Well, wrap me in tin foil and call me a conspiracy theorist, because Late Night with the Devil just turned my entire perception of reality into a kaleidoscopic nightmare! This movie is a such an audacious, fourth-wall-shattering mind prison that it makes The Truman Show look like a Disney channel original. No wonder that Writer/Director Colin Cairnes had problems with the production for his indie flick, who goes against Bohemian Grove? Well he did.
From the moment we open on a faux-documentary framing device investigating some unholy incident from a 1977 variety show taping, you just know Cairnes is setting us up for a wild, maze-like descent down the rabbit hole of meta-madness.
And boy, does this freaky little indie ever deliver on that delirious promise! We’re talking evil Satanists, possessed psychics puking black ooze, and so many whiplash-inducing reality bends, you’ll half expect Late Night’s crew to suddenly turn toward the camera and wink at you.
Watching Jack Delroy’s washed-up talk show host slowly get consumed – mentally and physically – by the same dark forces he arrogantly tried to harness for ratings is nothing short of harrowing. One minute, you’re laughing at his zany sidekick Gus falling victim to a hilariously cheesy hypnosis gag. The next, all hell has quite literally broken loose with human shish-kebab and demon portals glowing from inside a guest’s cracked skull.
Trying to unpack and rationalize all the swirling, Lynchian supernatural mania becomes a futile act of deranged desperation. Did Jack really make a soul-selling pact with the “Mr. Wriggles” entity back at that sinister Eyes Wide Shut-style campground years ago? Or was his wife Madeleine’s ghost merely a manifestation of his fractured psyche finally caving under the guilt of exploiting her fatal cancer for showbiz success?
Who the hell can say for sure by the time the sanity-shredding finale rolls around? Not this addled viewer, that’s for damn sure!
While the overall production value won’t blow anyone away, Cairnes’s ability to cultivate an excruciatingly tightening sense of claustrophobic, existential dread is downright masterful. The deeper you travel with Jack into this road-to-madness rabbit hole, the more suffocating and inescapable the nightmare feels. It’s like a million-layer matryoshka doll of harsh, psychological horror .
Look, I’ll be upfront – Late Night with the Devil is definitely not a movie for everyone. Its penchant for whiplash tonal shifts and brain-breaking ambiguity will undoubtedly turn some viewers off. But for us sick puppies who eat up demented meta-horror like this, it’s one hell of a depraved, surreal head-trip from start to devilishly unhinged finish.
Do yourself a favor and check your grasp on reality at the door. Late Night’s demonic path to the outer reaches of madness is not for the faint of heart or casual horror fan. For discerning horror masochists only!
