Late Night with the Devil
2023
***
Director: Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes
Cast: David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Fayssal Bazzi, Ingrid Torelli, Rhys Auteri, Georgina Haig, Josh Quong Tart, Nicole Chapman, Steve Mouzakis, Paula Arundell, Christopher Kirby, John O’May, Michael Ironside
In 1977, the Halloween night episode of the late-night talk show Night Owls with Jack Delroy features a self-proclaimed psychic and a possessed teenager. The live broadcast gradually descends into unsettling chaos. Like Woman of the Hour, the third feature by Colin and Cameron Cairnes recreates the look and feel of 1970s television to tell a fictional supernatural horror story. The events on the show are presented as found footage, intercut with scenes occurring during the commercial breaks. Although this all sounds like the basis for a fascinating and original film, the end result is oddly lifeless and surprisingly unengaging.
