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| Images Courtesy of IFC Films |
Found Footage is an overstuffed genre filled with some legitimately terrifying entries and a plethora of forgettable low budget efforts. The same could be said about the possession genre, with a few notable exceptions most films dealing with demons and exorcisms are usually mediocre at best. Cameron and Colin Cairnes new feature, Late Night with the Devil fuses these two genres and somehow manages to not only overcome the expected difficulties, but to create one of the most memorable viewing experiences in recent memory. While not everything works perfectly, the attention to period specific detail, David Dastmalchian's unforgettable lead performance, and a handful of memorable sequences ensure that this will be one of the most talked about pictures of the year.
In 1977, recent widower Jack Delroy, host of a late-night talk show attempts to regain ratings with a special, Satan focused episode on Halloween Night. What follows is a series of unsettling events that hint at the presence of the dark one himself. The Cairnes wrote the script and while for the most part much of the dialogue is nothing new, it is the way in which it is delivered and the absolute loyalty to the time period that is of import. This is more of an experience than a film. The entire narrative structure is framed like a lost episode of television, moving between black and white behind the scenes to technicolor interviews and violence.
David Dastmalchian, who has stolen the show in his previous works Suicide
Squad and Reprisal, is the entire soul of the film. His Delroy
is both hurting and confident, hesitant, and selfish and watching the
transition during the brisk run time is a testament to this actor's
craft. This is simply put, a fun cinematic experience and the reason we
go to the movies, and Dastmalchian's embracing of this truth is what sells it.
This is supported by the skeptics and believers who are guests on the show,
however it is Ingrid Torelli as a possibly possessed girl who is the most
memorable, delivering some genuinely creepy moments that perfectly offset the
comedic underpinnings.
Matthew Temple's brilliant cinematography embodies the grainy, used up feel of
late 70's television, a world of SD before HD was even a concept and the result
is the perfect late night cult experience. If there is a flaw it is in
the final few minutes as the elements that have been spun together unravel
slightly, but ultimately this will be divisive and discussed ad nauseum by
horror fans for years to come, and perhaps that is more important than asking
whether or not everything entirely works.
Debuting in theaters tomorrow, Late Night with the Devil is an
insidiously charming homage not only to the horror films of the 70's but also
to a time where the United States was under a perceived siege by the
forces of darkness. The paranoia and uncertainty are perfectly captured and
incubated here, under the clever, perfectly recreated guise of late-night
programming in a time where all you had was what was being given to you by your
favorite host. in Dastmalchian's steady, committed hands, you may be taken
to Hell, but the ride will be one of the best times you have in a theater this
year.
--Kyle Jonathan
