SXSW 2023 Review:
"Late Night With the Devil"
Release Date: March 22, 2024
Rating: R Running Time: 93 minutes Johnny Carson never had a night as bad as the one that his (fictional) on-air rival Jack Delroy endured on Oct. 31, 1977. Written and directed by Australian brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes, Late Night with the Devil chronicles the horrors unleashed by the UBC late-night TV talk show host known as Mr. Midnight (David Dastmalchian) during the Halloween sweeps edition of his ratings-challenged Night Owls. Desperate to win the night against Caron, Delroy and his sleazy producer Leo Fiske (Josh Quong Tart) book two guests they hope will raise both eyebrows and ratings: parapsychologist Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and her 13-year-old patient, Lilly D'Abo (Ingrid Torelli). Lilly is the sole survivor of a mass suicide instigated by a nefarious Satanic cult leader. And Dr. Ross-Mitchell believes Lilly is a conduit for a demon Lilly calls “Mr. Wriggles.” And Mr. Midnight wants an audience with Mr. Wriggles, no matter the cost. The best found footage film since 2017’s One Cut of the Dead, Late Night with the Devil takes the well-worn premise of demonic possession and toys with its many conventions through a television format that is as malleable and open to risk as it is familiar. After a brief but intriguing prologue narrated in ominous fashion by Michael Ironside, the Cairnes tell their devilish tale using the format of a 90-minute late-night TV talk show, intercutting a “recently discovered master tape” of the ill-fated Halloween special with behind-the-scenes footage playing through the commercial breaks. The first segment artfully establishes the playful interaction between the amiable Jack Delroy and his diffident sidekick Gus McConnell (Rhys Auteri) while setting the show’s lighthearted tone and reliance on the sensation in a bid to reverse declining ratings. Delroy’s first two guests—a psychic and a skeptic—serve as perfect warm-up acts for the featured guest. Lilly lives up to her top billing. And it all starts with Ingrid Torelli, whose sunny smile and perfectly modulated line reading proves to be so immediately unsettling that can only hint at the mayhem to come. The Cairnes slowly but surely achieved Delroy’s goal of shocking and scary both his audience in TV land and those watching the film at home or in a movie theater. The voyeuristic nature of Late Night with the Devil lends to the horror. While the Cairnes douse the Night Owl studio with plenty of blood and guts, it is never at the expense of exploring what goes into producing a TV talk show during an era when audiences had very few viewing options at midnight. The Cairnes strive for period-specific authenticity, from the cheesy studio set that goes hard on its many shades of brown and orange to Delroy et al.’s garishly bland wardrobe. From its opening monologue to its early segments building up to its grand finale, Night Owl follows a tried and true format that makes the show so instantly identifiable that it makes you feel like you have been watching Delroy for years. And the off-camera moments—most taking place backstage—are fueled by an appropriate sense of urgency as the clocks down to the end of the commercial and an anxiety that comes with trying maintain the attention of a demanding TV audience. Which brings us to Delroy. Dastmalchian makes Delroy a jovial and engaging host but intentionally underplays his charisma so as to give an unspoken reason as to why much of the late-night audience has not abandoned Carson for Delroy. Dastmalchian also brings quiet desperation to a TV personality facing an uncertain future. The film’s prologue serves the vital purpose of establishing Delroy’s rise to fame and the personal loss that led to his ratings freefall, all of which inform the events of the Halloween special. Dastmalchian finds fuel in Delroy’s grief as the proceedings build toward its grisly climax. “It’s not every day you see a demonic possession on live television,” Delroy tells his audience. Beat that, Carnac the Magnificent. Robert Sims Posted: March 22, 2023. Web sites: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2023/films/2078977 https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/late-night-with-the-devil |
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