Late Night with the Devil
Directed and written by Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli
Running time 1 hour and 33 minutes
Rated R by the MPA for violent content, some gore, and language including a sexual reference.
On Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-Ray and DVD, available now from IFC Films and Shudder
by “Doc” Hunter Bush, contributor, host and Podcast Czar
Synopsis:
Late Night with the Devil is presented as a recording of a live broadcast of the talk show Night Owls from Halloween of 1977 that goes off the rails, exposing viewers across the country to the unobscured supernatural. (...or does it?) In some preamble presented in a documentary style, we learn that Night Owls host Jack Dorsey (David Dastmalchian) has recently dealt with the death of his wife and is dedicating his Halloween broadcast to exploring his supernatural interests.
Jack's guests on this historic, doomed (...or is it?) broadcast include a dubious psychic named Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), magician-turned-professional debunker Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), author and parapsychologist June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), and 13 year-old Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), who may or may not be possessed by some kind of entity and is the subject of June's latest book Conversations with the Devil.
As the film goes on, things on the show come to a boiling point, drawing on Jack's personal tumult as much as the guests' until everything crescendos in a truly shocking manner. (...or does it?)
What Features Make it Special:
- Commentary with David Dastmalchian & Good Fiend Films' Leah Kilpatrick
- Q&A with Directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes
- Behind the Scenes of Late Night with the Devil
- Monster Shock Theater live with David Dastmalchian
Why You Need to Add it to Your Library:
If you're anything like me, this hits right in the sweet spot. Maybe several sweet spots. Classic talk shows, "lost" media, Halloween, the supernatural, the occult, James Randi (on whom Carmichael Haig is clearly based); each of these things on their own would catch my interest, but when combined into a finished product that's this enjoyable? I'm there. To put it in the parlance of the film: I'm tuning in.
On top of that, David Dastmalchian is an actor that I'm just drawn to. The guy is clearly a horror fan, and I've enjoyed his work as a character and supporting actor, so finally getting to see him as the lead in something is a treat. He's great here also. That certainly doesn't hurt. I dig creativity and Late Night with the Devil has it in spades.
The special features on the discs are good. The BTS segment is only a few minutes long, mostly consisting of the effects crews trying out various gags, and then watching unfinished footage of the gag in action. That's great and all, but I'm always hoping for a taste of what it was actually like to be on the set. The feature length commentary and the Q&A are decently informative and very enjoyable.
The stand out feature, though, is the episode of Monster Shock Theater (presumably the show which aired immediately before the ill-fated episode of Night Owls, and also features Jack Dorsey as a guest. My only complaint is that it has commercial breaks but no commercials! I'm a sucker for classic commercials, so I'd have loved it if they'd included either legitimate era-appropriate ones or made some of their own! How fun would that be? From the sense I got, of everyone involved, I imagine they probably at least considered doing so.
The steelbook also comes with the Night Owls Audience Welcome Pack from October 31st 1977 which includes:
- Night Owls air freshener
- Signed Jack Dorsey headshot
- Christou performance flyer
- Conversations with the Devil by Dr. June Ross-Mitchell bookmark
Late Night with the Devil is on limited edition steelbook Blu-ray and DVD, available now from IFC Films and Shudder.
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