I’ve seen him in and brings it here with this role. A subdued performance, but one that embodies the talk show host character. Grief is shown well without it being overly obvious and we see layers to the Delroy character as the movie progresses and things go off the rails. I love the juxtaposition of Delroy and his assistant, Gus (played by Rhys Auteri). Their paths start at similar positions (getting the ratings up), but Delroy’s motivations rise while Gus’ drop quick. He represents the rational, the safe, and Delroy represents the greed and power. We mostly don’t see this side of Jack, except for a couple outbursts during the breaks. But Gus really brings the increase in tension that we are feeling, knowing something is going to happen.
My favorite scene from the movie has to be the hypnotism scene. That section alone could easily be its own great short film. I loved seeing the practical effects, but I’ll be honest, when the scene was taking place, I was shaking my head a bit. I thought the film was losing the plot. But, the subversion of expectations brought me right back and I love that inclusion of this scene. It also plants the seed of doubt in the viewer’s head that follows us to the end of the movie. A necessary scene and one that is just so cool too!
This takes us to the ending. Quite cliche, but what a fun way to end it. Kind of embodies 2001: A Space Odyssey in the flashback / dream sequence ending with Delroy’s wife (obviously at this point in the film, it clearly shifts away from the found footage concept completely). Leaving things ambiguous, but implied is one of my favorite ways for a film to end. Originally I wanted the film to end when the broadcast ended, but the creepy ending that we got is much preferred.
Final Thoughts:
I found Late Night with the Devil to be a fun, spooky, and Halloween-y film that I could find myself watching in October. I don’t quite think it deserves to be a yearly Halloween watch, but who knows what a second viewing will bring.
Happy Spring October and Happy Spring Halloween (4/30)!
(Side note: I read about the use of AI in this film after I had already seen it, so the news didn’t affect my enjoyment of it. I am very against the use of AI in art and am disappointed that there is some in this film, but I think you can still like a film even if you disagree with the actions of its creator.)
Ratings:
As a Film: 7/10
Personal Enjoyment: 9/10
Within its Genre: 10/10 (Found Footage)
Fun Scale: 8/10