Last month, Charles Band’s company Full Moon announced that they’re launching a new production label called Pulp Noir, which will focus on “edgier, weirder, darker horror and dark fantasy films,” with a slate of ten films. (The plan being that all ten of those movies are going to be filmed by the end of this year.) Production has already wrapped on the first of the Pulp Noir movies, Quadrant… and after looking over the footage, Band has decided that Full Moon will be releasing black & white versions of all of the movies in the Pulp Noir line. In addition to that, they will also be available on VHS!
Band confirmed this plan on a short episode of his YouTube series Full Moon Universe, where he said, “We all decided here that what would be awesome, considering how really cool the footage is looking from our first Pulp Noir movie Quadrant, that we release all Pulp Noir movies in black & white as well as color. Whether it will be on the same disc or it will be a separate disc in the case, I’m not sure yet, this is an idea that just made sense today. We had a wonderful photographer on set who took some of the shots that we were doing in black & white and I thought, ‘Wow, this is looking amazing.’ So why not, since we’re doing something different here anyway, create a black & white version of each one of these features? In that regard, when we release these movies on disc, we’re also going to release all these Pulp Noir movies on VHS. I mean, why not? It’s such a big part of a lot of our history.“
To see some images from the filming of Quadrant and some VHS concept art, click over to the Full Moon Universe video.
Pulp Noir’s first slate of films consists of: Quadrant, Death Streamer, Subscriber, Subhuman, Bad CGI Werewolves! (sort of a companion piece to Full Moon’s recent release Bad CGI Gator), Zombie Hotel, Surprise Party, the paranormal romance The Lost Girl’s Private Diary, Svengali 2024, and Hourglass.
Directed by Band, Quadrant was written by C. Courtney Joyner and is described as being an unholy blend of steampunk terror and sci-fi slasher, with a female serial killer using the titular VR device to stalk her prey and channel the legacy of Jack the Ripper, and another heroic woman entering the ether-verse to bring her down!
Promotional art features a more in-depth synopsis: Developed by scientists Harry and Meg, the Quadrant helmet allows your mind to transport you into a world where all your phobias and nightmares are real, while also granting you the strength to defeat them, liberating you from their control forever. But the Quadrant experiment is about to go terribly wrong. When Erin, a young girl who’s obsessed with Jack the Ripper, uses the device to actually become the Ripper, she unleashes a reign of terror, first in her mind in an AI version of old London created by the Quadrant, and then in reality, where she now stalks the contemporary city streets, seeking out victims for her blade. The only way to stop this savage new Ripper is for an even more vicious killer to enter the artificial Quadrant-verse and bring her down. What ensues is a brutal, bloody battle, murderer against murderer, both in this world and the surreal, dangerous, synthetic world of Quadrant!
What do you think of Full Moon releasing black & white versions and VHS editions of their Pulp Noir movies? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The two Titans of the Monsterverse are back! March 29th sees the return of Godzilla and Kong, yet this time, they may have to work together. Adam Wingard’s return to the franchiseGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire promises to bring audiences to an exciting new world. The latest installment promises a whole heaping of monsters that will fill the screen nicely with its upcoming IMAX release. This past Thursday, JoBlo was invited to see the new film and get a good look behind the scenes as the upcoming franchise chapter prepares to roar into the theatres.
You can look for a full review closer to release, but there was a very spirited vibe during the WB event and screening. Best of all, the event was joined by Mr. Wingard himself to give us a little insight into what we were about to witness. However, even before our inside look, we were given a glimpse at some of the costumes worn in the feature. They also had on display the toys lined up with monsters and fun. Frankly, I want all of them. It was an impressive event that was all the more enjoyable thanks to the charming nature of Wingard’s presence.
Having spoken to the filmmaker in the past, he’s always been an incredible interview subject. The man loves making movies, which was displayed when watching him talk with glee about the Monsterverse. Before the screening, we gathered to see a collection of artifacts, images, and much more. All of which inspired the massive beasts on display in the film. Once my group had gathered in a room that looked straight out of a production office, Mr. Wingard chimed in for some of his inspiration for A New Empire.
