Good news for those of you tired of hearing film bloggers rave about 2023 fest circuit darling Late Night with the Devil: the David Dastmalchian period horror has scored a distribution deal from IFC and Shudder, bringing it that much closer to your eyeballs.
Late Night with the Devil has been an incredibly popular film on the fest circuit this year, wowing crowds at SXSW, The Overlook Film Festival, Sitges and many others. We’ve been tracking this one for a bit, in no small part because filmmakers Cameron and Colin Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres) claim to have gotten the idea to cast Dastmalchian after reading his love letter to late-night horror hosts in issue #11 of FANGORIA. Happy to help, fellas!
The film finds 1970s talk show host Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian) on his last legs, wrung out by personal tragedy and in need of a ratings win. His plan to feature as a guest a young girl who is allegedly possessed seems like a Halloween night layup… until the cameras roll and all hell literally breaks loose.
I personally love the film’s Larry Sanders Show-style format, unfolding in real time as a live broadcast, then switching to film to take us backstage during the breaks. It’s weirdly authentic in its period detail, and the scary shit goes big and weird and unexpected. People are gonna eat it up.
Dastmalchian, who’s also a producer on the film, says, “Playing Jack Delroy in Late Night with the Devil was a once-in-a-lifetime role that haunted me and changed the way I look at my work forever. IFC Films and Shudder are the perfect partners to bring this film to audiences. I’m so grateful to the Cairnes brothers for their craftsmanship and to all of the festival fans who have created an incredible rumble about Late Night with the Devil!” Dastmalchian and his shingle Good Fiend Films join producers Derek Dauchy, Mat Govoni, Steven Schneider, Roy Lee, Adam White, and John Molloy for Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Spooky Pictures, and Future Pictures.
IFC and Shudder will be going theatrical with the film before it debuts on the streaming service. Fango will update you with details as they come in.
