Ever since I was a child, horror movies have delighted me, and growing up in the “Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity” era, found footage has always had a special place in my heart. “Late Night with the Devil” is a supernatural, found-footage horror movie that came out this March.
“Late Night With the Devil” is a documentary-style movie about the 1977 Halloween Special of a late-night talk show called “Night Owls with Jack Delroy.” Jack Delroy, having lost his wife to cancer, strives to once again boost ratings by having a possessed girl on his show.
David Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy with Ingrid Torelli as Lily, the young possessed girl. Laura Gordon plays June Ross-Mitchell, a parapsychologist who doubles as Lily’s caregiver on the show. Finally, Georgina Haig plays the late Madeline Delroy, Jack’s wife.
The movie’s runtime is around an hour and a half, and the majority of the movie is the Halloween special in its entirety. Delroy hosts several guests on the special, including the renowned medium and psychic Christou, skeptic and former stage performer Carmichael Haig, June Ross and the sole survivor of a Satanic church Lily.
From the start of the Special, strange and unsettling occurrences plague the set. Before the audience can be introduced to the young Lily, Christou has a psychic vision about a woman named Minnie,throws up black liquid and is rushed to the hospital.
The main conflict of the film seems to be between Delroy, Haig and Lily. Haig continually attempts to disprove that Lily is possessed, but Delroy pushes Lily to embrace her demons to raise his ratings, while Lily is forced to let the demon torment her.
The main point of contention occurs after Lily levitates on stage, when Haig insists that Delroy staged Lily’s possession with hypnosis. After Haig does his own hypnosis demonstration it is revealed that Lily’s possession seems to be genuine. It is here that the movie gains its complexity with Delroy seeing the spirit of his wife behind him in the tape.
Haig grows increasingly upset and accuses Delroy of staging the entire special, before Lily once again becomes possessed. It is this last act of possession that ends the special. Lily’s head splits open and she kills Mitchell, Haig and Delroy’s assistant.
Delroy is transported to a nightmarish hell where it is revealed that he made a deal with the Devil for fame in exchange for his wife, causing her cancer. Delroy kills the ghost of his wife with a Satanic blade, only for the hell to fall apart and reveal that Delroy has stabbed Lily on live television.
The film is your average documentary-style horror film for the most part, but adds its own complex layer by playing with the question of ethical journalism.
Throughout the film, Delroy’s special seems to be more and more unethical. He is showing off a disturbed child and encouraging her to embrace the demon inside her on live television.
Delroy does not care about finding the truth or telling Lily’s story, but instead chooses to exploit a child for views. After it is revealed that Delroy traded his wife’s life for fame, directly causing her eventual death, Delroy’s actions go past unethical journalism and reveal a lust for fame.
Delroy is willing to give up his wife for his own notoriety, and his comeback Halloween Special is the way that he receives not fame, but infamy.
“Late Night with the Devil” is a formulaic, found-footage horror movie that uses a limited world and style to raise complex and interesting questions about the nature of ethical journalism and fame. I encourage horror fans to check out this movie any time of the year.