Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Late Night With the Devil.

Halloween night is the prime time for the veil between the living and the dead to blur, but it’s also a primetime slot for the supernatural to invade a talk show. In Late Night with the Devil, designed to resemble a “lost” TV special from the 1970s, David Dastmalchian brings on a guest who may be demonically possessed. It makes for a great double feature with BBC1’s Ghostwatch, a controversial TV special that terrified the UK. Airing on Halloween night in 1992, the story involving a ghost investigation is fictional, yet the cast of real TV personalities played it out as if it was authentic. The haunting in Ghostwatch and the demonic possession in Late Night with the Devil may create different scares, but they share a talk show premise and a slow-burn plot that heads into a bleak finale.

Late Night With the Devil

A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.

Release Date

March 22, 2024

Director

Cameron Cairnes , Colin Cairnes

Cast

David Dastmalchian , Laura Gordon , Ian Bliss , Fayssal Bazzi , Ingrid Torelli , Rhys Auteri , Josh Quong Tart , Georgina Haig

Runtime

86 Minutes

Writers

Colin Cairnes , Cameron Cairnes

‘Ghostwatch’ Uses a Famous TV Host To Fool Audiences

Seeing the well-known Michael Parkinson introduce and host Ghostwatch lends the whole ruse instant believability. In the TV special, he sits down with psychologist Dr. Lin Pascoe (Gillian Bevan) in a studio, while they are in contact with a team preparing to go into a supposedly haunted house in the ordinary neighborhood of Foxhill Drive. Co-host Sarah Greene plays herself as the one leading the camera crew into the home of the Early family, a single mother and two daughters, who are suffering from an apparent poltergeist. Ghostwatch plays out in real-time as the characters discuss the haunting from their place at the studio or the Foxhill Drive house, and get their investigation going.

Ghostwatch may feel familiar to fans of the many popular ghost-hunting reality shows that exist nowadays, but the scares will genuinely sneak up on you the longer the special goes on. This is a similar tactic that Late Night with the Devil uses in what is described as an unedited final episode of Night Owls with Jack Delroy that aired on Halloween night in 1977. However, one of the biggest differences between Ghostwatch and Late Night with the Devil is the host at the center of everything.

David Dastmalchian Plays an Unsettling TV Host in ‘Late Night With the Devil’

Late Night With the Devil directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes said in a Hollywood Reporter interview how they developed their film before having watched Ghostwatch. While the two found footage movies share a talk show format, the Cairnes brothers have a bit more creative freedom due to the film’s fictionalized host, who certainly exudes a less comforting presence than Ghostwatch‘s Parkinson. Jack “Mr. Midnight” Delroy (Dastmalchian), the host of Night Owls, may not be real, but there is a familiarity to him. Viewers will recognize the type of late-night show host he is modeled after. Johnny Carson, a major public figure in the 1970s, is name-dropped as a competitor for Delroy. He has a sidekick in Gus (Rhys Auteri) for a dynamic that feels similar to the likes of contemporary duos such as Jimmy Kimmel and Guillermo.

However, Jack and Gus’ relationship feels strained, mostly on Jack’s part. Behind-the-scenes footage captures Jack’s stress over low ratings and Gus never getting answers as to why an upcoming guest will need restraints. The trouble is palpable, chipping away at your feelings of safety. That’s a far cry from Ghostwatch‘s Michael Parkinson, who maintains the steady, well-spoken presence he was known for, providing a sense of comfort that pairs nicely with the fireplace crackling in the background. In Dastmalchian’s performance, Jack Delroy’s ambitions and his fascination with the occult result in knowing something bad will happen — it’s just a matter of time.

Pipes and Mr. Wriggles Are Throwback Supernatural Monsters

Both Ghostwatch and Late Night With the Devil rely on their hosts to provide the audiences with a glimpse into the supernatural. In Ghostwatch, Dr. Pascoe firmly believes the Early family is encountering a ghost, which the youngest daughter has named Pipes, after the banging noises it makes. The key source of inspiration behind Ghostwatch’s Early house is the notorious Enfield poltergeist that allegedly focused on two young sisters from the Hodgson family. Not departing too much from this real-life account, Ghostwatch endangers the Early girls, who are tormented by Pipes.

Late Night with the Devil updates the horror from Ghostwatch by combining a young character with the supernatural. Jack Delroy invites Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) onto his show, who brings along her young patient, Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the last surviving member of a devil-worshipping cult. June believes there is a demon within the girl, a second personality Lilly refers to as Mr. Wriggles, a nickname like Pipes that toes the line between cute and creepy. And this is how Night Owls with Jack Delroy explores another area of horror, but one that is just as nostalgic as the BBC1 Halloween special.

Related

Before ‘Late Night With The Devil,’ Check Out This Halloween Special Gone Wrong

Both films showcase the horror of public access television.