Surrounding us in the room were a series of photographs and images. All of which represent the stages of Godzilla and King Kong. And specifically, the director’s inspiration behind the new film. And perhaps my favorite one is how big Adam’s cat “Mischief” played a role. In the movie, his cat also makes a cameo, so all cat lovers have that to look out for. And yes, Adam had much more to say about Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire—everything from the look of the film to the many monsters and, of course, the toys.
ADAM WINGARD: “The idea was that we created this room with a lot of our concept art as a way to communicate my vision to cast, crew, producers, studio, and everybody so that everybody understood what movie we were making. And that all started with a wall exactly like this that we had at the beginning of the walkthrough. This was the vision board that I created, and as you can see, I’m obviously a child of the ’80s. And so where my influences as a filmmaker started really was that experience of walking down the toy aisle as a kid and just being bombarded with all these neon colors. It was like the golden age for toys in the ’80s with Thundercats, He-Man, Transformers, G.I. Joes. For whatever reason, that’s ingrained in my psyche, and my introduction to Godzilla started in that same era.
The way I experienced Godzilla for the first time was being at home before preschool, and Godzilla would be playing on daytime TV. And it was always the Showa-era films like Invasion of the Astro Monster, Hedorah, and Destroy All Monsters; that kind of technicolor psychedelic vibe really interfaced nicely with the experience of the ’80s neon colors. And so that’s the starting point for me with this movie I really wanted to bring those kind of influences into the Godzilla world and bring it back in my own way to that Showa-era fun and colorful vibe.
And so, moving on here, one of my biggest influences in life is my cat, Mischief, and Mischief has been a big influence in terms of some of the ways I’ve developed mannerisms with Godzilla. And in a literal way, she came through in this film; as you can see, this shot of Godzilla in the Coliseum was a direct lift from my cat sleeping in her cat bed. Funny enough, a couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with Yamazaki, who directed Godzilla Minus One, and it turns out that his cat was a major influence on the movie Godzilla as well. So I don’t know what the deal is with these cats. I think that maybe they’re just mind-controlling.
Mischief also makes a cameo in the film too. You can’t miss it, actually. In Godzilla vs. Kong, it was important to me to create a continuity between the other Monster vs. Godzilla movies. So I didn’t change up Godzilla’s design at all, but it felt like we’re five movies into the Monsterverse. It was time for a cool evolution of Godzilla, but I didn’t want it to just be like, “Okay, we need to sell new toys of Godzilla. How do we create a new design?” I wanted to see a new Godzilla, but I wanted it to be story-driven. So, his evolution became one of the main propulsive plot points in the movie. Our lead creature designer, Jared Krichevsky, created this new look, and he created a lot of Skar King, and he did Mechagodzilla in the last movie.
Kong’s journey is an emotional one in these films, and Godzilla vs. Kong is all about Kong trying to find his home. This film’s really about Kong finding his people, and he’s a lonely character. And what’s exciting in this film is, yes, he’s going to find others of his kind, but it’s not going to be straightforward. It’s not going to be, probably, what he was hoping for and it’s going to be a little bit more complicated, but you can see we developed a lot of our artwork. Kong always has a lot of personality and emotion in what we’re trying to develop here.
And this wall right here, this is all about the team-up, and I guess you could call it the rematch, but it’s not that straightforward. When I watched Godzilla vs Kong in the theater, it was an emotional thing because it was during the pandemic. It was one of the first movies that opened up back in movie theaters. And I’ll never forget just that moment at the end of the movie when Godzilla and Kong briefly team up to go against Mechagodzilla. It was just like, man, it was like 20% capacity, but that thing was like the roof was blown off. People just love seeing them work together. And so I knew, okay, we’re going to do a sequel. That one was about the verses this is about the team-up, but these characters like Godzilla and Kong, their influences for me are kind of ’80s buddy cop films. They have a dysfunctional relationship. They might be friends, but it’s not going to be as straightforward as that. And they might not even like each other necessarily. One of my other big influences is the movie They Live, that’s my favorite film of all time.
