Late Night with the Devil

We all know the story of Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian). Sure, it was nearly fifty years ago, but it’s hard to forget such a staggering event which left an indelible mark on all who saw. It was the night Delroy’s show finally topped Carson’s in the ratings. What a way to begin Sweeps week! Of course, for those of us who have only heard the legends, it’s been incredibly frustrating that no tape of the broadcast was ever made available, preventing us from witnessing it ourselves. Luckily, now we have this special event screening: not only that original night’s show, but raw behind-the-scenes footage from commercial breaks to help shed light on what really happened.

Delroy’s ratings had been flagging, never quite recovering to their already middling level after a brief hiatus following the death of his wife Madeleine Piper (Georgina Haig). Needing a boost, he planned a special show for Halloween of 1977, meant to take advantage of the burgeoning interest in the occult. Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) would open with a psychic reading of the audience, and would be balanced out by the retort of illusionist-turned-skeptic Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss). The final touch was parapsychologist and author June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and her subject, teenager Lily D'Abo (Ingrid Torelli). The only survivor of the mass self-immolation of the Cult of Abraxas a few years prior, Lily claimed to share her body with a lower demon loyal to Abraxas. In the most famous bit of the program, and the most shocking, June would attempt to coax out the demon (dubbed “Mr. Riggles” by Lily) in order to quiet doubters like Carmichael once and for all.

What a clever structure! I’m sure there are other films which have played out in real-time as if they’re a late-night talk show, but it’s almost certain none were presented as found footage. The decision to blend the show itself with “unedited” behind-the-scenes tape leads to this interesting division in personality, where every character seems to be at war with themselves. There’s the public facing persona, what goes out over the airwaves: calm, cool, collected, calculated, always with the audience’s best interest at heart. But we get a peak behind the curtain, watching how they react to each development as the show slowly evolves and takes turns no one quite expected. Carmichael getting more and more frustrated with the elaborate ruse he’s sure Delroy is in on. Bandleader/sidekick Gus McConnell (Rhys Auteri) gets more and more anxious that they’re playing with forces they don’t understand. And Delroy getting more and more focused on pushing things further than he probably should, all in service of ratings.

It all adds to this incredible build of tension. From the outset, you have a rough idea how this is going to go. The movie takes no real pains to pretend all will work out fine: why would we be here if that was the case? We even get some early concrete signs of what’s to come at the end of Christou’s performance when a powerful entity seems to make itself known to him, and he vomits black bile onto the stage. But the movie takes its time getting there, building carefully, making you brace for what’s to come. Each time some demonstration began, I found myself involuntarily gripping the armrest in anticipation. Sometimes, the scene ends with nothing happening, while others give you a small, unsatisfactory taste of what may or may not be supernatural. Of course, it’s all building to the glorious climax, which begins much the same way before transforming into something else entirely, leaving a big stupid grin stretched wide across my face.

Because for all its intensity, Late Night with the Devil never forgets to be fun. They hit all the right beats in replicating the late-night format. The cheesy jokes, the repartee between host and sidekick, the host as straight-man reacting to everything as if he’s not in control. Delroy is never at a loss for words (well…save for that one time…), always ready to make some sarcastic comment or step in the middle of a dispute. Completing the vibe is the aesthetic of the sets, the bad Halloween props (e.g. “bats” flying around the studio), and muzak-like interludes. A lot of effort went into making it feel like a show from the 70s, resulting in a comfortable and familiar setting, providing an even better contrast for what’s to come.

Dastmalchian does a fantastic job at embodying the casual nature of a late-night host, armed with just enough of a “please like me” undertone that you understand why he was never able to challenge Carson in the Nielsen ratings. You buy every ounce of his desperation, of his corniness, and of his love of the camera. He makes it clear Delroy will do whatever it takes for this show to be a success, even push his friend June to take risks she’s uncomfortable with, all while staying generally affable. No, Dastmalchian isn’t going to win any awards for his performance, but it adds to an excellent body of work which began with a tiny but memorable role in The Dark Knight and has slowly ramped up into recognizable “that guy”.

I also have to mention the effects, big and small. The CGI was pretty rough at points, likely owing to its sub-$2 million budget, so while it’s good they didn’t lean too heavily on it I do wish they’d used it even less. But when they went practical, it really worked. There’s a scene involving hypnosis and worms I won’t be forgetting any time soon: if you suffer from Scoleciphobia, you may wanna shut your eyes during it, as you won’t be sleeping. On the simpler side, even just the tape playback enhances the experience and adds to the tension. If you’ve ever watched an old VHS, you’re familiar with the ways a recording on magnetic tape is effected by age: poor tracking, static, audio dropping, etc. Each time it happened during the program, I felt my breath catch as I searched for some supernatural element or relevance to when it occurred.

I find the most effective horror movies make me squirm with what looks and feels like no effort at all. They craft completely harmless shots which nonetheless cause me to tense up as I prepare for what’s to come…only for the moment to pass. If someone walked into the room at that moment, they’d be confused, even laugh at my reaction. Because it’s all about the context. It’s about everything that’s come before, everything the filmmakers knew your brain would assume and use to fill in the gaps, allowing them to play on your anxiety by doing nothing at all. The absence of horror on screen is almost worse in those situations, because you know it must come later, priming the same thing to happen again and again, worse each time. The Cairnes brothers wield that build and not-quite-release expertly, announcing them as wonderful rising talents. They’re not brand new to this, having directed two prior features, but this is by far their highest profile effort.

It also solidifies Australia as a rising horror industry. Lake Mungo and The Babadook are recent classics from the country, and now in short order we’ve gotten Late Night with the Devil, last year’s Talk To Me, and even some prominent thrillers like The Royal Hotel. I’m hoping we’re on the verge of an Australian horror boom here in the US, because the output so far has been outstanding.