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Late Night With The Devil sets out a 1977 Halloween special for the talk show hosted by faltering Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian – Dune Part One), who was hot stuff when he signed with the station five years ago, but now his star is on the wane, his contract is up for renewal and there’s a good chance he’ll be out on his ear.
He basically has this one chance to revive his career, and plans to do it with a show where a young girl is invited on to be interviewed, the only catch being that she’s apparently possessed by the devil.
It starts with medium Christou (Fayssal Bazzi – Peter Rabbit), who comes across as a regular on that show – and who can give an entertaining performance to an undemanding audience, before smarmy illusionist Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss) is added to the roster. This did make me wonder why Jack would have him on, given how he’s also clearly a regular and is nothing but condescending to the other guests.
But then we get to the girl, Lilly (Ingrid Torelli – The End), brought in by medium June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), and I don’t want to detail anything else, because every element of what follows is meticulously planned and is meant to be left to you to discover.
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What I can tell you is that inbetween the programme, when they go to ad breaks, we get to see behind-the-scenes as various crew members talk to each other about what’s going on. That may sound bland, but it perfectly adds to the atmospherem, especially since the guests also know that this show is a make-or-break affair for Jack.
For Late Night With The Devil, we’re told “the master tape has only now been found” for this programme from long ago, and is in the 4:3 aspect ratio, just like TV programmes from back then, so it really feels like you’re watching an old programme from yesteryear that was broadcast live. There’s a bit of backstory at the start in 1.85:1, in the style of the introduction to the programme, with the ad-break segments also being in that ratio, as well as only those being in black-and-white.
This film feels like an extended episode of Inside No.9, and while we know it’s not real, it immediately gets you into the right atmosphere, and I advise you to just go with it. I did, and I absolutely loved it.
It’s almost perfect, but I can’t quite put my finger on why it’s not 100% perfect. Maybe because I couldn’t stop thinking of the aforementioned BBC2 show, and so feels a bit too similar, but then they will also use elements from the work of others from time to time.
Essentially, it’s a shame this wasn’t shown at Halloween, and instead, we got The Exorcist: Believer(!)
Hopefully, word of mouth will spread, and it will get a resurgence come October.
Late Night With The Devil is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 93 minutes
Release date: March 22nd 2024
Studio: IFC Films
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1, 1.85:1 (some scenes), 2.35:1 (some scenes)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 9.5/10
Director: Cameron Cairnes
Producers: David Dastmalchian, Derek Dauchy, Mat Govoni, Roy Lee, John Molloy, Steven Schneider, Adam White
Screenplay: Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes
Music: Roscoe James Irwin, Glenn Richards
Cast:
Jack Delroy: David Dastmalchian
June Ross-Mitchell: Laura Gordon
Carmichael Haig: Ian Bliss
Christou: Fayssal Bazzi
Lilly D’Abo: Ingrid Torelli
Gus McConnell: Rhys Auteri
Leo: Josh Quong Tart
Madeleine Delroy: Georgina Haig
Szandor D’Abo: Steve Mouzakis
Sammy: Gaby Seow
Phil: Christopher Kirby
Diane: Paula Arundell
Cleo James: Nicole Chapman
Frank Khoury: Imaan Hadchiti
Narrator: Michael Ironside
Cavewoman: Elise Jansen
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.