Vol 3

By Mark Mathen Victor I n front of a studio audience during a live broadcast, a young girl supposedly becomes possessed by a demon and demonstrates several supernatural phenomena. The audience, talk showhost, and crew are stunned, but a paranormal skeptic vehemently calls it a stunt. Was she really possessed? Presented as a documentary with aired and unaired footage shot on Halloween in 1977, “Late Night with the Devil” follows Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), a talk show host of the American late-night show “Night Owls with JackDelroy.” The documentary opens with an introduction into Delroy’s history as a talk show host, weaving a possible supernatural tie with his visits to “The Grove,” a private gathering of the rich and elite in the middle of a jungle, along with his wife’s sudden death from lung cancer despite not being a smoker. After the latter happens, Delroy retreats from the public eye and the show, which causes Night Owls to dip in television popularity due to all the competition, and after he returns, the show struggles to regain viewership. For Halloween, Night Owls puts together an ensemble of guests such as the psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) and magician and paranormal skeptic Carmichael Haig (IanBliss). For the main draw, which he hopes will make the show popular again, Delroy arranges for the appearance of parapsychologist June Ross (Laura Gordon) and Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), a survivor of a Satanic cult’smass suicide. The audience then goes into the 15 Entertainment The Sinister Spectacle of ‘Late Night with the Devil’ Haunting on Vol.3 Halloween episode knowing that Delroy is desperate and may do anything for the episode to be a hit. Hellish performance and presentation The real fun behind “Late Night with theDevil” is how it has one foot in fiction and the other in reality. Bybasing itspremiseon late-night shows that mimic popular real- world shows like “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “Late Night with David Letterman,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and so on, the film is able to go hog wild with its presentation, andas aperiod filmof sorts, the retro ‘70s aesthetics are the cherry on top that makes the filmpop visually and sonically. It was also great to see Dastmalchian knocking it out of the park as the film’s lead actor. He has traditionally only played minor characters in big films, like Denis Villeneuve’s “Prisoners,” “Blade Runner 2049,” “Dune,” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight”and “Oppenheimer.” Unfortunately, the film only goes in one direction that everyone is familiar with, because despite the 1977 setting, “Late Night with the Devil” does not add anything new with its demonic angle. Not quite infernal Among the many things that made the ‘80s infamous was the “Satanic panic” hysteria that was being experienced by American parents and amplified by themedia. It was a time when every conservative-leaning adult and Christian evangelical was Halloween hypnotized i to thinking kids and teenagers with pentagrams were involvedwithSatanism,cults,human sacrifice, and other abhorrent acts. “Late Night with the Devil” covers this aspect ina five-minute sequence about Lilly and then completely abandons the idea, even when the girl gets possessed. The writing being disappointing and the carnage being reigned in dulls the impact of the film’s premise. The film also does not go far enoughwith its brutality. At one point in the film, Lilly creepily tells Delroy that the Halloween episode will make him popular again. Her assurance comes across to the audience that we can expect a crazy mass death situation. However,by theendof the film, out of the entire studio audience, crew, and guests that probably number 100 people, only five actually die in the film. The outcome of the film is disappointing, as the filmmakers do not take advantage of its adult R-rating. Additionally, “Late Night with the Devil” has a little controversy attached to its release, as thebrothers that directed the film have admitted that they used artificial intelligence (AI) during the film’s production. The AI images appear three times in the film, used as interstitials for commercial breaks. Fairly simple images, it does not make sense why Cameron andColin Cairnes did not employ a human graphic artist to do these. Though the Cairnes brothers claim that AI was only used for the three images, there are doubts over the veracity of their claims. If AI was secretly usedmore, “Late Night with the Devil” horror of a demon wreaking havoc on a late- night show would be as terrifying as AI taking over the jobs of creatives. “Late Night with the Devil” is currently streaming on Shudder. The employment of AI in production ignites controversy, leading to questions about its reach and impact. The initial intrigue of the ‘80s Satanic panic fades, leaving viewers longing for deeper investigation. Find out the Sinister Secrets Behind “Late Night with the Devil” The enigmatic history of Night Owls with Jack Delroy’s host alludes to intriguing supernatural ties.