On August 29, cinemas started showing the supernatural horror in the «found footage» «Late Night with the Devil» format, which was extremely well received by the social network «X» Stephen King. In addition, the film received 97% «freshness» on Rotten Tomatoes based on 228 critics’ reviews. In the review below, we analyze whether this horror film deserves such a positive perception and tell you how the creators used the help of artificial intelligence.
Genre horror movie about the supernatural
Directors Cameron Kearns, Colin Kearns
Starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Faisal Buzzi, Ingrid Torelli, Georgina Haig, Christopher Kirby, Ian Bliss
Premiere movie theaters
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb
On the night of Halloween 1977, something terrible happened on the air of the popular American TV show «Nite Owls», with its permanent host Jack Delroy. It was a special episode dedicated to the occult and designed to bring back the project’s high ratings, which had recently begun to fall rapidly.
Having recovered from the terrible death of his wife from cancer, Jack is ready to rock the studio under the cameras and is determined to make a real sensation. But what started out as a fascinating immersion in the mystery of something supernatural ended up turning into a hellish reality show.
We can mention the outstanding post-horror films by Robert Eggers and Ari Aster, Ty West’s «X» trilogy, or some individual genre sensations, such as «Barbarian» (2022) by Zack Gregger, with whom «Late Night with the Devil» has joint producers. You don’t have to look far — in August alone, two definitely noteworthy horror films appeared in the Ukrainian box office — «The Devil’s Bath» and «Longlegs». Now, «Late Night with the Devil» joins this company, and it can be called one of the most inventive horror films of the year.
The viewer is also invited to plunge into a continuous celebration in an electronic box in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio of those times. In other words, we are really not watching a movie as such, but a real TV show from the 70s — in a beautiful studio, with the host’s witticisms, interesting guests, musical inserts and an analog picture corresponding to the era. And it must be said that it is absolutely impossible to tear yourself away from this retro show.
The point is that the Australian directors and screenwriters, brothers Cameron and Colin Cairns, sought not so much to scare the viewer as to recreate the authentic lighthearted atmosphere of old American late night shows. They diluted it with the mysterious infernality that roots in the cult «Exorcist».». And it worked. From the technical perspective, the film is perfectly executed, and this is supported by excellent acting, in particular, by David Dastmalchian, who is used to being interrupted by minor parts.
We can never know for sure what is a planned part of the show and what is a manifestation of something paranormal. Small commercial breaks can serve as clues, but instead of miracle detergents or pills, we are shown the backstage of the program. Then the frame is in the usual widescreen format, and the bright scenery is replaced by a monochrome image of the studio backstage.
The Kerns do not forget about the satire that concerns the price to be paid for fame, as well as the spectacle-hungry public and mercantile producers who are willing to do anything for high ratings. Today, such an accusation will be relevant for a certain category of content makers who are willing to alter their own appearance and film outright game on their iPhones for the sake of sensation and, accordingly, views and likes on social media.
In one of them, now called «X», in addition to Stephen King’s enthusiastic praise, there was a serious hysteria about the authors’ use of artificial intelligence. As the filmmakers admitted, it was done to refine three still images of photographs in order to better convey the aesthetics of the 70s. It is worth noting that this happened even before last year’s Hollywood strikes, one of the reasons for which was the regulation of the use of AI in cinema.
And the uncertain ending can also spoil the viewing experience, as it violates the atmosphere and is clearly out of step with the concept. It seems as if the screenwriters themselves did not know how best to finalize their idea.
On the whole, «Late Night with the Devil» — is a high-quality and inventive movie. But it could have been outstanding if not for the unfortunate factors that simply cannot be ignored.