The thing I love about They Live is that the best sequence in the movie is not about the hero versus the villain. It’s the heroes fighting each other because of a misunderstanding. And so this rematch is more complicated than that, and you’ll see what I mean when you understand the way they lived and how they met up again in this film. So, for the world here, this is the payoff, really, of what this inspiration wall set up. In the last movie, Godzilla vs. Kong, we had a quick fly through Hollow Earth, but in this film, we really get to live in it and experience all the different places and environments that it has. What’s cool about Hollow Earth is that it’s a pre-historical place. It’s almost like traveling back in time. There are so many different environments, and in this film, we get to explore lots of them.
We use Iceland as a base for a lot of our real plate photography. It was always important. No matter how big and crazy and outlandish we got, we always wanted something to ground it. Therefore, it was very important that we try to use as many plate photographs as possible for a starting point. And on the surface level, we got to really go to town and see different aspects of Monarch and the bases on the surface level.
Again, going back to that influence I had as a kid, the way that toys really spoke to me and built my creativity up. I wanted to create environments that, almost from the pullback view, give you the feeling of a toy set, but then you get in close and you see the chipped paint, you see the dirt. It’s real. And that’s sort of what this film is all about, in a way. It’s trying to take these big stylized ideas and then make you believe them and show you something you’ve never seen before. But you can’t just do something that’s obviously just crazy for crazy’s sake because that’s easy.
And so then, lastly, we have our monster wall, and what’s cool about this is that in Hollow Earth, we get to really experience the full ecosystem. It is not just about the big Titans; it’s also about the ones that are on the side, and it just makes it feel like a real lived-in place. We get to revisit some Titans that just only had a small cameo in the last film, which is exciting.
I put this image up here to start because when you’re designing these movies, you have to create things that just are very almost technical and give you, “Okay, this is what this character looks like, and this is what they look like from a three-quarter angle,” and all that stuff. But there were a couple of images that we did that were strictly to give you the feeling of some of the excitement and the vibe. And with the Skar King, I wanted to figure out what his personality was in a visual way. And so that’s why with Skar King, we always really try to develop him. He’s our villain in this movie, and we wanted to really get his attitude, even from the early days of the design. And the Skar King’s a really cool villain because he’s the biggest threat that the monsters have to face, but it’s not in a way that you would expect.
He’s an ape, so he has different intentions and ideas from those of a normal monster. He’s not just going on instinct. And so being able to play with that and say, “Okay, if we have Kong, what’s the anti-Kong?” And this film, not only do we develop that, but we also have the anti-Godzilla, which is going to be a little bit more of a surprise. And I think that part of the reason why Skar King is such a major threat is because of the way that they interface, so I’m excited for you guys to see that. And then, of course, almost like the starting point of this film, which started around this little guy, Suko, which I’m excited for you to see. He’s, in a way, the heart and soul of the movie, and he’s something that has to be experienced because he’s very cute, but his looks can be deceiving.
And so again, going back to Kong’s emotional journey, when you’re doing a movie like this, the action scenes are a no-brainer; that’s an obvious thing. You’ve got to have big action scenes. But what’s really exciting is being able to do a movie where you get to see monsters just being monsters and seeing the way that they communicate with each other. And so we get to really explore. It almost becomes a character study for monsters at certain points in this movie. We really get to get in their head and be in their reality. And so as a director, that was the main thing that, for me, was like, I can’t wait to get into this. And you guys are at the right place for this; we’re about to see this big motherfucker in IMAX, and we got about 49 minutes, I think, of full IMAX aspect ratio.
Almost all the major monster sequences in the movie have it, so this is the way to see it. That’s all I got for you.”
Look for much more here at JoBlo on Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire before it brings a little mayhem to theatres on March 29th!
