A devilishly fun 70s romp
What’s your idea of hell? That’s one of the questions posed in Late Night With the Devil, an inventive and thoroughly entertaining pulp horror movie.
What’s your idea of hell? That’s one of the questions posed in Late Night With the Devil, an inventive and thoroughly entertaining pulp horror movie written, directed and edited by Australian filmmaking brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes.
The siblings had a cult hit with the 2012 splatter comedy 100 Bloody Acres, starring Damon Herriman and Angus Simpson, which parodied films such as the 2005 outback murder fest Wolf Creek. The psychopath of that film, John Jarratt, was cast as a cop.
Their new film isn’t into splatter, though there are some gruesome scenes, or jump scares. The horror is both what we know – there’s a quip that Jimmy Carter is US president – and what we tell ourselves isn’t real but fear may be.
The framing device is a documentary that reveals the real story behind the “TV event that shocked the nation”. It’s all carried off brilliantly by the mainly Australian cast, especially Ian Bliss, who does some of the best eyebrow acting I have seen.
The time is 1976 and the setting is a Manhattan television studio. A late night talk show is going to air in front of a live audience. The host of Late Night Owls, Jack Delroy (American actor David Dastmalchian), is suffering a ratings slump. The documentary shows the taping of the show, on Halloween night, and behind-the-scenes footage during the commercial breaks. Jack warns the audience they are about to “commune with the devil”, but “first a word from our sponsors”.
The guests are all people who believe in paranormal powers and one former magician and hypnotist (Bliss) who leads a group of sceptics. “You no more have the power of divination,’’ he tells a medium, “than I resemble Burt Reynolds.
The showdown comes when a parapsychologist (Laura Gordon) and her 13-year-old demon-possessed ward (a brilliant Ingrid Torelli) agree to let the devil loose. “Is this a talk show or a f..king freak show,’’ the sceptic asks with theatrical flourish. What happens reopens that question about what is hell. It also asks who is the devil? Is it a demon inside a teenage girl, or the sceptic, or the talk show host himself, who has connections with an elite men-only club?
From the wide lapels costume design to the dialogue, this movie captures the 1970s as seen by the rock band Skyhooks. The horror movie, as Shirley Strachan sang, “is right there on my TV”.
Late Night With the Devil (MA15+)
93 minutes
In cinemas from April 11
★★★½