Late Night With the Devil became one of the highest rated movies of the year when it debuted in March 2024, and now it has followed up success in cinemas and on Shudder by topping the Hulu chart. Horror movies often struggle to get a good reception from the majority of critics, but the David Dastmalchian-led supernatural offering managed to secure a near-perfect Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, which even surpassed its strong audience reactions.
Late Night with the Devil is set in 1977, and follows charismatic TV talk show host Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian), who finds all manner of disturbing events descending on his studio when an evil presence takes over one of his guests. What is first believed to be a hoax soon turns into a very real and terrifying ordeal for those in the studio and watching at home.
The success of Late Night with the Devil has been credited to its dark and troubling story, which avoids the blood, gore, and jump-scare tactics often used to make a movie “scary” and instead concentrates on building up tension to an almost unbearable level. The chaos that ensues is made all the more unnerving thanks to the film’s use of practical effects that transform the horror being experienced on-screen into terror for audiences.
Late Night with the Devil Is a Hellish Success
David Dastmalchian shows off his versatility in Late Night with the Devil, playing Delroy with all the jovial bounce of a 1970s talk show host, who finds desperation setting in as things escalate beyond his control. Having made appearances in the MCU’s Ant-Man movies, DC’s The Suicide Squad, and Denis Villenueve’s Dune, the actor has had his fair share of blockbuster appearances to make his turn in this low-budget nightmare something much different even for his fans.
After receiving a theatrical release in the U.S. and several other territories, the movie made its streaming debut on the horror platform, Shudder, where it continued to terrify audiences with its new take on a “found footage” scenario. Now, Hulu is bringing the chills and scares of Late Night with the Devil to another new audience, and it seems they have once again been seduced by the impressive reviews as they look for their next horror fix ahead of Halloween.
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The crew of a late night talk show get more than they bargained for in an attempt to boost their ratings on Halloween night.
While horror has spent many years struggling to find that perfect formula to bring terror back to screens, the last several have seen many independent filmmakers and studios capitalizing on the lull caused by the Covid pandemic, and have gone back to basics in their approach to making a profitable movie. A24, who have been behind chillers such as Talk to Me and I Saw the TV Glow, are one example of a studio who are thriving on movies that don’t break the bank, but have every chance of being just as successful as any mega-budget blockbuster. Now, audiences who previously missed Late Night with the Devil have a chance to stream it on Hulu just in time for Halloween.