This year, Marvel is returning to one of the most beloved cartoons of my childhood with the highly anticipated (and controversial) X-Men ’97. Of course, I’m talking about X-Men: The Animated Series. It featured a team of outcasts who saved the world daily even though the world scorned them. A group of people born with amazing powers and posed the question “of whether they were the next step in human evolution?” They were called mutants or freaks, but to many, they were called icons or legends. I am, of course, talking about The X-Men. Specifically, the animated series from the 90’s was full of action and adventure. But it also taught many children about the dangers of hate and how love and acceptance are needed worldwide. The show was massively popular, and its message was applauded. But what’s the story of its origin, and why did it leave us in the first place?
The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963 debuting in The X-Men #1 in September of that year. The book was not a hit; in fact, for many years, it was the lowest-selling comic being published by Marvel. Even though there were times when sales spiked, the book would eventually stop publishing new stories altogether. Then, in 1975, sales and interest in the characters would explode with the publication of New X-Men #1. This comic would introduce iconic characters such as Storm and Wolverine. Soon the golden era of the X-Men would begin when comic book legends John Byrne and Chris Claremont took over the book. After that, the X-Men became arguably the most popular comic book characters Marvel ever made. By the 90’s Jim Lee had taken over illustrations and created what most people consider the classic look of the X-Men to beat.
I could go on and on about my thoughts on the X-Men comics, but it would be another video. So, as you can imagine, the popularity of the characters made Marvel want to cash in on adapting them to other media. This led to the birth of X-Men: The Animated Series, which would go on to have a five-season run on Fox, and became beloved by a whole generation of children. In this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten, we dig into the show’s history, why it ended, and its impact on a generation.
Last week, Ke Huy Quan’s upcoming action film With Love announced that it has set a release date for February 7, 2025. The movie comes from Universal and 87North Productions. While the plot details have yet to be revealed, it has been announced that With Love is written by Luke Passmore and was based on an original script by Josh Stoddard & Matthew Murray. Former stunt performer and coordinator Jonathan Eusebio steps up as the director after having done second-unit directing on films like Violent Night, Deadpool 2, Black Panther, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
87North’s David Leitch and Kelly McCormick are currently promoting The Fall Guy, which stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, and the film is getting massive praise. The producing couple spoke with Collider recently to talk about their latest project as well as their excitement about working on With Love with Quan. When inquired about what it’s like to work with the Everything Everywhere All at Once star, McCormick shared, “I’m obsessed. I think he’s so cool. He’s so classy. He’s so fun and sweet and wide-eyed in this way that’s like sort of like, ‘Bring me anything. Let’s just go for it. What do you think?’ As long as he’s been in the business and as much as he’s achieved, he still has like a real joy to vote for it. You know, like a real openness and like, enthusiasm that’s just still discovering. That is just really, really fun every day.” Leitch adds, “It’s infectious. It’s infectious when you have a lead actor that’s that way with the crew and with his director and all his other creatives. It all sort of trickles down. Everyone’s excited because the joy that he has. He’s ready to go. It’s going to be awesome.”
While Quan showed off some old-school Jackie Chan-esque prop fighting in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Leitch was impressed with his ability to do the action scenes for the new movie. He explains, “What was a lot of discovery for us, he has some action chops because he’d worked with Corey Yuen’s team for a while in the past. He’s done quite a bit of fight action, obviously even before Everything Everywhere All at Once. It was really about like, there was an assessment phase with the guys, and they were all just like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing.’ The aptitude’s already here, so let’s take it to the next level. I think it was just sort of like tweaking him to the next level and really finding the character in the action. That’s what they were unpacking.” McCormick then shares, “He also has a really amazing glasses move that I can’t really tell you about [Kelly and David laugh] where his spectacles like fly and then land. He does it naturally in like IRL, and we’re gonna take advantage of that superpower.”
