David Dastmalchian has a great face. Since appearing like a sweaty specter in Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knight (2008), that pallid visage has been the subject of plenty of “Who was that guy?” conversations. For those who can’t be bothered to scan the credits for the mysterious, wryly smiling presence, Dastmalchian is just another in a long line of phantasmagorically alluring actors who have what they call in the biz “it.”
Despite appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Animals, which he also wrote and directed, Dastmalchian has often been relegated to secondary or tertiary roles, providing bolstering performances in Denis Villeneuve’sPrisoners (2013), James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021), and many more films that have thankfully offered a moment or two to spend with Dastmalchian, but did little to mine the innate charisma hiding behind those sad, knowing eyes.
Related
REVIEW: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s Pacing and Writing Hinder Its Potential
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire flounders with an uneven first half and a rushed climax, wasting a committed cast on an underwhelming legacy sequel.
Late Night with the Devil changes all of that. It’s been a long time coming, but Dastmalchian is now at the center of proceedings. In the film, he plays Jack Delroy, the host of a fictional late-night talk show, Night Owls with Jack Delroy, which has found discouraging competition in that ever-grinning ratings behemoth, Johnny Carson. Elsewhere, more important goings-on are taking place: the Vietnam War is forging ahead in its death march and landing on TV sets at home. More immediately, local crime, cults, and other sordid affairs are becoming must-watch spectacles on the evening news. Needless to say, Jack is having a hard time getting the ratings boost that he so desperately needs. Flash forward to 1977. Viewership is at an all-time low, and Jack’s wife, a non-smoker, has just died from lung cancer.
Late Night with the Devil begins with context-providing documentary and docufiction footage that sets the scene for the world. Through a tastefully brief but entirely informative bit of collage work, it’s immediately clear that Jack has to do something outrageous to break the pattern of having B- and C-list celebrities and animal wranglers providing mindless amusement. The fix? Play into the then-contemporary fixation on homegrown weirdos and charlatans who dabble in the paranormal. The found footage broadcast begins; what we’re about to see might astound us.
David Dastmalchian is a Natural-Born Talk-Show Host
Dastmalchian’s Jack Delroy is charismatic, but it’s his disarmingly weary gaze that compels us
It’s Halloween. Jack saunters on the stage and dives headlong into his family-friend horror monologue. A bat on a string bounces in front of the camera. The audience, dressed festively, knows the routine. Playing to the drummer, who provides emphasis on the right lines, looking over to his bemused sidekick, Gus (Rhys Auteri), Jack’s a natural. Still, early in the film, it’s abundantly clear that Dastmalchian could and should be a leading man; he’s got rhythm and that knowing of the sort that some friends have, whom you can look over to and immediately see that it’s time to do something more fun. This vibrancy Dastmalchian brings to Jack tells us he’s just as skeptical of the guests’ otherworldly abilities as we are.
Related
REVIEW: Imaginary Offers Uncanny Pleasures From Beyond
Blumhouse’s Imaginary, from writer-director Jeff Wadlow, is an uncannily off-putting experience that provides real thrills despite not being scary.
The first guest of the evening is the mononymous Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), a psychic who will go into the audience and proffer keenly specific insights into individual lives. The first attempt is a misfire, a fumbling feeling around that crystal ball psychics use to get closer to the correct name. Wait, don’t tell me. Does it begin with a…B? The second attempt is a lot weirder. Christou finds a mother and daughter sitting in the front row and uncovers some shocking truths that would only be privy to close family members. Then things get weirder still.
Next up is Carmichael Haig, aka Carmichael the Conjurer (Ian Bliss), a former magician who gets his jollies exposing people like Christou for who they really are. Carmichael has none of the audience-friendly finesse of Penn & Teller, whose own debunking process is just as much about the allure of sleight-of-hand trickery. Carmichael pokes holes, pushes buttons, and does so with a smug, cigar-puffing smile. But it’s not long before even this devout non-believer is challenged.
