Films about demonic forces being unleashed into our lives have long been the stuff many horror films are made of. “The Satanic Panic” as filmmaking siblings Colin and Cameron Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres) put it, needed a new angle to release supernatural mayhem into the lives of horror film lovers.
The brothers looked to a late night talk show called The Don Lane Show in their native Australia, which ran from 1975 – 1983 and occupied many a night in their sleep-deprived childhoods for inspiration. Lane was curious about the supernatural, often inviting psychic kooks onto his show, until one night, spoon-bender Uri Geller was revealed to be a fake… live on air. Lane was so humiliated he stormed off set. This moment was etched into the creative minds of the brothers Cairnes and set the tone of Late Night With The Devil.
Late night is also the perfect time for scares after mom and dad have long gone to bed. Ghouls and demons come out to cause mayhem and horror movies played on television late into the night. Some of those movies were helmed by the Cairnes’ significant creative influencers De Palma, Carpenter, Cronenberg and Friedkin.
The stage was set for the ultimate Halloween special on late night television. A TV studio audience could easily be fooled into thinking that the possessed guests were part of the entertainment. There wasn’t any real immediate danger.
Late Night With The Devil was modelled on The Johnny Carson Show with period attire, guests, and a backing band who played carefully curated tunes. Johnny Carson became grief-stricken host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) who also carries the pressures of maintaining high ratings in an industry where you can tank in an instant.
Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) Photo courtesy of IFC Films
The filmmakers created a look book in order to pitch the film in the form of a seventies-style TV guide from Halloween Week to illustrate the color palette and visual aesthetic of the show. They also took steps to capture abrupt camera cuts and “boom in shots,” not only to authenticate their film, but also to capture the chaos associated on live television.
1977
Late Night With The Devil is specifically set on a Monday Halloween Night in 1977 to appreciate its story more fully.
The seventies was a different time. There was a naiveté and suggestibility to audiences. “Nowadays we’re just so cynical and when the fantastical ended our lives we kind of dismiss it. I think people were still a little more open to these ideas back in the seventies off the back of The Exorcist and the fervor around that,” says Cameron.
“The idea for Late Night came to us many years ago. It probably took us about eight or so years until we were happy with the draft that we shot. It went off in a lot of different directions. We’d start writing. We’d hit a wall. Then we’d wait for inspiration to strike again,” continues Cameron. The pair recall they began brainstorming Late Night when another movie they were about to shoot fell apart.
During the exhaustive development process, the idea of contemporizing their idea entered discussions. The name David Letterman came up as a template, but their show’s aesthetic was different. Modern live shows tend to be over-rehearsed and tightly-calibrated, so the things that went wrong on The Don Lane Show are rare today.
“It’s kind of always in the back of those scenes. That sense of danger and electricity of live unscripted TV was exciting to us, and then the idea of bringing in some spooky elements to see how those things play together,” states Colin.
Not A Found Footage Film
The horror sub-genre didn’t entered the filmmakers’ minds during the development phase.
“I don’t think we ever mentioned the words ‘found footage’ when we were writing. It’s only when we described the story of this lost master broadcast tape which gets interpreted as being found footage,” explains Cameron. “But for us it was just the best way to tell this story.”
“For us, it was seeing most of that episode what went to air that night. That’s where the drama was, so that led us in the direction of how to stage it,” he continues. “People aren’t using terms like ‘lost media’ or ‘analog horror.‘”
Cameron and Colin Cairnes eventually warmed to the term “found footage,” even though Late Night With The Devil doesn’t follow the typical beats of films like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and Cloverfield. They accept there are certain similarities, but maintain that Late Night is its own beast.
Late Night proceeds in a tempered and calm manner. The horror is generated from impending dread and a creepy, menacing tone. The filmmakers also leaned into the authenticity of the setting to enhance the psychological aspects of their brand of horror to reflect a specific decade and socio-political environment.
It’s live entertainment, so there are key elements of banality and production logistics on set. “I think that’s what perhaps makes it more effective when the scares and the violence come. We’ve put you in this safe space for the better part of an hour, and then we turn that on its head when the evil returns,” elaborates Colin.
They received many suggestions of front-loading their film with more jump scares during the development phase. But, the Cairnes brothers resisted strongly. Why would the show keep broadcasting if awful things happened in the first ten or fifteen minutes? The film needs time to build up to the main horror and the inevitable crescendo.
“I think for the most part the opening scene does the job in establishing the world the character and their motivations, but also a little sense of dread that we were hoping would permeate through those first 15 – 20 minutes,” says Colin.
Colin and Cameron Cairnes
Cameron describes the opening as “light and bouncy and things might not go totally to plan. You’ve got to be one step ahead of the audience at all times and have them questioning what’s real and what isn’t.”
Your Host, Jack Delroy
Jack Delroy, the host of Late Night With The Devil grapples with the tragedy of losing his wife, and quite possibly, losing his TV career. The film alternates between these two perspectives, to give it a real emotional punch.
“It’s just a process of chipping away at it to a point where you feel like the characters have come to life. There’s some shorthand involved with that opening prologue which shows Jack being a little more fragile than he might let on to his audience. There’s more going on beneath the surface, but you know you can’t lose sight of the fact that the man is desperate and will go to any lengths to save his TV show in a cut throat business,” elaborates Colin.
“David Dastmalchian really brought that contrast he plays between the on-air Mr Charming Jack Delroy and what you see backstage where we see him a little more subdued. But he went off set, he revealed the truth of what was really driving him.”
When the demons arrive, Jack is unflappable. “I think it comes back to his desperation and his ego. He’s got to do pretty much whatever it takes because he knows the show is going to air. There’s also an element of him not knowing what’s going on.”
“Jack defines himself by his professional persona, but there are cracks in the veneer. We see some of that backstage and finally we see it on the show itself.”
Writing Process
As Late Night With The Devil drifts through multiple evil visitations, the Cairnes brothers found some difficulty in finding a suitable ending.
“We had no trouble setting the story up and building the world, but we needed a resolution to the story that leaves an audience feeling satisfied, but also with some some questions that they might be able to answer. ‘We need to be clear about our ambiguity’ as Billy Wilder said.” However, they needed to plant enough seeds of exposition so the audience wouldn’t get confused in the process.
The duo also spend time researching “the old style comedy of the time.” Jack Delroy made references to Reggie Jackson and Jimmy Carter.
Like their previous films and music videos, Cameron and Colin Cairnes infused a light sprinkling of humor into Late Night With The Devil.
“It’s a playfulness, maybe even irreverence at times. We know there should be nothing sacred in storytelling or filmmaking, and you should be free to try stuff. We try to be a little innovative, take some risks, and be aware of the absurdity of the film and the world.”
“And we do love a nice plot. We feel like in the current climate it has become a dirty word in favor of character development. I guess the plot isn’t really in your face in this movie, but I feel like we’ve smuggled the typical beats in, but they’re just a bit harder to spot.”
