Films for Breakfast

In so many ways, the era of the 70s feels so drastically different from the world we know today – but some things don’t change much; specifically the lengths corporations and entertainers are willing to go to for ratings and hits. The perception of boundaries diminish when the idea of exploitation and revenue enters the conversation, and you can trace the idea of making horrors a spectacle even before the invention of television or newcasting. Late Night with the Devil takes an interesting perspective as it plays almost like a found-footage film of someone gaining access to a seemingly deleted recording of a 70s talk-show that goes absolutely haywire. 

The film follows Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) at an odd time in his career. He has found solid success within his late night talk show ‘Night Owls’ but seemingly can’t surpass Johnny Carson in ratings or fully satisfy himself or the network. After suffering a personal loss, Delroy returns to the scene with an episode where he invites a medium named Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), skeptic hypnotist Carmichael (Ian Bliss), therapist June (Laura Gordon) and her patient Lilly (Ingrid Torelli) who is seemingly drifting in and out of possession due to her history with a satanic cult. Delroy hopes to revive dwindling ratings with a controversial episode unlike anything else on television, but gets far more than he bargained for.

One of the most impressive elements about Late Night with the Devil is David Dastmalchian’s performance. Dastmalchian is an actor who I’ve admired for quite some time, as I’ve seen him play every type of character I can possibly imagine – from his brief roles in Dune or Prisoners to being the heart of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, he has proven to be extremely reliable and versatile over the years. In Late Night with the Devil, he absolutely captivates the screen with a man desperate to claim his place among the great late night hosts. There is such a deep sadness and drive for success underneath Delroy as a character, and Dastmalchian perfectly exudes those conflicting emotions as the night gets more and more unsettling for the character.

The film is directed by Australian duo Cameron and Colin Cairnes, and there is a clear passion behind the camera to do something different. Whenever the film feels like it could detour into less-interesting territory and deliver typical jump scares, the Cairnes duo make sure to subvert those expectations in one way or another. There’s a really great emphasis on silence and the awkwardness of dead-air here that I loved, and the film uses that to a creepy effect on numerous occasions. One of the best compliments I can pay the film is how much I admire its restraint and how it doesn’t feel the need to jump right into trying to scare the audience. Late Night with the Devil sets up the mood, atmosphere, and characters first and foremost before it even toys with trying to scare you. This makes for the actual horror elements to be all the more effective when they go down, because you not only care about Jack as a character but Dastmalchian’s performance continually grips your attention.

With the underlying theme of what an entertainer would do for ratings and spectacle at play, that also adds a nice layer of mystery to everything that goes down in the film. For a good chunk of time, I found myself questioning whether or not I fully believed what was happening or if it is just a ruse to trick the audiences into continue watching. I found the film to be at its best when it gripped me with that kind of simple tension and uneasiness. On the flip side, I do think the film suffers from quite a bit of pacing issues. There are moments where it really sustains an impressive amount of momentum but often dips back to a slower pace. While I can admire the restraint behind the camera and not entirely wanting to dive fully into the supernatural and horror until the third act, it does make the rest of the film feel a bit slow by default.

The uneven feeling of the film is complicated, because it does hinder the viewing experience, but when I think back on the film I mostly just appreciate how technically well presented it is and how effectively eery the overall atmosphere and aesthetic was. Even despite some pacing issues, I’d still recommend Late Night with the Devil due to its solid direction and a handful of really effective moments that stick with you. Daivd Dastmalchian proves once again that he is a force of nature of a performer, and I can’t wait to see what other opportunities he takes up after this. I’d love to see him land even more leading roles with this much meat on the bone.

3/5