Edition #031: Late Night With The Devil
If Earth swallows us whole, I apologize in advance
Late Night With The Devil (2023) (LNWTD) is special because I watched it with my younger brother, a budding horror fan, and although it probably wasn’t the best to build his interest in the genre — a bit atmospheric, a bit slow, a bit subtle — it was certainly entertaining.
I have no personal foothold in 70’s talk shows, so I had to take the vibe for what it was. I love TV. I love Halloween. I love the stakes of live viewership. I love the satanic panic. There’s a lot to love here.
And while I didn’t dig the exposition dump at the end, I did thoroughly enjoy the full-on full-on-ness of what goes down at midnight — on live TV, filmed in front of a live studio audience.
What’s the deal?
Jack Delroy is a late-night TV host, and his viewership is tanking. To boost ratings, he puts on an occult-themed Halloween special. His special guests include a psychic, a magician, a parapsychologist, and a possessed child named Lilly.
As the night progresses, things spiral, and Jack can no longer keep his demons at bay. It turns out he made a pact with the devil, sacrificing his wife’s soul in exchange for fame and success.
In an orgiastically violent final sequence, he watches Lilly slaughter all of the show’s guests — only to snap back to reality and realize that he’s the one with blood on his hands.
Was the broadcast ever really spiraling out of control, or were we trapped in Jack’s guilt-ridden psyche all along?
I can’t stop thinking about...
This is an 89-minute movie that runs in real time — cool.
There’s something about the uber-specific pacing and tension-building required for something to run in real time. When it’s pulled off, it’s exhilarating.
Not many movies attempt it, and fewer do it well. But there’s plenty of room in horror, especially in the found footage genre, for real-time: Rec, Paranormal Activity, even parts of Creep.
What’s more terrifying than watching something go wrong live?
We, the audience, are watching LNWTD, just like Jack’s audience is watching his fictional special. We sit transfixed, our eyes superglued to the screen, the same way people do during real moments of live TV disaster.
My mind goes to 9/11, of course. The Challenger disaster. Someone throwing shoes at George Bush. The Max Headroom signal hijacking.
TV is scripted. Even when it's not, it is. There is order. Comfort. Things aren’t supposed to go wrong. And when they do, it’s more unsettling than when things go wrong in real life.
Because when things go wrong on screen, we’re reminded that we’re not safe, that a script will not keep us safe, and that appearances are just that: appearances.
And yet, we can’t turn away.
And that’s the ultimate irony: when the illusion cracks, we’re more gripped, more entertained, than we ever could have been otherwise.
Isn’t that the point of doing it live?
Dear god, don’t let the show go wrong.
Dear god, let the show go wrong.
Whatever gets my ratings up,
Horrorshow Jane
Loved this movie. There's one called Ghostwatch. Done by the BBC in the 80s that has a similar set up. It was very controversial at the time and is still worth a watch.