‘Late Night With The Devil’ Blu-Ray Review – David Dastmalchian Thrives In The Spotlight

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

For in-depth thoughts on Late Night With The Devil, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Late Night With The Devil comes to Blu-Ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in its original aspect ratio, and due to the creative aesthetic of the feature, it is purposefully NOT going to dazzle on Blu-Ray. The HD footage that was originally shot has been processed to replicate the look of a throwback late night talk show with a generally fuzzy appearance. The colors in the film are slightly muted with certain key shades in the production design and costumes making an impression. Fine detail is subdued but not entirely absent as the picture still provides depth to the image. The frame deploys fleeting age lines and damage along with undefined murkiness during the shadowy moments. The cinematography of the film is very purposeful, and, while it may only achieve crystal clear status in brief moments, this disc captures the journey as well as you could hope. This is a nice transfer that respects its creative intention. 

Audio Quality

Late Night With The Devil comes to Blu-Ray with a notably more effective DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. The movie is not as steadfast in trying to replicate a vintage experience on the audio side, so you won’t spot many shortcomings. Environmental sounds provide a three-dimensional atmosphere for the story with the studio audience always buzzing. The low end of the track is especially active during more thrilling moments of attacks and confrontations near the end. Dialogue and sound effects are faithfully balanced so nothing gets swallowed up in the track. Surround channels get some special activity during the more kinetic scenes and with the natural ambiance of interview moments. This track represents this movie well and will be appreciated by fans who pick up this disc. Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are provided. 

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Actor David Dastmalchian and producer Leah Kilpatrick provide a commentary track that includes some interesting insights into how the film came about, the opening voiceover, the set construction, moments that didn’t make the final film, the special effects, the performers in the film, and much more you won’t want to miss. 

• Behind The Scenes of Late Night with the Devil A four-minute piece that gives a fly-on-the-wall look at the construction of the set, testing the special effects, makeup application, and more. 

• Monster Shock Theater: A 34-minute episode of the faux talk show hosted by “Martin Monster” that includes a final segment with our talk show host from Late Night with the Devil promoting his show.  

• Q&A with Directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes: A nearly 21-minute Q&A from a screening that has inconsistent sound quality but delves into the inspiration for the film, the performance of David Dastmalchian, creating the look for the film, and more. 

Final Thoughts

Late Night With The Devil has a pretty entertaining finale, but the road to get there does not have as many thrills as you might want as a modern horror fan. David Dastmalchian put forth a winning performance in the main role, and the attention paid to replicating this type of program is admirable. The film is fine, but public perception has overhyped this one a bit. RLJE Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring an A/V presentation that is as strong as the material will allow and a few unique special features. 

Late Night With The Devil is currently available to purchase on Blu-ray in Standard or SteelBook form

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.