This underrated low-budget film about possession was a nice watch. Just arrived on Netflix the other night, directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, who also did Scare Campaign (2016), 100 Bloody Acres (2012), and Warren and Hal (2014 TV Series). Unfortunately, I haven’t watched any of their films/series, looking forward to it when time permits.

The premise isn’t that deep, it’s about a late night talk show host who’s career is about to end, but slowly, his ratings sky rocketed thanks to his quick trip to the forest with his gentleman’s secret club and making a pact with the devil. They don’t show it in detail of what went down during the ceremony, but the short clips of what was shown was enough for the general public to understand what happened. He gains fame for a price he wasn’t aware of—His wife.

Characters

David Dastmalchian was great, you may not know many of his works but he was actually in some that you know, though his parts were mostly random people within the film. He was in Oppenheimer as William Borden; he was also in Ant Man & The Wasp, and even in Dune: Part One. I love his voice and intonations, aside from his past accolades, it shows why he was chosen to be Jack Delroy.

The rest of the cast were excellent. None of them I knew about before watching this, but that makes it all the more better. No expectations whatsoever, and everything went smoothly. The character Carmichael Haig, a former magician turned skeptic, was actually based on James Randi, also a stage magician and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged other magicians, specially those who’ve had internet fame, and offered cash incentives. Who also appears in late night talk shows to demonstrate them.

Based off of

The late night talk show was actually based on The Don Lane show, and australian TV show that aired around 1975-1983. It was also fitting that the directors chose the timeline of 1970s because during those times, talk shows were an infamous small window into some strange adult world.

Limited space? No problem

I love how they made full use of the studio. Essentially, they were only allowed 20 days to use the studio, so they set up 3 different cameras that ran the whole time. The studio set was actually a 360 degree set, so they had to make use of every nook and cranny that the cameras could reach. Even the audience stands were of use.

Low budget effects but great film overall

The effects were subpar but was acceptable, and given the low-budget factor of the film, it was enough to get even Stephen King to praise the film saying:
“I got a screener. It’s absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Your results may vary, as they say, but I urge you to watch it when you can.”
It was honestly a good watch, not at all scary. The prosthetics for the possessed girl, Lilly D’Abo was honestly impressive. Its wasn’t as great as The Exorcist (1973), that was on a whole different level.

Tasteful ending

The ending was tastefully made. It would make you think what really happened. Having been shown what hypnosis could, there was a scene where Carmichael demonstrated it to everyone with the use of his black and white swirling pocket watch. Everyone thought Gus tore his belly open and worms came out, but when they viewed the replay, nothing was there, only Gus doing the act of opening his belly. With that demonstration, the ending became a bit more complicated.

Lilly D’Abo got possessed again and her head tore open, Gus’s head turned 180 degrees, her handler’s throat was slit open, Carmichael got melted—and then there was the series of flashbacks of his previous episodes, blended together with his satanic ritual, and ended with how his wife died and that it was the price he had to pay to get views and have the best late night talk show episode. It was indeed the best late night episode, specially for the demon Abraxas, reaching thousands of viewers and making their cult known all over the world.

Conclusion

Late Night with the Devil was a fun, not at all scary, B-movie type of horror film. Definitely worth the time. Even with the limited budget and lack of shoot locations, they still managed to captivate me to keep watching it. It never got boring, even though the action started past the middle part of the film’s duration. Great watch.