Late Night with the Devil (2023)
Time: 1h 30mins
Directors: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
Quick Summary: In 1977 a live television broadcast goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.
Gus' fear of worms is completely justified.
This is one of the most interesting watches I've had this year, but I wish it did more with what it had. It just didn't feel like we got enough information for it to be satisfying. So many things were left unanswered and open. Everything that is placed in front of you throughout the runtime is so stylistic and interesting, but they're barely talked about, let alone acknowledged any of the plotholes.
It's slow in places when it's trying to build up events or set up for the ending. The beginning had an incredible setup and overall I found this really engaging, but it lost me during the ending. It definitely was way too quick. For how slow it mostly, the ending was over in a blink and when it ended I remember saying, "Is that it?".
This very much reminded me of a late-night show from the 70’s and I loved the aesthetic, everything about the set and fashion and design and cutaways here all felt so much like the 70's. I will ignore that the cutaways are AI, yes it's terrible they used it and didn't hire artists for them, but honestly, who cares. It's just a few cutaways. Give me more of the '70s being obsessed with satanic rituals and the devil.
The performances are genius. Dastmalchian absolutely chews up the entire fucking set and it is so brilliant to watch. If he was an actual host for a TV show, I would be watching it every night it aired. He sells the charisma and the gradual terror that invades him as things go haywire. Laura Gordon’s Lilly was so relatable with that completely dead inside fake smile. Creeped me the hell out every time she would stare down straight into the camera.
Personally, the humour was a little hit-and-miss for me. Obviously going along with the setting, it was safe for TV. Nothing extremely laugh-out-loud, but a few little witty comments or jabs at other people. Almost like a stand-up comedy at times.
It's such a shame this was a little disappointing by the end. It's crazy and insane what happens, and it is something I will probably watch again next Halloween, but it feels a bit wasted with its potential.
7/10
"Jack Delroy: Ladies and gentlemen, please stay tuned for a live television first... as we attempt to commune with the devil."
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