Late Night With The Devil

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

The setting and fashions look good, story-wise I'm not sure what I hope to see. It's just that I'm getting very tellytalk-friendly vibes from it.
Are you going to watch it in the cinema?

 

[DallasFanForever]

The setting and fashions look good, story-wise I'm not sure what I hope to see. It's just that I'm getting very tellytalk-friendly vibes from it.
Are you going to watch it in the cinema?

I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s not something I would usually watch in a cinema but it does look very intriguing. Definitely appears to be an original concept and that’s hard to find nowadays.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Mark my words this will become the most talked about film of 2024 here on tellytalk. But we all need to get a chance to see it first.
I'm already a big fan of the trailer.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Mark my words this will become the most talked about film of 2024 here on tellytalk. But we all need to get a chance to see it first.
I'm already a big fan of the trailer.

That trailer is so convincing at first that I actually had to wonder for a second if this was based on a true story. Obviously it isn’t as it turns out but I will give them credit for making something original at the very least.

 

[Crimson]

Well, now ... that's pretty interesting looking tbh.

I wonder why the 70s are so perfect for supernatural horror. @Snarky Oracle! please explain.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

this will become the most talked about film of 2024 here on tellytalk

Unless @Richard Channing manages to steal my thunder with the discussion about THE FIRST OMEN

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Well, now ... that's pretty interesting looking tbh.

I wonder why the 70s are so perfect for supernatural horror. @Snarky Oracle! please explain.

How weird your bat signal to me didn't appear on my alerts-feed...

I'm not sure I'd agree that they were, the '70s. But there was, indeed, a lot of it.

Mostly, the '70s had a lot of satanic/devil-worship-y stuff, and then the decade finished out with those fetish-shockers (mostly of the serial sex-slayer variety, in keeping with serial-sex-slayer awareness rife in the culture at the time, the late-'70s a weirdly juxtaposed blend of sexy-breezy and dank, lurid underbelly).

But, particularly in the first-half of the '70s, the stylized directorial/photographic mood lent itself to some pretty cloistered, atmospheric movies, one where the celluloid look was like a B&W movie with color, and that was suitable for the horror genre: melancholy, disillusioned, heart-broken in a way.

That said, I was never fond of the excessively violent, super-gory pictures. And, at the time, they sometimes mixed in a gutter sexualized sadism I found a little problematic (this actually started in the late-'60s).

Even though the graphic splatter would get more extreme in later decades, it never seemed intended to be as almost carnalized and snuffy as it was from, say, 1967 thru 1981.

So. I dunno.

The above trailer and period detail look pretty interesting though.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I'm not sure I'd agree that they were, the '70s. But there was, indeed, a lot of it.

Mostly, the '70s had a lot of satanic/devil-worship-y stuff

Did this all have something to do with the Manson murders I’m assuming? I’ve always felt most of these films of that decade were just capitalizing off of that. I hate saying that of course but considering how the story of the murders captivated so many around that time I thought it made sense.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Did this all have something to do with the Manson murders I’m assuming? I’ve always felt most of these films of that decade were just capitalizing off of that. I hate saying that of course but considering how the story of the murders captivated so many around that time I thought it made sense.

I think the 1969 Manson murders were more of a symptom than a cause per se.

Can't wait until they make the Jolly West movie -- it'll be like a FORRST GUMP sequel, and likely starring DiCaprio... Scorsese will probably direct, but he'll get it wrong.

 

[Crimson]

the '70s had a lot of satanic/devil-worship-y stuff

That's probably it. Starting with ROSEMARY'S BABY setting the stage for the decade to come and endcapping with THE SHINING, the 70s were loaded with EXORCIST(s), OMEN(s) and AMITYVILLE(s). Some of the best recent horror films -- the CONJURING films, potentially this one here -- have found something creepy about the vibe of the 70s. Even the decade's color schemes seem kind of ominous.

 

[Richard Channing]

Unless @Richard Channing manages to steal my thunder with the discussion about THE FIRST OMEN

What a luxury to have two new antichrist movies which appear to be worth talking about! Don't know if I'd be going to the cinema for either but Late Night With The Devil seems like a good night in. Hopefully it's as good as the trailer suggests.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Even the decade's color schemes seem kind of ominous

Absolutely. I disagree when people describe it as "kitsch" because that seems more appropriate for the halloweeny colours of the 1960s.
The organic colours of the seventies - beige, brown, orange, olive-green and mustard-yellow - kind of makes it look like a living thing, especially when the cinematography goes for the humid look.
A few years ago I watched BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) based on many good reviews. I found it disappointing but perhaps I had the wrong expectations.
What I did like were the perfectly chocolate-y colours, I could almost taste the Christmas.
A few months ago I watched ALL THAT JAZZ, and again it wasn't for me, but there was something about the way they used the colour black that gave it both a sophisticated and suffocating atmosphere.

I believe the seventies was also the decade in which the desire to look for "alternatives" had seeped into the mainstream. It's not so difficult to link that with the individualism that kinda challenged the family unit cornerstone - which Ang Lee captured so perfectly in THE ICE STORM (1997).
The first age of information that may have been intended to enlighten its audience, but often resulted in feelings of loss, uncertainty and dissatisfaction.
It was the perfect time to be conned into a cult, but this time it was the housewives instead of the rock star groupies.
From a bizarre point of view I could see the story of THE EXORCIST as a symptom of that individualism.
As a result, there was this sense of melancholy hanging over the seventies decade, and since horror always works better with a tragic undertone (like the very first murder in HALLOWEEN, and as DallasFanForever pointed out very Manson-esque) it was almost in the DNA of the seventies horror films.
The optimism (albeit delusional) of the eighties decade removed a lot of that genuinely depressing atmosphere in horror, and since that was the age of new special effects technology they focused on that anyway (and I must say that I really liked it at that time).

