One of the most anticipated films of the season for big horror movie fans is The Last Late Night, a feature film directed by Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes that has caused a sensation since its theatrical release last year. It's a horror film that won the Best Screenplay Award at the last Sitges Film Festival edition and is now available for streaming.

After directing other films within the genre such as 100 Bloody Acres (2012) and Scare Campaign (2016), the Cairnes brothers dive back into a style they master, adopting in this film a specific aesthetic and a structure similar to that of the late 70s television show Night Owls.

It was an interview show hosted by the popular Jack Delroy (played by David Dastmalchian in the film). After his wife's death, Delroy has been through tough times and his show's ratings are plummeting. Determined to regain viewers' interest, he decides to put together the most talked-about Halloween special on American television, unaware of the curse he is about to unleash upon all households in the country.

The Last Late Night is available on Filmin and its two directors have mentioned films like The King of Comedy by Martin Scorsese, or Network by Sidney Lumet as inspirations, although the main reference has been The Don Lane Show, an Australian television show from the 80s.

"Don was an odd figure, not even Australian; in fact, he was a nightclub performer from the Bronx over six feet tall who, thanks to his perseverance and a bit of luck, ended up hosting the most successful interview show in Australia", they recall.

The directors also made special reference to a particular moment on the show when Don Lane stormed off the set in a bad way after arguing with a skeptical magician who had publicly criticized psychic Doris Stokes, a collaborator of The Don Lane Show, accusing her of being a fraud. "That strange moment stayed in our memory and, ultimately, defined the tone of the film we were going to make," they recounted.

According to them, the biggest challenge of the film was to recreate a supposed television show aired in 1977 and make it believable in 2024. "We opted for a simple methodology, approaching the film production as if it were a program from that era," they explained.

"That meant using three pedestal cameras, a lighting grid composed exclusively of period lamps, a jazz band performing meticulously arranged scores, etc," they pointed out, indicating that the other major element on which the film stands is the masterful performance of its protagonist, David Mastmalchian (The Dark Knight).

"It was a particular joy to see David take on the role of the charming and unflappable host and at the same time observe him, slowly but inexorably, let the audience in on the problematic inner life of his character," they expressed.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence