Late Night with the Devil (2023)

Late Night with the Devil (2023). 1h 33m | R

“The opening narration does a great job at setting the tone for the rest of the film. It gives off that creepy mystery documentary vibe and it draws you into the story right away. The narration provides us with a quick summary about Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) without spending too much time building up his character. Usually that would be a negative but it does it in such an interesting way that we are automatically intrigued by the character. The narration also sets up the story perfectly by letting us know that we will be witnessing an episode from this late night talk show that goes horribly wrong.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe episode begins and we are entranced into this 70u0026#39;s talk show. It does feel like we are watching this show at home. With each guest being interviewed and building upon this Halloween episode. The host makes jokes and interacts with the live audience members and even cuts to commercial breaks. But instead of commercials we get insight into the behind the scenes footage of this programing. All of this builds the story and is fun to watch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDavid Dastmalchian delivers a very believable performance as a 70u0026#39;s late night talk show host. All of the cast does a great job and their chemistry helps to sell this story. The production design and the wardrobes are also well done.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhere the film fails is in its ending because the build up just didnu0026#39;t pay off. The ending feels rushed and the film could have benefited from a longer run time after it spent so much time building up this story. The ending isnu0026#39;t terrible but may seem confusing. Some might find the ending enjoyable but personally I thought the character Lily should have been explored more. The film seemed more terrifying when she was more of the focus. Instead the film downplays the horror elements and dishes out an overall theme of u0026quot;the price of fameu0026quot;. Not to mention there are also some scenes with special effects that seem dated and diminished the films early efforts.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI would still recommend this film but I expect many not to enjoy the ending.”