B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping Late Night with the Devil into the ol’ VCR. 

If you’ve somehow missed me talking about it, we’re officially in Halfway to Halloween season. 

That means I’ve been rewatching a TON of horror movies and revisiting some of my Shudder faves, including Late Night with the Devil. 

In my opinion, this movie gets better with every watch because there are just too many details to catch in a single viewing. 

That’s why we’re here today, my friends. 

I had a little time last weekend, so I popped it on, and y’all, I noticed some things we need to chat about. 

For example, the Cavendish group’s logo is a handshake to allude to the “secret handshakes” and/or the Faustian deal Jack (David Dastmalchian) made. It even matches the shake between Lily (Ingrid Torelli) and Jack in Lily’s entrance, color-wise. 

And one of the relics we see in the video about the Abraxas cult is the same owl from the show’s bumpers, connecting them to Night Owls. 

And the mention of Berwyn, Illinois, is a subtle nod to Svengoolie. 

To give you the best analysis (and indulge my flair for the dramatic), I’m going to break this piece down into four theories and then reveal which one I subscribe to. 

Alrighty, that should do us for introductions. 

Without further ado, let’s dive in. 

Theory 1: We’re in Jack’s personal hell 

While this movie is introduced as a documentary-style film, we can’t necessarily take this at face value. Everything we see is presented from a television screen, representing the confines of Jack’s personal hell. 

In Jack’s case, he made a deal with the devil for fame, so he’s forced to relive the last night of his show for eternity. The only scenes we see in color are when the camera is rolling. It can be interpreted that these scenes are the ones Jack is stuck reliving, while those in black and white represent true memories/recollections. That’s why we don’t see him kill Lilly on camera—instead, we see him kill “Madeline” (Georgina Haig) because the scenes in color are an altered version of reality. 

We’re already aware that Madeline’s spirit is manipulating electronics throughout the show, so is it far-fetched to think that we’ve become an audience to Jack’s torment in Hell?

Theory 2: We’re watching the real events of Night Owls unfold 

This theory speaks for itself. If we take the movie at face value, we’re watching everything unfold exactly as it did on Halloween night. Madeline manipulated the footage, Lily’s inner demon killed multiple people, etc… This is simply real footage from an ill-fated late-night special gone awry. All of these supernatural events aren’t symbolic, and we can believe that a myriad of unexplainable events managed to align. That’s it. 

Theory 3: We were “hypnotized” throughout the entire show, and there’s no supernatural element 

I think this is a really fun angle to take because it begs the question: what if nothing we saw was real? It’s clear that Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss) is skilled at audience manipulation and hypnosis, as is apparent from the worm scene. He also mentions it’s “good to know” that “[we’re] an impressionable lot,” so what if he’s been subtly manipulating us this entire time? 

We know that the only person who seems not to be impacted by his hypnosis is Lilly, as she asks why Gus (Rhys Auteri) is “acting so silly” during the worm scene, as well as a couple of audience members who allegedly raised their hands when Jack asked who hadn’t seen Gus’s worm fiasco. Lilly isn’t present for the first half of the show, and we get a glimpse into Jack’s psyche at the end, so it’s plausible that all of the unexplainable occurrences we see are part of Carmichael’s hypnosis. 

Theory 4: We’re witnessing Jack’s breakdown 

It may come as a surprise, but I think this is the darkest theory I’m presenting. After the death of Madeline and with his ratings in freefall, Jack is starting to crack under the pressure. Although the Halloween special sends ratings skyrocketing, he still can’t get passed the death of his wife and finally cracks after Carmichael’s hypnosis, sending him into a murderous rampage. Madeline isn’t present at all, but rather a manifestation of Jack’s guilt. That’s why his last words in the film are, “Dreamer, here. Awake.”

Where do I stand?

I feel like if you know me at all, it’s probably clear where I stand—I think we’re witnessing Jack’s personal hell. If you pay close attention, you’ll notice Mr. Wriggles’s shares a voice with the narrator from the beginning of the movie. Additionally, whenever Lilly is possessed, she talks about how the worms have gotten to Madeline, and what happens to Gus later on? He’s “consumed” by worms. 

This is also further confirmed by the way Jack continuously breaks the fourth wall towards the end of the film and why Lilly asks which camera she should be looking into when the cameras are off. 

But how did we get here? Let me lay out my theory in full: 

The Grove and the cult Lilly was rescued from worship the same entity and/or are just two factions of the same group. The suspicious audience member we see in the skeleton costume throughout the movie is a member of the cult who was there to make sure their plan was carried out. 

Jack made a deal with Abraxas to become the next big name in late-night, unknowingly sacrificing Madeline for fame in the process. He then made a hasty return to late night because he knew he would be successful. 

June’s (Laura Gordon) book about Lilly didn’t come across his book by accident; someone made sure it got to him so that Lilly and June would be on the show, ensuring his debt was paid in full. 

As punishment, Jack is forced to relive that fateful Halloween night in perpetuity. 

However, I don’t think the cult counted on Madeline’s presence also being…present, and I think that’s why Gus, Carmichael, and Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) also die. 

The only person “meant” to die, in my opinion, was Lilly, as Jack killed her with the ceremonial dagger June brought to the set. 

There’s also a case to be made that Abraxas presents himself as Madeline to drive Jack mad…but I don’t necessarily think that’s the case. As we see towards the end of the film, Madeline figured out what Jack did, and I lean more to a vengeful spirit than Abaraxas manifesting as Madeline. 

So there you have it, folks. 

I’ve once again overthought a movie into oblivion and had a hell of a time doing it. 

Only one question remains: how do you get unsightly black bile stains out of velvet blazers?