By Seth Lukas Hynes
Late Night With The Devil
Starring David Dasmalchian, Ingrid Torelli and Ian Bliss
MA15+
4.5/5
Late Night With The Devil is an enthralling, ingenious horror film from Australian brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes.
In 1977, TV host Jack Delroy (David Dasmalchian) invites Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), a young girl supposedly possessed by a demon, and her doctor June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) onto his late-night talk show.
Late Night With The Devil superbly recreates the rowdy, sensational vibe of seventies late-night television, and Dasmalchian is fantastic as Jack Delroy, a charismatic showman who figuratively sells his soul for ratings.
Torelli conveys a sweet, vulnerable yet subtly sinister persona as Lilly.
Ian Bliss is the rude voice of reason as Carmichael the Conjurer, a magician turned skeptic based on James Randi; not just a source of snarky commentary, Carmichael is a major player in the ever-worsening situation.
Late Night With The Devil features plenty of dry humour and a steady escalation of dread and intrigue.
The first act immediately catches us and Jack off-guard with startling turns, and the clever screenplay has you constantly question whether Lilly’s demonic possession and other spooky phenomena
are real or delusions, right until the ghastly climax.
This is a much better demonic possession-themed film than last year’s The Exorcist: Believer, but also the stylistic antithesis of Asteroid City (this is a weird comparison, but hear me out).
Like Asteroid City, Late Night With The Devil has layers of artifice, including a documentary framing device and the juxtaposition of colour and black-and-white behind-the-scenes footage, but still strives for realism and genuine tension, instead of Asteroid City’s self-sabotaging admission of fakeness.
A chilling, taut and tightly-written horror film, Late Night With The Devil is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