Our next guests are a little more hardcore than the previous two: Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and Lilly (Ingrid Torelli). June is a parapsychologist who has just written a book covering her sessions with Lilly, the sole survivor of a Satanic sect’s mass suicide during a standoff with law enforcement. From here, Late Night with the Devil keeps moving and never looks back.
Almost the entirety of the film is set on-stage, with a few scenes highlighting the behind-the-scenes action, as seen through the TV cameras. Modestly budgeted, Late Night with the Devil thrives in its limitation and highlights how savvy the detail work is. The set is superb, bearing a mustard and brown palette that’s as inviting as it is dusty; it likely smells like cigarettes. As for the wardrobe, it’s top-notch, adding era-specific verisimilitude to the whole event. All of this is to say that Late Night with the Devil is hypnotic because of its ability to transport us to a hyper-specific ’70s locale — before transporting us even further into the unknown.
Related
REVIEW: Kung Fu Panda 4 Refuses to Grow Up
Kung Fu Panda 4 once again puts Po in the path of danger as he contemplates his Dragon Warrior status and finds a project in the thief Zhen.
David Dastmalchian’s performance, which could easily have just been harnessing his inner talk-show host, goes above and beyond, serving as our guide through this particular episode in the series’ history. With every subtle shift in facial expression, we, too, are curious about what’s a ruse and what is more malign in essence. As Dastmalchian’s Jack interviews his guests, we see him not only taking into consideration a kid-gloved approach to sensitive guests and sensitive subjects, but the performer, who has to put on a show for the audience. It’s a multi-layered performance for which Dastmalchian was born, and it’s a shame that Night Owls with Jack Delroy isn’t a regularly airing, supernaturally-tinged TV series.
Co-written, co-directed, and co-edited by brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Late Night with the Devil is a small but wily film with a distinctly handmade feel. Once things go haywire, it becomes a non-stop stream of crafty, often effective, effects work that is becoming all too rare in contemporary viewing. It’s only when things go from 10 to 11 that some of the overreliance on computer-enhanced imagery becomes burdensome, drawing attention to the craft in a bad way.
Despite a Telegraphed Finale, Late Night with the Devil is Thrilling
Light on actual scares, it’s the handmade qualities that appeal most
But Late Night with the Devil moves at a gallop, never once letting up until the credits roll, so it’s hard to linger on the faults for too long. It operates in an 86-minute sweet spot that never gets too high on its own craftiness and offers plenty to catch the ear and eye. The Cairnes brothers’ melodious script, with its syncopated bursts of surprise, is the film’s core strength, but it’s Dastmalchian’s ringleader performance that drives it all home.
Ultimately, Late Night with the Devil asks us whether a horror film should be scary or if being swept up in its energy is enough to satisfy hungry viewers. With an ending that many will likely see coming from a long way off and scares that have been defanged by cinematic overabundance, the prime reason to spend time with this film is to bear witness to a performance delivered by one of the great underutilized actors of modern moviegoing. Hopefully, Late Night with the Devil will find an audience, particularly the kind that signs the checks, and Dastmalchian will be booked up ’til kingdom come.
Late Night with the Devil is in theaters on March 22, and will appear on Shudder sometime in the near future.
Late Night With the Devil
A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.
- Director
- Cameron Cairnes , Colin Cairnes
- Release Date
- March 22, 2024
- Cast
- David Dastmalchian , Laura Gordon , Ian Bliss , Fayssal Bazzi , Ingrid Torelli , Rhys Auteri , Josh Quong Tart , Georgina Haig
- Writers
- Colin Cairnes , Cameron Cairnes
- Runtime
- 86 Minutes
Pros
- David Dastmalchian is an innately alluring performer
- The film never overstays its welcome
- There limited setting and smaller budget allow for greater inventiveness in the storytelling
Cons
- Despite being entertaining, it’s not very scary
- The grand finale features some deflating CGI
