23.4.24
Late Night with the Devil works very well on two fronts – as a short, sharp horror movie, and as a vehicle to showcase David Dastmalchian’s leading man potential. Ever since his standout turn as Polka Dot Man in the brilliant Suicide Squad reboot, I’ve felt he deserves a chance to take centre stage. Well, now he has it.
Dastmalchian imbues the role of a late-night talk show host with a calm, understated confidence that makes him a natural fit. The film takes its time with the documentary-style setup but effectively builds an eerie, Halloween-themed atmosphere. While the supporting characters are thinly written due to the short runtime, they each get a moment to shine and add entertaining flourishes to the bizarre scenario that unfolds throughout the eventful evening.
I don’t want to spoil the highlight, but suffice it to say one character overshadows the others with a performance so intensely memorable it dominates the insane finale. Intriguing threads are dangled about Bohemian Grove, the real-life gentleman’s club with alleged occult links under its tall trees, as referenced by the film’s pseudo-villain. The only issue is it leaves you craving more, though that just lends the movie great rewatch value and sparks online discussions about potential satanic group involvement. It’s a very effective horror feature that again shows Shudder as a studio adept at reliably chilling features that offer many talking points.