In addition, the seventies saw the creative peak of New Hollywood, which - as unfathomable as it may seem today - was also allowed to peak. I'm not sure how that relates to European cinema so I'd rather not speculate about that, but personally I don't think it's a stretch.
Anyway, I think that's why we got these horror movies going the extra mile and being more than just the right shot in the right moment.
I'm not saying that it was all great, and neither was the British film industry. I'm not a big fan of the kitsch and hysterical Hammer horror films.

The seventies is also remembered for its unsavoury "disco" sleaze and while that's not entirely untrue I think it works better in the films from the 1960s.

 

[Crimson]

The organic colours of the seventies - beige, brown, orange, olive-green and mustard-yellow - kind of makes it look like a living thing, especially when the cinematography goes for the humid look.

Yes, when I think of the 70s my mind immediately goes to the colors of olive-green and burnt-orange; the entire decade, from hindsight, looked kind of earthy and autumnal. Just like the season, it can feel cozy or creepy. From my perspective, when filmmakers want to take a short cut to establishing the perfect mood for a horror film, they have two easy starting points: the Victorian Age or the 1970s.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

As a young child in the seventies, my mother made me swallow a daily dose of vitamins - under loud protest, and always trying to worm my way out of the situation.
One pill was brown, the other one was orange.
Now, so many years later, I wonder if those pills were prescribed by a cult-friendly doctor who wanted to bring the satanic powers out in me.

At that same age (approximately) I witnessed a comedy act on television. It was a man inside a costume made of two "dancing" dolls. Incredibly naff, but that dolls costume was responsible for 10 years of frequent nightmares, to the point of dreaming about having nightmares. There was a time when I wondered if I'd ever snap out of it.
One doll was dressed in dark brown, the other one in red-orange.

I have my theory about it.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

For the above-mentioned reasons, I've always sort of seen the 1970s as the peak of cinema -- what some people have called its "ugly naturalism" (although I didn't find it particularly ugly). The shift into the '80s, where everything became too controlled and contrived, was something I was acutely aware of at the time, and I mostly didn't like very much.

which Ang Lee captured so perfectly in THE ICE STORM (1997)

It's hard to explain why the concept of an ice storm always seemed to me the perfect backdrop for a period film set in the early-'70s -- because, obviously, every year of every decade has a winter. Yet I did. Long before Ang Lee ever made a period film set in the early-'70s literally called THE ICE STORM, written by Rick Moody (appropriately)... But it's the same reason that, outside of the 1940s, the best time to capture "Christmas" is the early-'70s... And I'm old enough to recall that there seemed to be a lot of ice storms in the early-'70s, and they were memorable, somehow definitive of that era, in a way that goes beyond my subjective youth of that moment. (That said, the author is only a little older than I am).

It's difficult to describe an organic mood. It's like trying to describe a musical note or a color -- without necessarily having the language available to make comparisons. How does one describe deeply melancholy Christmas color noir?

I've said previously that the snow angels/ice skating scenes from LOVE STORY, and the first season theme design and orchestration from THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, and the entire movie of HAROLD & MAUDE, captures that mood perfectly, with the montage-y, mesmerizingly heartbroken flavor of the time. (Although there are many cinematic examples).

I had my issues with THE ICE STORM -- at least it came out in the '90s (where they could do period detail) instead of the '80s (when they largely couldn't) and I went to see it in the theatre the week it opened. Physically, Lee made a great effort, and he was obviously attempting to capture the right elements, but I still found it a wee bit too self-conscious in its execution; too many things about the dialogue and the performances made my sphincters twitch slightly. The emerging "look what we've done to our children" motif of the movie was a noble one, but felt a little forced.

Still, I appreciated the attempt. Yet I've rarely re-watched it.

 

[Crimson]

Although I seldom watch horror films outside October, I was curious enough about this to view it last night. Nature helped out with a cloudy and chilly night; with the remnants of an autumn-scented candle, I was able to put myself in the right frame of mind.

The film is exactly what it appeared to be -- a 1970s set pastiche of NETWORK, complete with gravelly voiced narrator providing exposition, and ROSEMARY'S BABY/THE EXORCIST. Those are some lofty targets and I don't think the film achieves its ambitions. I enjoyed the film and found it interesting enough -- plus, it's stayed in my head for the past 24 hours -- but I didn't find it particularly satisfying. Depending on one's mindset, the film could be seen as tantalizingly ambiguous or frustratingly inconclusive. The look and vibe of the film was a decent approximation of late '70s seediness and the movie's only really major misstep was the inevitable phantasmagoria of bad FX; this entire sequence is the wrong vintage. (Think 1982's POLTERGEIST.)

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Well, this was very disappointing. Too much focus on the wrong characters and what doesn't happen (the hynosis and the dreamlike sequence) and if it was supposed to reveal something about the TV host then I didn't get it. And even if I did I'd still struggle to make it meaningful in the context of the halloween broadcast.
There's also nothing funny about it, no wicked sense of comeuppance or something that makes it all click.

The only interesting thing about this film is the girl, Lily, who's even weirder than her demon alter ego. Her voice is almost identical to Pamela Sue Martin's, who could have played the role had the film been made in the 1970s.
The horror is blink-and-you'll-miss-it, I was hoping for an epic bloodbath à la Carrie.
This was definitely not worth the hype (but I refuse to take the blame).