Late Night with the Devil

The film is presented as recovered footage from the October 31 1977 broadcast of Night Owls with Jack Delroy — a struggling late-night talk show that has never cracked The Tonight Show's ratings since Jack's wife Madeleine died of cancer. On Halloween night Jack books an unprecedented lineup: debunker Carmichael the Magnificent, parapsychologist June Ross-Mitchell, and Lilly — a young girl and sole survivor of a Satanic cult massacre, whom June presents as evidence of genuine possession. The broadcast plays out in real time with commercial breaks. Carmichael attempts to debunk Lilly on-air and appears to be killed by her in the process. Lilly's episodes escalate: black fluid, multiple voices, genuine physical phenomena that cannot be explained as performance. The studio audience begins to be affected. Segments of behind-the-scenes footage interspersed throughout hint that Jack made a bargain years ago with a secretive Satanic society called the Grove — trading Madeleine's life for his career. In the climax, a demon named Mr. Wriggles fully manifests through Lilly. Jack — possessed, complicit, or both — smiles into the camera and kills his remaining crew and guests with a prop knife, live on air. The footage ends. A final card reads that Jack Delroy was found alone in the studio.