I don't really think you can, or really should, talk about this movie without at least addressing it's use of AI in the creation of some of its images. Personally I do feel a bit disappointed that the filmmakers chose to take that step. It's not something I support and I don't think there are any justifiable reasons for its use in the creation of art. Having said that though I would rather a film of this scale and smaller budget use it in the creation of a few frames rather than a blockbuster of considerably more resources creating whole pages of dialogue or fully rendered scenes or sequences. I've been gratified at the intense response it's provoked here because the less acknowledgment it has the easier it'll be for studio heads to expand AI use in their future productions.
To the judge the film purely on its quality however, I thought this was a totally gripping experience and one of the most unique executions of a horror premise I've seen. I totally fell for the aesthetic these filmmakers were trying to create and I was frequently in awe at how successfully executed it was. It never felt like they were just going for a found footage format with a 70's filter over it. Everything from the grainy quality of the images and the slight echo added to all of the audio is done in aid of the recreation of this era of television. Although I was frequently impressed with it but thankfully more often than not I forgot about it and just became taken by the ride this movie takes you on.
It's not just the technical aspects either, the dialogue and character interactions feel so genuine and like they're ripped straight out of a classic episode of Johnny Carson or Dick Cavett. A lot of this success is also owed to David Dastmalchian who I've always loved as an actor in the usually smaller roles he's given and I got a total kick out of seeing him lead a film like this. He's essentially giving 2 performances; the on screen persona of a talk show host and the man we see behind the scenes and he pulls it all off perfectly. He manages to be funny and totally effecting in a way that made me never quite sure how to feel about the character and those are the kind of protagonists I really love, especially when it comes to horror.
My issues only really come down do how the directors deviate from the rules they establish for themselves. We frequently follow the character in the behind-the-scenes portions of the show and it isn't always handled with the same restraint that the on-air scenes are. Too often it felt like they resorted to normal shot compositions with a black-and-white filter and it did sometimes break the illusion the rest of the movie was going for. There's also a pretty large exposition dump that opens the film which felt like it was trying way too hard to deliver background on this character rather than spoon feeding it more naturally throughout the rest of the narrative. I also thought the third act went a little bit off the rails for what the rest of the film was trying to set up but I never didn't find it effective.
I truly think that the AI discourse should be, and needs to be, a part of the conversation surrounding this movie but I don't want that to eclipse just how fantastic it really is. I found this quite inspiring as a filmmaker and I have so much respect for the vision these directors went for with this film and just how well they executed it. After how many duds 2024 has given us so far, Dune: Part Two aside, seeing a film of this originality really made me happy. People craving originality in theirs movies really should be going out their way to see Late Night with The Devil because I've never seen a horror film quite like this one.
To the judge the film purely on its quality however, I thought this was a totally gripping experience and one of the most unique executions of a horror premise I've seen. I totally fell for the aesthetic these filmmakers were trying to create and I was frequently in awe at how successfully executed it was. It never felt like they were just going for a found footage format with a 70's filter over it. Everything from the grainy quality of the images and the slight echo added to all of the audio is done in aid of the recreation of this era of television. Although I was frequently impressed with it but thankfully more often than not I forgot about it and just became taken by the ride this movie takes you on.
It's not just the technical aspects either, the dialogue and character interactions feel so genuine and like they're ripped straight out of a classic episode of Johnny Carson or Dick Cavett. A lot of this success is also owed to David Dastmalchian who I've always loved as an actor in the usually smaller roles he's given and I got a total kick out of seeing him lead a film like this. He's essentially giving 2 performances; the on screen persona of a talk show host and the man we see behind the scenes and he pulls it all off perfectly. He manages to be funny and totally effecting in a way that made me never quite sure how to feel about the character and those are the kind of protagonists I really love, especially when it comes to horror.
My issues only really come down do how the directors deviate from the rules they establish for themselves. We frequently follow the character in the behind-the-scenes portions of the show and it isn't always handled with the same restraint that the on-air scenes are. Too often it felt like they resorted to normal shot compositions with a black-and-white filter and it did sometimes break the illusion the rest of the movie was going for. There's also a pretty large exposition dump that opens the film which felt like it was trying way too hard to deliver background on this character rather than spoon feeding it more naturally throughout the rest of the narrative. I also thought the third act went a little bit off the rails for what the rest of the film was trying to set up but I never didn't find it effective.
I truly think that the AI discourse should be, and needs to be, a part of the conversation surrounding this movie but I don't want that to eclipse just how fantastic it really is. I found this quite inspiring as a filmmaker and I have so much respect for the vision these directors went for with this film and just how well they executed it. After how many duds 2024 has given us so far, Dune: Part Two aside, seeing a film of this originality really made me happy. People craving originality in theirs movies really should be going out their way to see Late Night with The Devil because I've never seen a horror film quite like this one.