2023 Chicago International Film Festival Movie Review: Late Night with the Devil

Late Night with the Devil is a chilling found-footage horror film led by a brilliant performance by David Dastmalchian.

Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, host of the late-night talk show Night Owls and member of an all-male satanic cult called The Grove. While his show was once one of the most popular shows on TV, rivaling The Johnny Carson Show for ratings (the film takes place in the 1970s), they have since seen their ratings decline drastically due to Delroy disappearing from the show due to his wife’s death. In desperation to get back to the top, Delroy and his producers have a plan to get their ratings back: a live possession on Halloween night. The possession is performed by Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and 13-year-old Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the sole survivor of a Satanic mass suicide while Delroy, paranormal debunker Carmichael Hunt (Ian Bliss), and a live studio audience watch.

Directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes smartly use the found footage style for the film. Everything that is “live” during the episode of Night Owls looks like it was ripped right off a TV from the 1970s. The faded picture, the pastel colors, the scratchy sound, it all feels and looks authentic, thanks also to excellent production and costume design. When the cameras stop rolling for commercial breaks, the film flips to black and white, showing the conversations and what went down backstage while everything was going on during the show. These scenes are utilized for more exposition and character development, as well as showing us the backstage processes of a talk show. It might take away from the entire found footage idea, but these scenes were used to enhance the story and characters.

Dastmalchian has been a wonderful character actor for years, having appeared in over 80 projects as an actor, ranging from huge blockbusters to microbudget indie films. While always good whenever he appears on screen, his performance in Late Night with the Devil is easily the best of his career. Dastmalchian morphs into a 70s talk show host. He has the sly humor, winning personality, the wry, bullshit smile, and non-confrontational attitude that we’ve seen from talk show hosts for years. But Dastmalchian also displays how haunted Delroy is by the death of his wife and the events that are transpiring on the show and contemplating how his membership to the cult may have affected what is happening before him. It’s a gripping, captivating performance and one of the best of 2023.

We also get some great supporting turns by Torelli, in a great creepy-kid performance as the 13-year-old who can speak to evil spirits and Bliss who is having an absolute blast in a grandiose performance of a man who loves disproving paranormal happenings and always makes a show of it.

Relentlessly intense and shocking with a jaw-dropping ending, Late Night with the Devil is a scary good found footage film carried on the shoulders of great David Dastmalchian performance.

Late Night with the Devil played in the After Dark program at the 2023 Chicago International Film Festival.

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