Joseph Kahn primarily works as a music video director, having collaborated with the likes of Taylor Swift, Backstreet Boys, Rob Zombie, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, U2, Aerosmith, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Maroon 5, Shakira, and many more – but he has also made a few feature films over the years. He made his feature debut with the 2004 action comedy Torque, and has followed that up with the comedy Bodied and the horror film Detention – which we’ve covered for both Awfully Good and Best Horror Movie You Never Saw. Now, Variety reports that Kahn is making a creature feature called Ick, and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and Mena Suvari (American Beauty) have signed on to star in the film.
Ick is coming our way from Interstellar Entertainment and producer Steven Schneider. The film aims to “evoke the timeless creature features of the 1980s with an ambitious arsenal of scares and comedy.” Routh is taking on the role of Hank, a high school science teacher who still pines for his childhood sweetheart, played by Suvari. While discovering he may have a teenage daughter, Hank must grapple with a terrifying alien anomaly (the titular “Ick”) invading their small town.
The teenager who might be Hank’s daughter is being played by Malina Weissman of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events.
Kahn, who also wrote the screenplay with Sam Laskey and Dan Koontz, provided the following statement: “Ick is a movie that evokes primal fears about the world today, and best of all, it introduces a unique mysterious monster. I am thrilled that Interstellar has aligned to produce this modern creature feature that is challenging and escapist fun.“
Interstellar’s Udaya Sharma added, “Embedded within Ick are universal themes of bravery, self-sacrifice and the eternal human quest to face the unknown. Our goal is to not just captivate our audience but to also invoke deep introspection about confronting the unimaginable, while also being incredible pop entertainment for all ages.“
The Variety article notes that the creature effects in Ick will be brought to the screen through a combination of old school prosthetics and state of the art visual effects.
How does Ick sound to you? Are you interested in a Joseph Kahn / Brandon Routh / Mena Suvari / Malina Weissman creature feature? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Blumhouse Productions and The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell are bringing us another reboot of a classic Universal Pictures property with Wolf Man, which is set to reach theatres on October 25th – and yesterday, producer Jason Blum took to social media to confirm that Wolf Man is now filming! Blum shared a picture of Whannell on set, holding a clapperboard, and you can check that out at the bottom of this article.
When this project was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.
Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back.
The leads of the film are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner must be playing his wife, because her character is described as being a mother whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Their characters seem to have a 10 year old daughter named Ginger, as a casting call for that character was sent out a while back.
A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.
Are you looking forward to seeing what Blumhouse and Whannell do with Wolf Man? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Day one on the set of Wolf Man. Director Leigh Whannell pictured here. LFG!!!
William Shatner is at the point in his life where he can look back at all the things he’s done with perspective. The legendary actor is the subject of a new documentary, You Can Call Me Bill, which chronicles his career. As one would assume, a big part of the retrospective is about his time on Star Trek. Many stories have been shared about his run in the Captain’s chair. And now, Shatner himself would be reflecting on certain parts of his career involving the famous sci-fi property. One thing he would look back on in particular was his attempt to helm a Star Trek movie with the sequel, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Shatner would come up with the story as well as direct the film.
The Hollywood Reporter got to sit down with Shatner as he discussed different phases of his career, including T.J. Hooker and Boston Legal. When it came to the topic of Star Trek V, Shatner gets candid about what overwhelmed him about the experience. THR acknowledges that the movie has its fans now but then would ask if Shatner intended to expand Trek by filming around the world. Shatner replied, “I wish that I’d had the backing and the courage to do the things I felt I needed to do. My concept was, ‘Star Trek goes in search of God,’ and management said, ‘Well, who’s God? We’ll alienate the nonbeliever, so, no, we can’t do God.’ And then somebody said, ‘What about an alien who thinks they’re God?’ Then it was a series of my inabilities to deal with the management and the budget. I failed. In my mind, I failed horribly. When I’m asked, ‘What do you regret the most?,’ I regret not being equipped emotionally to deal with a large motion picture. So in the absence of my power, the power vacuum filled with people that didn’t make the decisions I would’ve made.”
