Jimmy Fallon doesn’t host mentalists or fork benders. Jimmy Kimmel would rather debate politicians than entertain an exorcist.
But, back in the 1970s, Jack Delroy was trying to make a name for himself by inviting all sorts of scare-meisters for a Halloween episode of his talk show, “Night Owls.”
Using plenty of TV techniques from the era (and referencing films that were big at the time), directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes do a great job of conjuring more than just the devil in “Late Night with the Devil.”
This is like a time capsule from the past, letting us wallow in the kind of “pull you in” drama Johnny Carson occasionally embraced.
Delroy (David Dastmalchian), however, has more on the line than Johnny did. If this episode scores in the ratings, he could become something more than an also-ran. To hedge his bets, he has an Amazing Randi-like pal, Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), to debunk some of the charlatans and a friend (Laura Gordon) who says a client has gone through a sort of possession.
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Together, they make a compelling Halloween late night.
As Delroy unleashes the guests (in a real Tom Snyder way), they try to make a case for their brand of demons.
During the breaks, the Cairneses use flashbacks to other aspects of Delroy’s life, including his late wife’s last days and his involvement in a cult that may be worse than anything he has on stage.
While there’s a “Blair Witch Project” feel to some of this, “Late Night with the Devil” seems like something “Network’s” UBS might have programmed. There’s a voiceover that’s suspiciously similar, too, and a hint of network brass just waiting to pull the plug. The doctor and the little girl, meanwhile, are right out of “The Exorcist.” Ingrid Torelli, who plays the girl, is about as Megan as a character can get without being Megan.
Roll them all together, include commercial breaks, watch as hell breaks loose, and you’ve got a horror film that would fit nicely next to “The Conjuring.”
Dastmalchian isn’t as charismatic as some of the hosts he’s suggesting but he doesn’t get in the way of his directors’ trek through dozens of familiar situations. He’s hosting the obvious; Bliss, though, is just right as the Randi surrogate.
When action calls for special effects, “Late Night” doesn’t quite deliver. It’s easy to see the makeup and the A.I. techniques that enable this to happen. Still, the film has a way of taking hold and making the subject matter matter.