My second Hooptober film was Late Night with the Devil. Like The Substance, I watched this before knowing about the challenge, but it does give me another country – Australia, so it’s not a total loss.
Late Night with the Devil
A live broadcast of a late-night talk show in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.
I have to admit, I’d forgotten that Late Night with the Devil used AI images and had I not, I would have skipped it. Apparently they only used them for the interstitial images, but the opening TV shot looked sketchy as well. Perhaps it was just bad CGI. Either way, it’s disappointing that they didn’t just pay an artist to create images for their film.
Ignoring the crappiness of using AI, it’s a solid film. The central conceit of a talk show host trying to revitalize his career by exploiting a possessed young girl was a refreshing departure from most possession films, and things moved quickly enough that it didn’t lose momentum despite the constrained set up.
I don’t know if it was intended to be a commentary on talk shows and their guests, but there’s an underlying shittiness to all the characters – pretty much everyone is willing to abandon their values for their own benefit. If you’re the sort of person who needs someone to root for in order to enjoy a film, you aren’t going to find anyone here.
Things did fall apart at the end and my enjoyment dipped, but overall Late Night with the Devil is a decent, although not particularly horrific, film. The AI interstitials are crap, though.
I’ve heard talk of another film with a similar premise on Shudder that’s better, but I foolishly didn’t make a note of it. I’ll have to do some digging.
[Hooptober 11 – Late Night with the Devil by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 21st October 2024]