What movie are you viewing at the moment?

[Oh hi Mark!]

Late Night with the Devil



I've been looking forward to watching this movie for months. I think I first heard about it through IG posts from Letterboxd. It made me look it up on Google, which in turn led to the news feed on my tablet including ones hyping the movie up. They commonly boasted the fact that it had a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes well before its theatrical release. Stephen King loved it, so I got headlines reflecting that. The Rotten Tomatoes rating has gone down because, of course, it would. I find it annoying that Rotten Tomatoes ratings are used to advertise movies when they're always subject to change. Doing that well after the movie's theatrical run is better, as in hyping it up for when it hits streaming or any kind of home media. This arguable overhype didn't deter me, the concept of the movie was fascinating even though I'm not a big fan of found footage movies. This was a unique spin on the genre though. Then the first and I think only bit of controversy surrounding the movie came when it was revealed that AI was used. This led to major backlash, though I had read that the AI usage only extended to some images. The images act like bumpers when going on a commercial break or coming back from it. While the filmmakers said they only used 3 AI-generated images, the images appear multiple times. I wound up getting distracted trying to sniff out the AI. I'm sure most people can tell what they are. It is essentially a minor issue, but you know what's better than a minor issue? No issue, as in, no AI! I don't want AI to be a trend in filmmaking, so I hope it doesn't go beyond what this movie did, but I'm very pessimistic about that, especially from the big studios. Anyway, a big reason that I still wanted to give the movie a chance is because the horror genre has been kind of slipping recently and it was about time for another much-talked-about entry in the genre to come out that would dominate the year in discussion. Last year was Talk to Me. This year, at least until Ti West's MaXXXine comes out, is Late Night with the Devil. Similar to Talk to Me, this movie was written and directed by 2 Australian brothers. Both movies deal with body possession as well. Also worth mentioning is that the Sunday box office haul during its opening weekend was $666,666! Too good to be true, but it's the truth!

Synopsis. The year is 1977. Late night talk show host Jack Delroy has an opportunity to make a huge comeback after his show Night Owls declines in popularity and he loses his wife to lung cancer. This comes in the form of having a 13-year-old girl as a guest, one who is possessed by a demon. It makes for provocative TV, despite the horror that ensued. I had read the movie was described as "The Exorcist meets Network." I haven't seen Network, but I've seen The Exorcist. It definitely feels inspired by The Exorcist, simply because the possessed victim is a girl, and she does some familiar things to the one in The Exorcist. That in itself is not a new concept, but the movie set itself apart from the period it was set in as well as the live TV environment. It's "found footage" in the sense that this particular Halloween episode of Night Owls is shown to the viewer through all major aspects. You see the show as if you're an audience member intermixed with behind-the-scenes sequences, which of course were black-and-white. The movie feels old school and familiar, yet refreshing at the same time. High praise, but it somewhat reinvents the wheel. Seriously, the '70s talk show vibe does so much to set this movie apart. There's nothing like it among other modern horror movies. What I also appreciate about the movie is that the main cast is not filled with young people. That is very common and sometimes tiring. Talk To Me was such a movie, referencing that again. Here you have 40-50-somethings and the possessed kid.

Some other things I want to comment on before focusing on the characters. First of all, the production credits. Holy fuck, so many cooks in this kitchen. There were so many production companies tied to this movie that displaying them all one by one took 1 minute and 40 seconds! There's a bit in Family Guy where Peter and Brian go to a movie theater and Peter says he doesn't know if the movie is starting because a production credit throws him off. That bit was much shorter than this movie's opening production credits compilation. The second thing to mention is that I wanted to watch this late at night. Yeah, late at night watching Late Night with the Devil. I watched it a little after midnight, and then early in the movie, Jack Delroy was mentioned as the King of Midnight or something along those lines. So, it felt more right to watch the movie at that time. Anyway, I'll talk about the characters in this movie.

Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) - I know I've seen the man before. He had a familiar face. A quick look at IMDB revealed that he was in The Dark Knight. Dastmalchian seemingly had a career consisting mostly of small roles. Here he leads the movie as the host of a talk show who wants to beat Johnny Carson in the ratings. The show never succeeded in that, so the prospect of doing that through pretty much exploiting a possessed girl was something Delroy and the producer of Night Owls wanted. The story develops to where Jack Delroy has some substantial links to certain characters in this story, beyond the ones part of the show and his deceased wife. The movie in general succeeds in taking you on a ride, like you're watching a gripping episode of TV, only no cliffhanger makes you curious about the next episode. It's one-and-done. The TV ride feeling includes the fact that the show would go to commercial breaks, which is somewhat done for the movie, as in you get some breaks as things build up. Then you're brought back and more developments come.

Anyway, back to Dastmalchian, he carried this movie! He plays a talk show host, having the charisma and energy of a very good one. No safe blandess like Jimmy Kimmel, or cringe crap like Jimmy Fallon. I'd say more like Conan O'Brien if he was a bit of a slimy asshole. Another comparison, which was a bit inescapable for me, Dastmalchian sounded like Tom Cruise. He doesn't go overboard like Tom Cruise doing an outburst, just the basic foundation of his voice sounds similar. Given that this is a horror movie, a role like this is very rare. The closest you get is a parody of a talk show character, and they'd be in a segment with the main character. Here, he is the main character and he's not a joke at all. This is a very serious movie. Part of the ride this movie takes you on is the peeling back of the layer or two of Jack Delroy. At first, he seemed like a talk show host who was driven and loved his job, but things took a turn when his wife passed away. Still, you might think that his personality wouldn't take a drastic turn. The movie takes it steady in revealing Delroy to be slimy and exploitative. Even when the shit was starting to hit the fan, he wanted to keep things going. He would fall in that trashy media stuff, but the event where he declines in decency is one with a damn demon!

Dastmalchian was very captivating, he was able to embody the role very well. Since the movie's passed off as a found footage kind of thing, it is important that the acting is strong to where it's more than a person playing a role. Dastmalchian became that role. Great casting too because he looked very right as a talk show host. The movie does delve into the arguably unbelievable, but he as a character is believable. That's a major positive for the movie, the characters are believable while the story gets crazy and supernatural.

While Dastmalchian has been a journeyman actor, I would like to think of Jack Delroy as a star-making role for the man. Whether it be sticking to the horror genre or tackling different genres, I hope the guy continues to get some meaty roles. He showed here that he can carry a movie. The rest of the cast is very good, but it's essentially a 1-man show here. Oh yeah, he dressed well, brown was the predominant color. I'm not sure if that was the ideal color for a Halloween special, but it still worked for me. He did wear other colors, but that was in scenes set on different days. The present-time stuff was him in the brown suit. I didn't expect the story to be so personally tied to Jack Delroy, but it worked well. Going into detail would be spoilers, so I'll stop there. Once again, great performance, Dastmalchian was a major part of why this movie hits for me.

June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) - She's a parapsychologist and author of the book "Conversations with the Devil," which is why she and the subject of the book were invited as guests of the show. There was a bit more to June specifically, BTS stuff in a way, but I won't spoil that. Laura Gordon looked familiar, but I'm not sure if I watched her. Quite a few of the actors here are Australian, so it's likely I'm not familiar with them. Anyway, she looked nice and did a fine job. She would essentially act as a warning about bad things coming if Delroy wanted to continue showing off the demon-possessing Lily. She would cave and show a brief demonstration but of course, that wouldn't be all you see of this evil force. I liked the back-and-forth she had with skeptic Carmichael Haig. That was a major reason for why Delroy wanted the demon to be summoned, to shut down Haig's skepticism. I could say more about June, but that's some spoiler territory.

Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss) - Probably second place in best acting performance in the movie. He used to be a magician but transitioned to being a professional skeptic, for lack of a better term. Haig reminded me greatly of James Randi. He was also a magician who would go on to expose psychics. You can see many examples of that in several Chodmunch YouTube videos. Randi and this character would offer money for psychics to prove that they're legit. Both guys pointed out the possibility of psychics guessing things right once in a while, but that it's not enough to prove them wrong. I assume James Randi was doing his thing in the '70s, he was in his 90s when he died, so it would line up. I know of stuff he did in the 80s and onward. A major difference between Randi and Haig is that the latter is a bit of a prick! Whereas Randi was very matter-of-fact in his stuff, Haig was very condescending. It was pretty entertaining for me, kind of a guy you love to hate. To be fair, the fact he's a skeptic isn't an issue at all. I would be on his side if he wasn't such a prick. I wanted him to be wrong, and there was a point where it was so undeniable that he was wrong, but a swerve happened! He was a skeptic through and through, you have to respect the man for being so steadfast...or stubborn. The guy was also a talented hypnotist, and he would prove that in the movie. He also did some cool little magic tricks. I find it fascinating that magicians can shoot down stuff and be very skeptical. Criss Angel did that as well, a Chodmunch video showed that off. I wonder if Carmichael was named after Sid Haig. He was a prolific character actor in the 70s, bald with facial hair, maybe. The name certainly sounds old. Carmichael Haig, nobody is called that now. Anyway, very good performance.

Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) - He's a psychic and would be the first target for Haig. Christou's voice immediately made me question if this was a hammy performance. He sounded European, maybe Italian, but certainly sounded like a cartoon character. When I looked up the actor, the name looked Middle Eastern, but it turned out the guy's Australian. So the actor was definitely putting on a voice, the question then became if the character knowingly put on this voice or if it's his natural speaking voice. The movie answered that question, and I'm satisfied with that. It wasn't front and center for the viewing, but I think if you listen a little closely, and have headphones on maybe, you can pick up on what the deal is with this guy. Since I brought up James Randi when it comes to Carmichael Haig, maybe Christou is similar to a famous psychic. My guess would be Uri Geller, but it could just be a general thing. He certainly didn't look like Uri Geller, one of his tricks was bending spoons. Christou specializes in communicating with the dead and I don't know if Geller did that. I suppose Christou's communication with the dead is similar to John Edward or Sylvia Browne. His special ability would make one raise an eyebrow at first, but as things started to cook in the movie, Christou would tap into something he didn't anticipate. Kind of a small role compared to other cast members, but an important one in essentially introducing the demonic force that would be front and center later in the movie. For better or worse, I'll most remember Christou's goofy voice when it comes to that character.

Lilly D'Abo (Ingrid Torelli) - This is the girl who was possessed by a demon. The demon isn't Pazuzu by the way. She has quite a traumatic history, but talks like someone who is a devout cult follower, if that makes sense. Oh right, she was part of a cult, the voice makes more sense then. There is a facade of innocence and openness displayed by the girl, but deep down, you can tell shit is going to go down. When the demon makes their entrance, the voice of Lilly changes. I think it's sound editing work, not a different actor doing the voice like in The Exorcist. She was pretty decent, but once you see Linda Blair's performance in The Exorcist, it's hard to feel like anyone since she can take the creepy kid crown. Lilly called the demon inside her, "Mr. Wriggles." The thing's real name was never shared. Thinking about it for a bit, when Lilly is talking and the demon is not in control, she sounds effectively creepy. She doesn't seem to blink much, so you get her pale blue eyes burning a hole in you. There was one moment just as they went to the commercial break when the camera got close to Lilly's face and she was very scared. You would lose a staring contest against her. She survived a cult by the way. The leader of the cult was Szandor D'Abo (Steve Mouzakis) by the way. I don't remember if he's biologically related to Lilly. Anyway, the casting of Ingrid Torelli was great here, she sticks out a bit, which is an accomplishment since this archetype has been visited so frequently.

Gus McConnell (Rhys Auteri) - He's Jack's sidekick, and with my lack of talk show knowledge, I'll label Gus as the Andy Richter to Jack's Conan. He delivers some zingers like Andy Richter and he's pretty chubby. There is a live band on set and Gus is by them, playing some instrument that doesn't require your hands, a theremin. As Jack said, it sounded like what you get when tuning a car radio. Gus also had a devil cape and horns, dressing up for the Halloween show. He becomes front and center toward the third act and it leads to a major highlight in the movie's visual effects. Like June, Gus would try to get Jack to cancel the show and not do another conjuring, but that didn't work. Another decent character here.

Madeleine Piper (Georgina Haig) - Maybe Carmichael Haig was named after Madeline Piper. Whatever the case, she plays the wife of Jack Delroy. She was seen a few times, including as a guest on Night Owls where you see the two say they love each other and Jack cry a bit. This was on her decline from lung cancer. Toward the end of the movie, there's a very memorable scene with her and Jack that gave me an "aha" moment. She did a nice job acting like a cancer patient. Weird to say but that's pretty much all she did in this movie.

Leo Fiske (Josh Quong Tart) - He's the producer of Night Owls. He had the look of a producer. Kind of overweight, big curly afro, and glasses. He's mostly seen in the black-and-white sequences since they represent the behind-the-scenes look. Like Jack, he's all about the Nielsen ratings and wants to keep pursuing the demon conjuring. Not much more to say, he's a douche.

Narrator (Michael Ironside) - The opening sequence of the movie features a narrator telling the rise and ongoing fall of Jack Delroy. Always a treat when a movie has Michael Ironside, even though he only provides a voice. It would've been cool if his voice was used throughout the movie, but alas.

Phil (Christopher Kirby) - Minority report! He was the only Black person in the movie, he worked behind the scenes. Line producer, head camera guy, I'm not sure. I'm only shouting him out because of the fact he's a token black character. He does have some lines, but he's a very minor character.

Moving away from the characters, the movie mentions some famous names, helping to establish the 70s era they are in. Johnny Carson was mentioned the most, for obvious reasons. His show was the biggest competition for Night Owls. Ed and Lorraine Warren were mentioned, obviously, younger audiences know them through the Conjuring movies. That was about it in terms of famous names, but I kind of wanted a Cher mention. I don't know why.'

A huge part of this movie is the work done to capture the 70s feel as well as the visual effects. The art department deserves major props for what they did here. The equipment, the set, and even the locations you get brief looks at through archival footage and pictures look cool as well. The editing in the movie is very nice, the Cairnes brothers pulled triple duty in the movie. I think they used a digital filter in editing to give that fuzzy '70s feel, but it looked nice regardless. I think Black Dynamite made the 70s look better because they used actual equipment from that decade, but this movie comes very close. The practical effects include some gory moments. I think the body horror sequence in the movie was practical. It looked disgusting! CG was used, which you can tell with some split-second images that beg for pausing and rewinding. That's a positive for watching this at home instead of the theaters, I spent a little bit of time pausing and going back to moments to confirm that I saw split-second images. It worked in making the viewer pay close attention to the movie. CG was likely used for when the demon comes out full force, but it didn't look too fake. You can imagine it existing in a 70s horror movie, or maybe Poltergeist. It does suck that AI-generated images were used. Obviously, they looked the least impressive. They were made to fit the 70s feel with a smoothed-out definition, but they still pop out too much. Apparently, the SXSW premiere of the movie didn't feature AI art, so I would like to watch that version. I don't want to harp on this a lot, but it really feels like a middle finger to the crew who worked on all the visuals for the movie. Now knowing the SXSW version didn't have AI art, it feels like a George Lucas-style edit where it was AI instead of CG. While the year is still young, I am hoping/predicting that this movie will get Oscar nominations in set design at least. Visual effects? Maybe, editing is a possibility as well. Costuming would be cool too, but the most important one would be set design. I can't expect more award nominations since horror doesn't get that kind of love from the Academy.

As far as music, there aren't any major instrumentals in the movie. Some pieces that you can believe are from the 70s, the live band in Night Owls, of course, some thumping bass at times. It's all flavorful. None of the music takes center stage, but it hangs in the background very well in places.

I had read a headline where David Dastmalchian answered questions related to the movie. Apparently one was if the Devil was in the audience. I didn't look into that because it's probably just speculation anyway, even from the lead actor of the movie. It's like asking Kurt Russell what happens at the end of The Thing, it's left to your imagination pretty much. I think knowing this question was asked made me look at a certain member of the audience kind of intensely. It was one who Jack interacted with but didn't say anything. It should be easy to recognize who that is. It's basically a fan theory, it doesn't really enhance the movie since this character doesn't do anything but sit and stand. Still, it's a cool fan theory. It's nice to see Dastmalchian act as a representative for the movie, similar to how Robert Englund is front and center in talking about Nightmare on Elm Street. This is a movie that will likely have a long shelf life and be remembered fondly (apart from the AI) in modern horror history.

