Late Night with the Devil

While I do condemn the use of artificial intelligence art, Late Night with the Devil is absolutely more than just that. This supernatural horror is told through found footage and documentary storytelling about a fictional talk show, specifically an episode on Halloween of 1977 and how its host invited a supposedly possessed girl to boost ratings. David Dastmalchian leads as Jack Delroy and absolute delivers, managing to capture the comedy of a late night host and the drama, tension, and fear of a man dealing with forces more powerful than him. With the direction, writing, and editing by Colin and Cameron Cairnes, this duo did an impressive job with their superb style, great use of tension, magnificent change in tone that starts out lighthearted and slowly but surely gets darker, and great editing evoking talk shows and the behind the scenes drama of the era. The Cairnes have certainly crafted a unique and incredible horror movie that knows when to build tension and when to deliver the scares. While Matthew Temple's cinematography also does a great job at capturing the style that talk shows had in the 70s. The rest of the cast, whether they play members of the show or guests, especially Ingrid Torelli, all give memorable, and at times terrifying, performances. As for the use of AI art, it is rather minimal and brief, being used just for animated commercial insertions. It never should have been done, but thankfully it doesn't take away from the production values, visual design, and aesthetics that do capture the area well. I'm willing to give Late Night with the Devil a pass for its brief AI art use, whether or not I enjoyed it or not, and hope that this serves as the line that no one will cross ever again. Over all: 99%

2024 top list so far:

1. Dune: Part 2

2. Late Night with the Devil

3. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

4. The Book of Clarence

5. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

6. Drive-Away Dolls

7. Kung Fu Panda 4

8. Lisa Frankenstein

9. Argylle

10. Mean Girls 2024