The Revenging Manta, the ninja vigilante of downtown Orlando, wasn’t buying my story of a reanimated corpse attacking the goons that were hauling him off while unconscious. I argued that I once lived in an antebellum mansion filled with vampires and was almost abducted by aliens, but he called my observations flights of fancy and a distraction from the mission of taking down the Goose Lord and his gang of fentanyl pushing goons.

We pressed on, but I kept my eye out for roving zombies.

— To be continued. 

Tonight’s movie is 2024’s Late Night With the Devil from directors Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes. I wonder if they’re related. The premise of this found footage horror movie is what if a late night host from the 1970s had a demonically possessed young girl on his show? What provocative, 1970s shenanigans would ensue in front of a live studio audience?

Our movie begins with a brief biography of Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), host of the late night show Night Owls back in the 1970s. While he rose in the ratings, his viewership never beat that of Johnny Carson. Paul Williams once visited The Tonight Show dressed as an orangutan from Battle of the Planet of the Apes and sang “Here’s That Rainy Day” in front of a live audience. How could Jack Delroy ever beat Carson?

Production halts on Night Owls after Delroy’s wife, Madeleine (Georgina Haig), passes away due to cancer. When Jack finally returns to Night Owls, he books controversial guests, but his ratings decline. With his contract almost up, he books some special guests for a Halloween edition of Night Owls. First of these is Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), a psychic and medium who claims he can hear the dead. Next we have Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), a former stage magician who now spends his time debunking the paranormal. He reminds me of the Amazing Randi, a popular skeptic back in the 1970s. I remember him on the cover of Dynamite magazine back in the day. 

It’s fascinating how this film is presented as an actual episode of Night Owls. It has the feel of an episode of a late show made back in the 1970s, complete with Billy Carter jokes in the opening monologue. During commercial breaks, we get some behind the scenes footage with Jack and his crew. Gus McConnell (Rhys Auteri) is Jack’s sidekick and tries to sway Jack from not going too far while Leo Fiske (Josh Quong Tart), the sleazy producer of Night Owls, wants him to push the envelope. And push the envelope Jack does with his final guest, Lilly D’Abo (Ingrid Torelli), a young girl possessed by the devil.

We get a brief documentary about Lilly, the last surviving member of the cult of Abraxas. It seems they all committed suicide by setting themselves on fire, but Lilly some survived with another being inside of her. June Ross-Mitchell, a parapsychologist, is the author of an upcoming book about Lilly, Conversations With the Devil. Jack wants June to conjure up Lilly’s devil live on air. Late Night With the Devil is an enjoyable ride, currently streaming on Shudder. 

Jeff Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, episode 131, episode 284, episode 441, episode 442, episode 443, episode 444, episode 450, episode 477, episode 491, episode 492, episode 493, episode 495, episode 496, episode 545, episode 546, episode 547, episode 548, episode 549, episode 575, episode 596, episode 597, episode 598, and episode 599) is an MFA graduate from the University of Central Florida.