Late Night with the Devil
Directed and written by Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli
Runtime: 1 hour and 33 minutes
Rated R
Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-Ray and DVD
Purchase here

by “Doc” Hunter Bush, Staff Writer

Synopsis:

Late Night with the Devil is presented as a recording of a live broadcast of the talk show Night Owls from the Halloween of 1977 that goes off the rails, exposing viewers across the country to the unobscured supernatural (...or does it?). In some preamble presented in a documentary style, we learn that Night Owls host Jack Dorsey (David Dastmalchian) has recently dealt with the death of his wife and is dedicating his Halloween broadcast to exploring his supernatural interests.

Jack's guests on this historic, doomed (...or is it?) broadcast include a dubious psychic named Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), magician-turned-professional debunker Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), author and parapsychologist June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), and 13 year-old Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), who may or may not be possessed by some kind of entity and is the subject of June's latest book Conversations with the Devil.

As the film goes on, things on the show come to a boiling point, drawing on Jack's personal tumult as much as the guests' until everything crescendos in a truly shocking manner...or does it?

What Features Make it Special:

Commentary with David Dastmalchian & Good Fiend Films' Leah Kilpatrick
Q&A with Directors Colin and Cameron Cairns
Behind the Scenes of Late Night with the Devil
Monster Shock Theater live with David Dastmalchian

Why You Need to Add it to Your Library:

If you're anything like me, this hits right in the sweet spot. Maybe several sweet spots. Classic talk shows, "lost" media, Halloween, the supernatural, the occult, James Randi (on whom Carmichael Haig is clearly based); each of these things on their own would catch my interest, but when combined into a finished product that’s this enjoyable? I'm there. To put it in the parlance of the film: I'm tuning in.

On top of that, David Dastmalchian is an actor that I'm just drawn to. The guy is clearly a horror fan, and I've enjoyed his work as a character and supporting actor, so finally getting to see him as the lead in something is a treat. He's great here also. That certainly doesn't hurt. I dig creativity and Late Night with the Devil has it in spades.

The feature length commentary and the Q&A are decently informative and very enjoyable. The stand out feature is the episode of Monster Shock Theater (presumably the show which aired immediately before the ill-fated episode of Night Owls, and also features Jack Dorsey as a guest. My only complaint is that it has commercial breaks but no commercials! I'm a sucker for classic commercials, so I'd have loved it if they'd included either legitimate era-appropriate ones or made some of their own! How fun would that be? From the sense I got, of everyone involved, I imagine they probably at least considered doing so.

The steelbook also comes with the Night Owls Audience Welcome Pack from October 31st 1977 which includes:

Night Owls air freshener
Signed Jack Dorsey headshot
Christou performance flyer
Conversations with the Devil bookmark