I was very excited to watch the movie, and I'm happy to say that the movie didn't disappoint me. Unfortunately, the AI use might be a distracting black mark in the movie, but from what I've read on Letterboxd and elsewhere, people are focusing on the merits and not trashing the movie just on the AI use. If the AI use was more egregious, then shitting on it would be more valid. That's what I expected to happen after Drake recently dropped a diss track against Kendric Lamar and used an AI Snoop Dogg and fucking Tupac. The biggest male musical artist in the world using AI, that's a fucking dangerous precedent. Sorry, that got me on a tangent but I wouldn't have any other opportunity to rant about that here. Still, I can't give a 10/10 to a movie that used AI, even if it was supposedly still images. Well, even without the AI, my grade would remain the same. This is a great movie that I recommend any horror fan to give a try. I can't guarantee that you'll love it as much as I did, my rating is higher than the average one on Letterboxd, for example, but I just enjoyed the ride so much. It's not very scary to me, but it's very exciting. From start to finish, the movie grabbed my attention. Even while I was yawning a lot toward the end and got very tired, the movie still kept me engaged, especially when I had that "aha" moment. It's certainly no risk to your time, the movie's only 92 minutes, definitely a treat. Admittedly, I was torn on an 8.5 or 9/10, but right now, I'm feeling...

9/10

PS: This year might be a good one for horror. Two movies I'm looking forward to immensely are MaXXXine and Terrifier 3.

[sledge]

WIKIPEDIA Entry

Great - i like such stories with those twists

I give it a 9 out of 10

[sledge]

WIKIPEDIA Entry

Some typical danish film with some very funny moments - Ratko and Vuk

I give a 7.5 out of 10

[Immy]

Civil War (2024) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17279496

IMDb plot: A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

[First Viewing]

It was a deliberate decision to not disclose the cause of the fighting, which was a good choice. It allowed you to concentrate on the most fucked-up American road trip you'll ever witness. A few devastatingly harrowing and tension-filled scenes punctuate this nightmarish film, another winner from director Alex Garland, who's sadly taking time away from the camera to focus on writing. 8/10

[victor meldrew]

Battle of Britain (1969)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064072...of%2520britain

[Wendigo]

Eyes of the Werewolf (1999)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0191121


An odd low budget film that opens with hunters chasing a werewolf, one that falls to ordinary bullets and not silver. They take the head to a dodgy doctor who wants eyes for some reason.
Cut to a hospital bed and Rich Stevens wakes up and learns he has had an eye transplant after losing his sight after a bargain basement lab experiment went wrong.
He may be blond but the buxom nurse proves his other functions still work. On release he finds his wife has been cheating on him with his best friend and whilst channel hopping to release his frustration starts to change, yes lycanthropy can be passed through operations
The tattiest werewolf ever goes on a killing spree set against low budget CGI graphics.
Don't expect anything that could pass for professional and just enjoy the lame story and micro budget effects for what they are.
Who's a randy little werewolf then

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpnDgOriTB0

[Wendigo]

Frankenstein '80
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071518


So you are driving along and hear a new report about a doctor who has a radical new serum for preventing transplant rejections. Quick pause whilst a murder happens and someone is collecting organs, then we find you laid on the side of the road after a car crash and the medics think they can help if they take you to Dr Schwarz
The bad news is there is a sick woman in the clinic who needs an urgent heart transplant, don't you wish you had driven more carefully?
When the serum is stolen and the female patient dies her brother, a reporter, starts to investigate the theft.
There then follows a quick succession a series of murders of women buy a strange scarred man called Mosaic who removes organs. The movie title sort of answers what he is.
Funnily enough there is a Dr Frankenstein at the clinic, could he be connected to the murders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atu82nK2cZw

[Sir Honkers]

Interstate 60. As a result of a birthday wish, a young man, confused about what he wants to do with his life, goes on a fantastical roadtrip down an non-existent interstate. I'm not sure whether it's an underrated gem or an overlong turkey. It would have been better at 80 minutes than the two hours it goes for.

[cylnz]

Way of the Dragon and Enter the Dragon

With beer n chips (I'd have popcorn but forgot to buy it.)