‘Late Night With the Devil’ Delivers Gory Thrills and a Killer Lead Performance

Look, the horror style is full of films that take the faux-documentary/discovered footage method and ship greatness — Ghostwatch (1992), Lake Mungo (2008), The Bay (2012), and Hell Home LLC (2015) to call just some — they usually work as a result of they decide to the bit. Too many, although, drop the ball by taking shortcuts, ignoring their very own premise, and giving in to the urge to make use of extra conventional strategies in the hunt for thrills. Late Night time With the Satan makes these errors (decisions?) and suffers due to it, however fortunately it’s lifted up elsewhere due to the nice David Dastmalchian, some killer gore beats, and an entertainingly downbeat ending.

It’s 1977, and Jack Delroy’s (Dastmalchian) late evening speak present, Night time Owls, is preventing an uphill battle within the scores race towards The Tonight Present. Halloween lands in the course of the networks’ sweeps week — the small window the place executives and advertisers lock into the very best rated exhibits — and Delroy has stacked the evening’s episode hoping for a chillingly good time. A psychic and a debunker get into it first, however issues take a flip when a mystical researcher arrives with a younger teen lady who supposedly harbors a demon inside.

The premise behind Late Night time With the Satan is ready forth in a gap montage narrated by Michael Ironside. He presents up a a short take a look at Delroy’s rise within the business, arguably contains manner an excessive amount of data which ultimately undercuts later reveals, after which introduces the never-before-seen ultimate episode of Night time Owls‘ stay Halloween broadcast. Lose that montage and the movie is much better off, however in any other case, to this point so good.

Writers/administrators Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes make an actual effort to seize the appear and feel of a seventies speak present, for a short while at the least, and that features some well daring manufacturing design by Otello Stolfo. From the outfits and hair kinds to the smoking and shade decisions, the impact works — till it doesn’t. For one factor, Night time Owls is edited and shot with modern-day sensibilities like fast cuts, zooms, and extra that really feel woefully misplaced for the seventies. Worse, the present we’re watching, once more, ostensibly the precise reel full with time codes at both finish, switches to behind-the-scenes sequences the place we’re hard-pressed to consider each that cameras are current and that the characters would converse in pure exposition.

I totally admit that the majority viewers received’t give a great goddamn about this, and if that’s you then simply ignore that final paragraph and this one too. For the handful of us, although, who love when filmmakers arrange their faux-doc/ff parameters after which discover their chills, thrills, and enjoyable with out slipping freed from these constraints, Late Night time With the Satan simply isn’t it.

That mentioned, the movie nonetheless manages greater than sufficient to warrant a watch as a few of its horror beats land fantastically and Dastmalchian is all the time a welcome expertise on display screen. Like most ff movies, the horrors come slowly with transient punctuations earlier than resulting in a giant, bloody end. These earlier moments are enjoyable sufficient, however it’s the third act end result that actually delivers with the gory items and a few memorable photographs. CG tweaks are evident, however the sensible work shines via with some wildly entertaining acts of supernatural violence.

Via all of it, although, ups, downs, and every part in between, it’s Dastmalchian who carries Late Night time With the Satan on his very succesful shoulders. There’s the anticipated exuberance of a late-night speak present host and the comedian supply of foolish jokes, however he additionally showcases one man’s rising realization that he’s messed issues up in a giant, large manner. Ambition is a hell of a drug, and we quickly uncover that his might need price him greater than an Emmy because the issues he’s misplaced outweigh those he hoped to realize. That mixture of guilt and unhappiness makes for a compelling cocktail in a lead character who’s now dealing with some uncomfortable and unnatural truths.

Dastmalchian is the brilliant solar on the heart with a powerful gravitational pull, however the remainder of the forged does wonderful work as nicely. Ian Bliss brings grand showmanship because the skeptic Carmichael Haig, and Rhys Auteri is the convincingly game-for-everything sidekick (till he’s not). Younger Ingrid Torelli has the extra bodily demanding position of the presumably possessed Lilly, and he or she greater than acquits herself together with her creepy expressions and dedicated physicality.

Late Night time With the Satan can’t match the highs of extra memorable faux-docs like those talked about on the high, and viewers on the lookout for a greater, far scarier model of this could positively hunt down Ghostwatch, however it nonetheless finds its personal enjoyable. The hook works even when the execution stumbles, and together with some smile-inducing results work, Dastmalchian’s shift from acclaimed character actor to charismatic and fascinating main man is all the explanation it’s best to want to provide this one a spin.

Associated Subjects: David Dastmalchian, Horror

Rob Hunter has been writing for Movie College Rejects since earlier than you have been born, which is bizarre seeing as he is so rattling younger. He is our Chief Movie Critic and Affiliate Editor and lists ‘Broadcast Information’ as his favourite movie of all time. Be at liberty to say hello if you happen to see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.

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