David Dastmalchian is primarily known as a character actor from films such as Dune Pt 1, Antman and The Boston Strangler. When I heard he was starring in this film I was very intrigued. Until I heard the name of it which is, Late Night With the Devil, then I was very excited. The whole concept of a horror film set during an episode of a late-night talk show fascinated me but because it is Dastmalchian I figured I’d give it a blind chance. Boy was I glad I did because this is one of the best indie horror films I’ve seen in a long time.

Jack Delroy (David Dastmalcian) is the host of Night Owls, a weekly nighttime talk show in 1977. The show is getting beaten every night in the ratings by Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show. After a rough time involving his wife’s death, he decides to go for broke and plans a Halloween episode with a medium, a book author, and a magician who tries to refute any talk or actions involving demonic possession.  When all hell breaks loose on the set of the episode it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.

The directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes create a genuine sense of dread in this film. The various characters that have a tie to the occult from an author who save a little girl, now a teenager named Lilly, to a psychic medium who connects to the undead to the magician who tries to refute all of the others are all interesting. Their backstories all add depth and layers to this film set in real-time. The time it would take to watch an episode of a real nighttime talk show.

With a limited budget, Destinatchian and company uses all the tricks they can muster to create real scares. make-up, voice-over, visual effects, and other things combine to scare the living crap out of audiences watching this movie, butt because it’s set in real time you feel like you’re part of the show. Everything that takes place is crazier than the next thing. They stack one wild scenario after another in this short hour and a half give or take a few minutes of the film.

The directors along with Dastmalchian as producer assembles a cast of relative newcomers for this film. This is a bonus to the story because we as the audience can be more focused on what’s going on in the studio rather than being worried about big-name actors giving good performances.  He is the main star and that’s all that the viewers need to concentrate on. All of the cast from bigger roles like the sidekick/announcer to the producer to the smallest roles like the cameraman or audience members are all solid. They are all believable in their roles of people who would be part of a nighttime talk show.

A key element of the story is a subplot involving a cult and how the host of the talk show has a connection to said cult. How this subplot plays into the main plot of the film is ingenious. The film allows all of the story beats to come full circle. He planted all these little seeds within the script and they became fully realized. The littlest thing you would think wouldn’t be important is important. The cold open narrated by Michael Ironside is important.  Every little detail of this story is important to the final product we see on screen.

Late Night With the Devil is a visceral experience that I will never forget. It’s a story I didn’t know could be so engaging and interesting until I started watching all the craziness unfold in front of my eyes. Dastmalcian does double duty as producer and star. He kills both of those roles. Even though he’s known as a character actor he’ll now be known as a filmmaker. A filmmaker who made a damn good horror film I can’t take my mind off of. It has stuck with me ever since I’ve seen it.  That’s when you know you saw a memorable film. This one is definitely a memorable movie I will never forget.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen