Horror is a constantly evolving genre. With the resurgence of everything spooky into popular culture the last couple years horror fans everywhere have reveled in the plethora of content put out by platforms such as Scream Box and Shudder. These streaming platforms have been home for otherwise unseen projects that never got a wide release. They also have the a loaded library of classic titles and cult favorites. Streaming exclusivity has been a key for smaller streaming platforms to survive and Shudder may have picked up one of the best horror movies in recent memory, Late Night with the Devil.
David Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy a late night talk show host rivaling Johnny Carson in the 1970s who has been failing to retain his audience after the death of his wife and subsequent halted production of his show, Night Owls with Jack Delroy. The story is framed as a documentary that for the first time ever is showing the footage of the Halloween episode of Night Owls from 1977 where an unexplained event was captured on film. It’s revealed prior to Jack’s wife’s death he was a regular at “The Grove” an exclusive men’s club for celebrities that was long rumored to have occult connections.
With Night Owls on its last leg, Jack puts together an occult episode for Halloween with guests consisting of a medium, a skeptic, and a young girl who is the only survivor of a satanic suicide cult. The show starts as any variety show as the guests are introduced one by one, but we are also treated as the viewer, to what goes on in between commercial breaks. The stagehands of Night Owls seem nervous as they constantly ask Jack if what he has planned is something he really wants to go through with.
Jack pushes through the broadcast first bringing on the medium who struggles initially to find a connection between someone in the crowd and the dead. The medium eventually finds his mark before suddenly feeling a presence he can’t quite shake towards the end of his session. This prompts Jack to bring on the skeptic who immediately attacks the medium’s abilities. It’s a pretty clever visual as the movie if formatted like a TV broadcast to see the concentration of the camera on the skeptic as the medium seems to get progressively unnerved by the presence he feels. You the viewer are drawn to his worsening condition but the TV camera’s focus on the skeptic lends a better touch of realism to the broadcast. Soon the medium becomes violently ill and is rushed to a nearby hospital for immediate treatment.
For Jack’s grand finale he brings Lilly D’Abo onto the show, the lone survivor of a satanic suicide cult and her handler, parapsychiatrist June Ross-Mitchell. The interview starts to haywire as the skeptic immediately attacks the pairs credibility. Jack pleads for Lilly to contact the demon supposedly inhabiting her body, as strange things start to happen around the set June insists Jack end his efforts to conjure the demon but he persists. In between commercial breaks the viewers learn the medium has died and everyone once again pleads Jack to stop his probing into the unknown. Jack, hungry to deliver on his promise of a full demonic demonstration pushes Lilly to let go of her control and allow the demon to fully manifest. Lilly than levitates and in a violent display shoot lightning throughout the studio. As the demonstration ends video playback shows whatever was witnessed was a group hallucination. As Jack hand his stagehands review the footage Jack sees his dead wife standing behind him. Jack turns to Lilly suggesting she reconnect to allow him to speak with his wife. Lily’s head splits open and she throws Jack across the stage, and kills nearly everyone around her including the skeptic, a stagehand and her handler June.
The demon tells Jack that they have previously met, referencing his time at “The Grove” and the rituals conducted there. Jack is suddenly transported to a nightmare dimension forced to relive many of the Night Owls episodes, especially those concerning his wife towards the end of her fight with cancer. It’s revealed Jack made a deal with the demon for Night Owls success and that it cost him his wife’s health. As his wife begs him to put her out of her pain he stabs her multiple times before being transported back to the real world, revealing he had stabbed Lily to death. Police sirens are heard in the distance and the show’s broadcast comes to an end.
The setting and backdrop of Late Night with the Devil is one of the most unique I’ve seen in a while. The way the broadcast is built for you to follow what Jack wants while not being able to ignore horrors happening in the background is an absolute genius way to present the events that unfold. The cuts to studio in between TV time make for an added layer of anxious viewership as you sense nearly everyone wanting nothing to do with Jack’s plan to conjure a demon on live television. The film also captured the rampant competition between late night talk show hosts and the satanic panic of the late 70s. The world is believable and that lends more investment for the viewer.
While not outwardly scary, Late Night with the Devil is one of the best horror films of 2024. Being a Shudder exclusive you will have to subscribe to watch and this film is worth every penny. In a way it’s almost better these types of films are released on streaming services as cult classics like this film wouldn’t fair well in theaters compared to the blockbusters stacked up for the year. However at times I think that this could have been formatted like a limited series rather than a film. Something about the TV formatting would leave audiences wanting more week to week versus seeing everything unfold in one shot. Still Late Night With The Devil is a profoundly smart and unique film and not one you want to miss.
Late Night with the Devil – 4/5