True Story Behind ‘Late Night With the Devil’ Explained

‘Late Night with the Devil’ is a 2023 found footage supernatural horror film, written, directed, and edited by Australian siblings Cameron and Colin Cairnes. Executive produced by Joel Anderson, Rami Yasin, and David Dastmalchian, it’s an international co-production between Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) on March 10, 2023, the film was met with generally positive reviews from critics due to its unique approach to found footage genre and interesting premise. Now speaking of the premise, forget about haunted houses, ghost stories, and ancient curses, and open your mind to a different type of horror premise – a haunted late-night talk show. Since the premise is quite unusual, plenty of people are wondering whether ‘Late Night with The Devil’ is actually based on a true story, and boy do we have an answer for you.

What is ‘Late Night with the Devil’ about?

‘Late Night with the Devil’ wasn’t officially released on Shudder yet but we do know what the movie will revolve about. The movie takes place in the 1970s Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) is a host of a fictional late-night talk show but the show seems to be failing and ratings are getting lower and lower.

Jack needs to figure out how to get the people to watch his show and gets the idea to interview a parapsychologist (Laura Gordon) and the subject of her recent book, a young teenager (Ingrid Torelli) who is the only survivor of the satanic cult’s mass suicide. Jack will over the course of the “episode” invite the devil to join him on camera and supposedly make a deal with him.

The movie was shot in found footage style as the supposedly recovered “Halloween” episode of the show. I gotta admit there is something sinister about late-night shows, you never what’s going to happen, the TV Etiquette is off the limits due to the special airing times but I gotta admit that I’ve never heard of something like this taking place.

We know that the movie is not directly based on a true story but it was partially inspired by one very real TV personality who made quite a name for himself in the world of Australian late-night talk shows – Don Lane.

‘Late Night with the Devil’ was partially inspired by the James Randi incident

In the middle of the James Randi incident was Don Lane. Don Lane was an American-born Australian television personality, singer, and variety entertainer. He gained fame as the host of ‘The Don Lane Show,’ a popular late-night television variety program in Australia that aired from 1975 to 1983. Lane was known for his charisma, wit, and musical talents, and he became one of the most popular figures in Australian entertainment during his time on television.

Namely, Don Lane was quite a fan of Doris Stokes and even endorsed her a few times in his show. Don Lane was apparently quite impressed with Doris and he played a segment of her “reading” people and went on to praise her and her ability to enchant 40,000 people. That night, his guest was James Randi, one of the most notable skeptics who frequently debunked the so-called mediums, psychics, magicians, and other types of unscrupulous people who dealt with the supernatural. He was a prominent figure in the skeptical community and founded the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) to promote critical thinking and challenge claims of the supernatural.

James Randi offered several cash prizes if someone could successfully prove to him that the supernatural exists, up until this day, no one claimed the prize. Even though Randi passed away, his legacy lives on.

Now, back to the matter at hand, Randi was Lane’s guest for the night and after a heated debate, Lane stormed out of his own show kicking set decorations on his way out. Lane apologized the next day but the incident remained famous.

Cairnes brothers admitted that Don Lane influenced David Dastmalchian’s performance

Carines brothers were quite open regarding Don Lane’s influence on the story and stated how it was massive. In their interview with Entertainment Tonight they stated the following:

Don Lane was a big influence on the story. Don was open to all things supernatural and had a real affinity for those people and that world.

They further explained how David Dastmalchian draw inspiration from Don Lane while acting Jack Delroy.

He [Don Lane] was someone that David had no knowledge of. We sent him some clips of Don, amongst other clips of Carson and Cavett but he really took to Don and I think youcan see that in his performance.

So far the upcoming movie has been praised by the critics who saw it everything from production to technical aspects has been praised and we honestly can’t wait for March 22, 2024 when the movie officially releases in the US. Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!