THR asked how much the budget played a part in the hindrance to realizing his vision. Shatner responded, “It is on me. [In the finale,] I wanted granite [rock creatures] to explode out of the mountain. The special effects guy said, ‘I can build you a suit that’s on fire and smoke comes out.’ I said, ‘Great, how much will that cost?’ They said, ‘$250,000 a suit.’ Can you make 10 suits? He said, ‘Yeah.’ That’s $2.5 million. You’ve got a $30 million budget. You sure you want to spend [it on that]? Those are the practical decisions. Well, wait a minute, what about one suit? And I’ll photograph it everywhere [to look like 10]. (Editor’s note: The plan to use one suit famously did not work well onscreen and was ultimately abandoned.)”
You Can Call Me Bill is set to release on March 22.
I’ve always felt that the 1979 horror film Tourist Trap (watch it HERE) deserves a lot more respect and attention than it gets – and that star Chuck Connors (best known for The Rifleman) deserved the “genre icon” career he was aiming for when he signed on for the movie. Barbara Crampton is someone who did achieve a genre icon career, and she clearly believes there was something great going on with Tourist Trap, because our friends at Bloody Disgusting have learned that she is producing a remake of the film!
Crampton is the Vice President of Production & Development at Alliance Media Partners, and the company has just acquired the rights to make a new version of Tourist Trap. Crampton will be producing the film alongside Bob Portal, who is AMP’s Managing Director & Head of Production.
Produced by Full Moon founder Charles Band, the original Tourist Trap stars Connors as Mr. Slausen, a telekinetic psychopath who lures a group of young people to his ramshackle roadside attraction, unleashing an army of psychically controlled mannequins and other monstrosities upon them. As the terrified youths fight for their lives, secrets are revealed and shock follows shock until the movie reaches its nightmarish, unforgettable finale.
Connor’s co-stars include Jocelyn Jones (The Enforcer), Tanya Roberts (The Beastmaster), and Robin Sherwood (Death Wish II). Robert A. Burns of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes fame provided the art direction, and the film boasts a score by Pino Donaggio (Don’t Look Now, Carrie, Dressed to Kill). David Schmoeller – who would go on to helm Puppet Master – directed Tourist Trap from a screenplay he wrote with J. Larry Carroll, who had worked as an editor on both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes.
Are you a fan of Tourist Trap? What do you think of the film getting a remake from producer Barbara Crampton? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
It could be argued that Tourist Trap has already received an unofficial remake, because the 2005 version of House of Wax had a lot more in common with Schmoeller’s film than it did with the movie it took its title from.
Those of you who love martial arts movies and follow our JoBlo Original, Reel Action, on YouTube may have seen the recent spotlight we did on the Mark Dacascos 1993 capoeira movie, Only the Strong. While Only the Strong should have skyrocketed Dacascos to martial arts stardom, he would actually have an earlier credit with a smaller role in a film called American Samurai, which starred David Bradley of the American Ninja sequels. American Samurai would come from the director of many Ninja-related movies, Sam Firstenberg, for the infamous once-upon-a-movie studio, Cannon Films. Sam Firstenberg was a director who the studio often collaborated with, but American Samurai would be the first movie that Cannon took their famous scissors to and alter the film against the director’s vision.
A group on Facebook called The Official Restoration of American Samurai has been established with some news for fans of the film and genre. The director himself posted a message detailing the intentions of the project. The post reads, “Hello everyone! Welcome to The Official Restoration of American Samurai Group. Thirty-two years ago, director Sam Firstenberg completed a film that would become the only film in his career to receive the rotten treatment it did not deserve. Due to producers’ interference, the distributed version of the film was far from what the director envisioned. New scenes were added, and sequences were placed out of order, altering the story.”
The message from Firstenberg continues, “Now, thirty-two years later, Sam Firstenberg’s film, American Samurai, is being re-edited to include all the authentic graphic violence in the fights, removal of scenes that were not part of the initial production, scenes are being placed in their proper order, and sequences are straightened out to not only fix major continuity issues but also to fix the flow of crucial fight sequences and dramatic moments. Using two different versions of the film, editor Lyle Goodwin is working closely with Sam Firstenberg to finally realize, for viewers and fans, the initial vision that was realized so long ago of this martial arts cult classic, American Samurai. Buckle up and enjoy the original ride you were supposed to take.”
