A malign presence lurks in the corner, insidiously leaking poison into our minds; it’s ubiquitous and addictive. Small wonder that genre film-makers have long toyed with the idea that television is inherently evil.
Late Night With the Devil, a gleefully wigged-out found-footage horror by Australian brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes, joins a growing list of films tapping into the dark side of the small screen. It’s a list that includes Hideo Nakata’s Ringu, David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist and the buzzy forthcoming title from Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow. Unlike most of the other examples however, Late Night… focuses not on the passive consumption of television, but on its creation. The film hints at a Faustian pact that trades dignity, honesty, morality and even human lives to claw a share of the ratings figures. Which, when you think about it, is not so very far-fetched.
