Late Night with the Devil is a 2024 horror film written and directed by Australian brothers Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes.
The duo is popular for their works like 100 BLOODY ACRES (2012), and Scare Campaign (2016). Their debut film, 100 Bloody Acres received good reviews including claiming the title of “best low-budget horror comedy since Shaun of the Dead …”
The film was almost hidden under the chaos of other mainstream films and the awards season, but since the release of the trailer fans can’t stop themselves from talking and discussing the promising plot of the film where Devil decides to take a stroll during a Late Night tv show when he possesses a girl named Lilly. And that is not something that happens every day, as the ratings must have skyrocketed but at what cost?
“Brilliant, I couldn’t take my eyes off it.”- Stephen King
David Dastmalchian
David Dastmalchian is an American film and Televisión actor predominantly known for his roles in The Dark Knight (2012), Oppenheimer (2023), The Ant-Man franchise, and The Flash.
David, in an interview with the Hollywood reporter, shared how the late night with the devil reminded him of Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight. He shared, “The Cairnes brothers sent me a bunch of footage that they accumulated of Don Lane.
He was the Johnny Carson of Australian television. He did this famous interview with Tom Waits and a lot of people think Heath Ledger took inspiration from it for his portrayal of The Joker, the likelihood of shared inspiration] is pretty cool, and it’s also the cyclical nature of being a storyteller and the strange path that it’s followed”
Late Night with the Devil
The film set in 1977 follows the story of a Late-night talk show host Jake Delroy played by David Dastmalchian. Jake is the host of the popular show ‘Night Owls with Jake Delroy’. His show was a fan favorite and at the top for a while but got into a viewership competition with the third reiteration in the late-night show franchise ‘The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson’ and lost its viewership when the production of the show was halted for a brief period.
After he returns to the show he is under pressure to bring back the ratings and viewership right back to before when he took a short break from work to cope with his wife Melissa’s demise.
His wife’s death had a drastic effect on him but he decides to continue work and comes up with an idea to boost the TRP. Unfortunately, his idea was not a conventional one; it had some major repercussions.
On 31 October 1977, on the occasion of Halloween, he decided to do an occultism-themed episode which took an interesting turn after the devil himself made a guest appearance.
The guest list for the show included the psychic Christou, Magician Carmichael, parapsychologist June Ross-Mitchell, and her subject Lilly. Lilly is believed to be the lone survivor of a Satanist church’s mass suicide.
During the broadcast, even after getting various signs, Jack asks June to try to commune with the Devil and guess what the Devil doesn’t leave them hanging he replies and takes control of Lilli’s body.
Box Office Record and AI Controversy
The film has garnered attention not just because of the record that it has set, the film has made around $2.8 million in its opening weekend which marks it the first ever IFC film to ever do so. Recently, the film has also faced criticism for promoting the use of AI images.
The film has used AI-generated art which has become a topic of discussion in Hollywood. The creators have finally shared that they have “experimented with AI” to make sure it has a more aesthetic vibe,
“In conjunction with our amazing graphics and production design team, all of whom worked tirelessly to give this film the 70s aesthetic we had always imagined, we experimented with AI for three still images which we edited further and ultimately appear as very brief interstitials in the film.
We feel incredibly fortunate to have had such a talented and passionate cast, crew and producing team go above and beyond to help bring this film to life. We can’t wait for everyone to see it for themselves this weekend.