PLOT: A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.
REVIEW: I’ve always had a fondness for late-night talk shows and their host. While I’m more of a Letterman and Conan guy, the shadow of Carson looms largely over anyone in that space. So the concept of Late Night With The Devil immediately appeals to me. They would always have a slew of guests, ranging in their celebrity status, all with the purpose of popping a rating. But what if one of those guests were actually able to prove the existence of the supernatural? The possibilities are endless.
Following the night that a struggling late-night show was able to prove the existence of a supernatural presence (or were they?), Late Night With The Devil is like a slow descent into Hell. I always love a horror film that brings you on a journey and slowly ramps up the stakes as the story progresses. And this one contends with the idea of whether the supernatural is real or simply a ruse; a subject of debate since the dawn of man.
David Dastmalchian is absolutely phenomenal as Jack Delroy, a doomed talk show host desperate to find success. Jack is dealing with the loss of his wife but refuses to take extended time off. So on his quest for ratings, he brings on a slew of supernatural-connected guests, but Jack may have some ulterior motives. One moment you can see the pain in his eyes, grieving his poor wife and the next he’s got a big smile as he plays to a live studio audience. Dastmalchian has been a highlight of so many films for years that it’s awesome to see him take center stage.
Nearly as important as the host, is his sidekick, and Rhys Auteri does a great job. He’s got that Andy Richter and Ed McMahon quality where he’s the perfect accessory to Dastmalchian’s Delroy. I also really liked Ian Bliss as the skeptic. It’s amusing how he breaks down the common tricks that supernatural frauds would use during this era. One of the more intriguing characters is Laura Gordon’s June Ross-Mitchell, whose relationship with Jack is a bit questionable. She adds to the mystery and intrigue around what the film is explicitly NOT telling us.
The creepy possessed girl is a tough role to portray and Ingrid Torelli does a wonderful job. She’s incredibly offputting and her unpredictability works well. She manages to be innocent and terrifying at the same time. I don’t want to go too far into her role for fear of spoilers but I loved the portrayal. And I love how frantic everything is during the breaks, properly representing any live production. A distinct contrast exists between the calm and stillness of being on the air to the chaos of the red light going dark.
One of the elements I enjoyed the most about Late Night With The Devil is how it contends with frauds. Giving a spotlight to the many types of people who have visited late-night television sets for years. As the viewer starts to believe there’s something ghostly occurring, Carmichael Haig steps in with a dose of reality. This furthers the trend of slowing ramping up the intensity as the film progresses.
I absolutely adored the entire third act of Late Night With The Devil. After constantly playing with the idea of the supernatural being real or fake, we’re given a nasty explanation. Complete with some incredible special effects and wonderful performances, it comes together for a perfect package. Cameron and Colin Cairnes prove to be a formidable filmmaking duo. I tend to really dislike when films change aspect ratios for no reason but thankfully it makes sense here. The broadcasted moments are all in 4:3 Fullscreen and color, while the breaks are widescreen and monochrome. The contrast of the shaky, handheld reality with the still, tripod-centered broadcast works really well.
There are some moments that some might deem as cheesy but I just see them as period-specific. The Abraxas cult looks corny because it’s presented through the lens of a 70s news report. Those moments are intentional and make the payoff at the end even more rewarding. Late Night With The Devil deals with fame, loss, and the extreme lengths that someone will go to for success. There’s an obvious parallel between Jack’s desire for ratings and modern society’s desire for views/likes. Hopefully, the viewer looks inward and takes note. It could save them from disaster.
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL IS IN THEATERS ON MARCH 22ND, 2024 AND WILL LATER STREAM ON SHUDDER ON APRIL 19TH, 2024.
: Nicola Dove/Universal Pictures and 
