A retro look at late night television of the 70s with a possession horror twist. Late Night with the Devil is generally considered a hit movie, a refreshing take on the classic subgenre, and a great addition to nostalgia horror.
It took me a bit to get around to watching this movie. (I hit burn out in April and needed a break.) I was very excited to finally sit down with my bestie watch it. We both agreed that the majority of the film was excellent. It had some great moments, However, parts of it turned what would have been a beloved movie for us into a meh experience.
Possession Horror, for me, is a mixed bag. Personally, I just get tired of supernatural horror sticking within the confines of Christian mythology. With that in mind, I was still excited to see Late Nigh with the Devil because of the premise. I thought this would be a refreshing take on the topic and for the most part it was. The nostalgic costumes, set design, lighting, even the little bit of grain to the images was fantastic. I also loved the glimpses behind the set (which of course is another set for the movie but the vibe was there), the audience interaction, and the live band – things you rarely get to see in other horror movies.
That said, the refreshment ended there and beyond was mostly cliche held together with fantastic acting.
Speaking of acting, David Dastmalchian did an amazing job. It occurred to me while watching that he looks very similar to Christopher Lee. (Lord Summerisle in a decent Wicker Man remake, anyone?) Rhys Auteri, who played the sidekick, Gus, did an amazing job making me get attached and worried for his character. Fayssal Bazzi, who played the amazing psychic, Christou, also had me buying into and focused on the story given.
The set up and nods to not only real world politics of the time but secret societies (and how they were viewed during the Satanic Panic) and more really made the movie feel like we were watching a Late Night show. Kudos to the writers and creators for those moments.
Lastly, I think one of my favorite things beyond the nostalgia was the easter eggs. Those little glimpses of what seems to be the host, Jack’s, late wife in screens, mirrors, and reflective images. I caught a number of them but wonder if I missed others. My friend and I had fun rewinding and pausing to make out those moments.
That is where the praise ends unfortunately. From here we get into the things that turned a good movie into one I likely won’t watch again, at least not for a good long while.
The AI Controversy
If you’ve been part of social media the last year, you are aware of the problem with AI images. They scrape existing art, plagiarize it, and use it to make new images without the consent of the artists. Using these images to make money, whether selling the images themselves or products or using them in place of hiring an artist, is not ethical.
Late Night with the Devil used AI images in their cut scenes for commercial breaks. Not only did the use of these images take money away from artists but they were poorly done. AI turned a $11.5 million dollar movie into something amateur looking.
The Special Effects
While I adored the practical effects (the worm scene was wonderful) the digital effects made me feel like we were watching an 80s scifi horror…in a bad way. It made me wonder where that $11 mil budget went. It certainly wasn’t into digital effects.
The Ending
SPOILERS AHEAD
This movie could have ended about 5 minutes before it actually did. The scene were the demon takes over, the screens go to white noise, and we see a (badly done) demon face in the static would have been the perfect ending. Perhaps round it off with some screen captions catering into the mockumentary style film the movie starts with saying that Jack is being treated in a mental health facility and the grove secret society is creating a mental health charity in his name or something would have been perfect.
Instead, the movie really loses the genre focus and what was supposed to be a mockumentary turns into a badly done version of Stephen King’s 1408 fever dream. The audience is spoonfed the facts that Jack sacrificed his wife for fame through his secret society dealings (instead of trusting the audience was smart enough to figure this out during the constant references throughout the movie). In this fever dream uses the sacrificial athame on set (that I called Chekovs dagger as soon as I saw it) to kill the possessed girl, Lily. This killing makes zero sense (why would a demon make Jack kill his vessel?) and just leaves more plot holes than wrap up. My friend and I both turned off the movie feeling like the ending ruined it for us.
3 Stars
Recommendations
If you liked parts of or all of Late Night with the Devil and want more nostalgia supernatural horror vibes, check out:
Ghost Watch (1992) – a much better version of a late night tv show dealing with the supernatural, in this instance a Halloween special by the BBC that looks at a haunted house. I love this movie. A classic must watch especially at Halloween. Same nostalgia, same supernatural horror, same set vibe, and even the same little easter egg images hidden throughout.
Also watch WNUF Halloween Special (2013).
Julia Marchese’s adaptation of the Stephen King’s story ‘I Know What You Need’ has all the nostalgia horror vibes complete with retro lense images in a short horror movie. You can listen to my interview with Julia here and contact her to watch the movie for free.
I definitely want to watch this. Thanks for sharing.