Cameron and Colin Cairnes give a twist to the horror genre and release ‘The Last Late Night’, one of the most interesting proposals of the year
In 2016, brothers Cameron and Colin Cairnes turned the hidden camera concept on its head with Scare Campaign, a horror film that was very well received in its native Australia and that critics defined as a delight “with an always creative script.” They hadn’t done anything as directors since then and their return has surpassed their last project. This May 24 they premiere on Filmin The last late nighta horror film that reformulates ‘talk shows’ of the 70s while innovating in the genre with great insight.
The last late night follow Jack Delroy, a late-night television star who, after years on the air, fails to have the influence of his competition, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. After the death of his wife from cancer, Delroy’s future seems bleaker than ever, but he tries to increase the audience for his show. On Halloween night in 1977 he has the opportunity to experience a live seance starring Lily, a young woman who turns out to be the only survivor of a mass suicide that occurred in a satanic church. From that moment on, events get out of control.
In an interview with SensaCine, the Cairnes go back 7-8 years, when they had the idea of developing a film set in a television show. This was almost imposed by the small budget they had, but it was precisely what drove everything else. “After our first film we knew we would have to make the next one with less money. The budget was not going to be that high. We had to be a little clever with how we set it up“says Cameron.
The budget limited the space where the plot takes place to a single space – that of the television set – and forced the action to be supported entirely by the 5 protagonists of the film. This was no problem for the directors, but it forced them to plan very well how they shot it.
We had to be smart and a lot of that smartness came from the methodology. We filmed it like a television show, with three cameras recording the entire time. We had a lot of coverage, a lot of options, and we also knew instantly how it was going.
Part of that “intelligence” that the directors had to resort to to make the film forward was choosing the actors that make up the cast very well. It was necessary to have a cast that worked well together, but also that was capable of transmitting that special essence of the 70s while very subtly terrifying the viewer.
David Dastmalchian – whom we already know from The suicide squad (2021) or Dune (2021) – seems to have been born to play presenter Jack Delroy. On the most terrifying side is Ingrid Torelli, who plays the young woman interviewed in the program and who drives horror with a single look. Next to her, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, Rhys Auteri and Fayssal Bazzi complete the signings.
I know your inspiration comes from the ’70s television shows you grew up with, but what was the origin of this film?
Colin: It’s not easy to answer the question, do you have the answer?
Cameron: I don’t know if we felt like it was a movie we should make. It came out more than necessity. After our first film we knew that we would have to make the next one with less money. The budget was not going to be that high. We had to be a little crafty with how we set it up. We thought about unique locations and the television studio came up in those conversations. It went from there. We thought it was an interesting place where there could be some drama at the beginning and add the supernatural and horror elements. It took us a lot of work and time to get to a point where we were happy with the story and happy with all those elements.
Colin: When we think of the late ’70s and ’80s, we think of all those horror movies, but it’s not just that, it’s things like An unforgiving world and The king of comedy, which dealt with that world. I think there’s a whole range of influences behind it.
You have worked on this project for 7-8 years, how has the creation changed in such a long period?
Colin: The initial idea has changed a lot. We’d go do live TV sessions and then we’d keep writing in corners and couldn’t find our way out. I think once we introduced the character of Lily and June Ross Mitchell that’s when the story started to open up. Also a good friend of ours, a guy named Joel Anderson, who made the movie Lake Mungo -a great found footage from Australia-, is someone we always shared our scripts with and I think he really helped unravel the story.
You had to rethink the budget for the project once it started, has this led you to a better film? Or, at least, smarter?
Cameron: When we first went on this journey, the budget was going to be less than what we actually had. We thought we were going to make a million-dollar movie, but we ended up with several million. Did you change things in the writing? Not really. I mean, we knew our limitations and I think that depends on the environment, the location… We implemented some parameters and I think that helped us set up production. Since we had a few more dollars to play with, we pushed things a little further, the effects. We didn’t have to do anything off camera, we talked from the beginning about what we should show and what we shouldn’t.
Colin: At the same time, this is not a lavish Hollywood production, so we had to be smart and a lot of that smartness came from the methodology, from how we shot it. We filmed it like a television show, with three cameras recording the entire time. We had a lot of coverage, a lot of options, and we also knew instantly how it was going because we also had to switch backstage. That methodology worked really well to be able to push things a little further and be able to stretch that dollar. We work with incredibly smart, talented, resourceful people who can do incredible work sometimes for very little money. You have a lot of people collaborating, putting their passion, their heart and soul into the productions. That’s what independent films are like.
Filmin
David Dastmalchian fits perfectly into the film, but what would you say about his character? Is he really a villain or is he just a good person trying to move on?
Cameron: We’re really happy that it’s open to interpretation, and I think part of the charm of the movie is that you can go out and have a conversation about how you view Jack’s morality. But why can’t it be all that? Why can’t he be a good man who has done bad things or a bad man who has occasionally done good things? Things are not black or white. He is not an angel, at all. But, intentionally, has he preferred not to see any of his associations? Has he thought about what he has had to sacrifice to be number one? Maybe not. We like that he’s a complex character, that’s what makes him a little more interesting. I think David had a very clear idea in his head about this character, about what he has to be thinking or feeling every step of the way.
What did David Dastmalchian bring to the character?
Cameron: The first day of filming, when he walked on set in that suit, we knew we were in good hands. We didn’t have to do much with David. When you ask what he brought to the character, I would say he brought everything. He understood the character from head to toe more than we did. He brought all his acting skills and his knowledge of cinema, particularly from the 70s. At that time they acted differently, it was a style that we don’t see anymore. They were less self-aware, there was some truthfulness. They were totally committed and vulnerable.
Ingrid Torelli is incredible in the character of Lilly, she is absolutely terrifying, what guidelines did you give her?
Colin: We just told him to look at the camera the way he does. What we like as directors is that we keep learning about the characters as we make the movie and, as Cameron said, you want the actor to know the character better than you do because if not, the movie is in trouble. Ingrid was such a case. We told her that whether Lily was in control of her or the demon was in control of her was up to her. She could make that call. From there, we could sit back and enjoy her performance. Occasionally we would tell her to look at the camera just to bring out some of the irony, whatever it was. But we simply gave the cast the freedom to figure things out for themselves.
