Devilish Fun?

David Dastmalchian is one of those actors whose face is much more widely recognized than his name. He's been "that weird guy" in things from Dune to Dexter to Murderbot and many, many more. But he's invariably a secondary character who isn't anchoring the film or TV series he's appearing in. In that way (among many others), the movie Late Night With the Devil is something different.

Late Night With the Devil is a fictitious documentary of 1970s talk show host Jack Delroy. Through increasing fame and sudden personal tragedy, his talk show Night Owls has always finished second to the legendary Johnny Carson. But his special episode on Halloween night in 1977 may change all that. With guests including a mentalist, skeptic, and a parapsychologist and her subject, Jack Delroy may have stumbled into a harrowing situation bringing more than he ever bargained for.

This movie uses a "found footage" conceit. After a brief introduction setting up the alleged documentary we're here to watch, the action unfolds as the "actual" Halloween broadcast as it went out live into America's living rooms. During the commercial breaks, the "documentary filmmakers" have restored "behind the scenes" footage taken in the studio. Thus, the movie is a 90-minute, real-time descent into darkness.

The structure is clever in theory, but in practice presents as something like a bell curve. The opening 15 to 20 minutes are very much a "slow burn" bit of storytelling. Anything else simply wouldn't be believable. If a 1970s TV audience was to turn on, say, the Dick Cavett Show and be confronted five minutes in with scenes from The Exorcist? Well, not only would that strain credulity, but it really wouldn't leave the story anywhere to go. Still... it means the movie requires the sort of patience that horror movies actually made in the late 70s demand: the tension ratchets up oh-so-slowly before all hell finally breaks loose. (Perhaps literally.)

At the end of the movie, without getting too spoilery, the movie lost me for another reason -- specifically, it abandons the "found footage" conceit it has so carefully established, showing us events that could not have been part of the live broadcast. It is at least in service of a fitting ending for what we've watched unfold... but it's presented in a way that doesn't have the courage of its narrative convictions.

But, for one hour in the middle, Late Night With the Devil is a pretty fun ride. We get entertaining jump scares, motivated characters gradually-but-believably making bad choices... all the best horror movie staples that makes the genre fun when done right. And a lot of what makes it work is the casting. David Dastmalchian really does carry this movie, and his casting is interesting in that he's not playing an overt creep like he usually does. His character is, as the old cliche goes, someone America would want to invite into their living rooms, and he definitely captures the patter and demeanor of a talk show host.

And really, the rest of the cast is pretty good too. To be blunt, even when the story of this movie is at its best, the dialogue isn't. This isn't an award-worthy script. But Dastmalchian, Ian Bliss, and Ingrid Torelli are particularly key among the cast in delivering what thrills there are here.

I would give Late Night With the Devil a B-. I feel that horror movies are a genre that's much like panning for gold; you have to give it a while to come up with anything valuable. This "find" is no fist-sized rock of gold... but neither is it a lump of iron pyrite. If you enjoy horror movies in generally, you might find enough gold flecks in here to feel this movie is worth your time.