Late Night With the Devil Slammed for Using AI; Directors Issue Statement

The debate over the use of AI in Hollywood was a hot button issue among horror fans on X (formerly Twitter) recently after it was revealed that the new IFC Films movie Late Night With the Devil starring David Dastmalchian utilized artificial intelligence to create three still images seen in the production. Now, the directors of the movie, Cameron and Colin Cairnes, are setting the record straight with a statement issued to Variety that clarifies just how much AI was used, and how.

The siblings praised the graphics and production design team who worked on Late Night With the Devil, and delved further into the use of AI in the film. They said that while those three images were generated by artificial intelligence, they were altered even further before they made their way on screen. Check out the Cairnes’ statement below.

“In conjunction with our amazing graphics and production design team, all of whom worked tirelessly to give this film the 70s aesthetic we had always imagined, we experimented with AI for three still images which we edited further and ultimately appear as very brief interstitials in the film. We feel incredibly fortunate to have had such a talented and passionate cast, crew and producing team go above and beyond to help bring this film to life. We can’t wait for everyone to see it for themselves this weekend.”

Late Night With the Devil stars David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy, the host of a 1970s talk show whose broadcast goes horribly wrong when he brings a parapsychologist and the sole survivor of a Satanic church’s mass suicide on to be interviewed. The film is labeled under the found footage horror genre, but is presented similar to the 1992 British horror film, Ghostwatch, in that it seemingly uses raw footage from the fictional 1977 Halloween broadcast where paranormal events occurred to tell its story. Check out MovieWeb’s own Sidney Ghan’s review of the film here.

The Debate Over AI in Movies Rages On

As a bone of contention during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, AI is a major issue in Hollywood right now. While Late Night With the Devil was made before the strikes and the use of artificial intelligence hit the mainstream, it’s not the first movie to come under fire. Recently, the writer of Patrick Swayze’s 1989 classic film Road House, R. Lance Hill, filed a lawsuit against MGM and Amazon Studios for using artifical intelligence to replicate voices for ADR during the SAG-AFTRA strike for Doug Liman’s reimagining. In January, George Carlin’s daughter, Kelly, also filed a lawsuit against the creators of a stand-up comedy special which used AI to replicate the late comedian’s voice and writing style.

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Though early reviews for Late Night With the Devil praised the film for its aesthetic and performances, with the revelation that AI was used in its making, people have been flooding sites like Letterboxd with negative comments, and calling for a boycott. Whether all this negativity will have any effect on the film as it makes its debut in theaters this weekend remains to be seen.