Ghostwatch is a throwback to the Enfield haunting, just like how Late Night with the Devil is a throwback to the 1970s fascination with The Exorcist (1973). Lilly is a new iteration of what Linda Blair played, the sweet girl who transforms into a foul-mouthed monster when possessed. But as each talk show unfolds, uncovering evidence of the paranormal isn’t so easy. These two found-footage horror movies love to confuse viewers into wondering if the supernatural is to blame, or if mischievous humans are. A big part of what helps Ghostwatch sell its dread that slowly mounts is how long it denies anything otherworldly is happening.

Both ‘Ghostwatch’ and ‘Late Night With the Devil’ Try To Trick the Audience

Ghostwatch and Late Night with the Devil go out of their way to make the viewers question what exactly is real, and what is a hoax. Actress Gillian Bevan is one of the few cast members of Ghostwatch not playing a fictional version of themselves. She plays Dr. Pascoe, a psychologist focusing on the paranormal; Bevan portrays her as a believer, who offers her feedback, usually to be met with pushback. Her beliefs may be outlandish to some, but her calm-headed demeanor is persuasive. What doesn’t help, is how Parkinson and Pascoe rely on cameras and audio to be in contact with Sarah’s team at the Foxhill house. This separation gradually begins to feel claustrophobic. Then two big moments make it seem like Ghostwatch will be another failed attempt to find a real ghost. Phone calls into the studio have people claiming they’re experiencing weird phenomena in their home due to watching the program, which Parkinson derides as jokes.

Those watching Ghostwatch in the ‘90s, and those who watch it now, may fool themselves into thinking a trivial incident in their home is done by the supernatural. Then the haunting at Foxhill Drive intensifies when Sarah and her camera crew hear loud banging upstairs. Fear turns into disappointment when the camera exposes the oldest daughter for causing the noise. In the studio, Parkinson isn’t surprised, but Pascoe knows something else must be going on.

Late Night with the Devil plays this same trick. Among Delroy’s guest lineup is the skeptic/magician, Carmichael (Ian Bliss). After June reluctantly does a session with Lilly, revealing Mr. Wriggles through demonic eyes, foul language, and levitation, Carmichael declares it’s fake. He demonstrates what could have been done, hypnotizing Gus and the studio audience into seeing worms burst from the sidekick’s body. Viewers can easily believe Mr. Wriggles has turned the trick into a gross and horrifying reality, but then Carmichael snaps his hands and the evidence of body horror disappears. Jack rewinds the footage, and Carmichael has succeeded in hypnotizing everyone with the studio cameras expanding the scope. Late Night with the Devil doesn’t break the rules of the found footage subgenre — it plays around with them to leave the audience (on-screen and off) laughing with a nervous edge. No one can trust what they’re seeing in these two TV specials.

Both ‘Ghostwatch’ and ‘Late Night with the Devil’ End in Chaos

Sarah’s investigation in Ghostwatch uncovers there is a poltergeist at the Early house on Foxhill Drive. The last time Sarah and her crew are seen, they’re stuck in the dark and are seemingly attacked by Pipes. Back at the studio, Dr. Pascoe realizes to her horror that this live BBC1 special has become a séance to free the spirit. Wind blasts into the studio and overhead lights explode. Parkinson tries to be reasonable, but his calm presence ends up getting him possessed. Ghostwatch may not be real, but the dramatic, abrupt ending is still creepy. With that said, it can’t compare to the finale in Late Night with the Devil, in which Jack’s ambition to produce the highest-rated episode of his show causes Lilly’s power over Mr. Wriggles to weaken, and the entity takes over.

In the film’s unnerving conclusion, the studio audience runs for cover while the show’s guests are killed. Jack Delroy then finds himself trapped in memories of his life with an uncanny twist that transforms everything into a fever dream. Mr. Wriggles has manipulated everything, from the camera to what Jack experiences, until he is finally awakened. The last time viewers see him, he’s in a deep state of shock at the massacre on his set. He’s left detached from reality and disturbed, the kind of character Dastmalchian did so well in The Dark Knight and Prisoners. Ghostwatch carries a less-is-more approach from the opening and into the final minutes, while Late Night with the Devil exploits a horror spectacle until the fury is inevitably released. The endings are both grim, but distinct to the stories that were told.

The credibility of found-footage horror can always be a hit or miss. The trilogy of Hell House LLC, for instance, gets increasingly bonkers with each installment, to the point it doesn’t feel “real” anymore. The strength of Ghostwatch is how it sticks to reality by using Michael Parkinson and his fellow hosts to ease viewers into the frights. Late Night with the Devil is not confined to real-life TV personalities, but it smartly withholds from letting all hell break loose until the finale. David Dastmalchian is fantastic, like he always is, as the doomed “Mr. Midnight.” His talk show may even be something viewers could have seen themselves watching — if it didn’t get canceled by a demon.

Ghostwatch is available to stream on Shudder in the U.S.

Watch on Shudder