‘Late Night with the Devil’ AI Usage Sparks Debate

Turns out the real demon in indie horror film “Late Night With the Devil” is its use of AI.

The IFC Films/Shudder release utilized artificial intelligence for a trio of still images — title cards, specifically — intended to enhance the ’70s aesthetic, according to the film’s directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes. That has not gone over well within the creative community on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“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,” the Cairnes brothers told Variety. “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 a talk-show host who films a live Satanic event during his 1977 broadcast. David Ehrlich’s IndieWire review called the film a “clever and cheeky found-footage horror movie” that included “glorious Rob Bottin-esque practical effects.”

If only the entirety of the film was done so practically.

Film journalist Rendy Jones tweeted, “There’s no excuse for LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL to be using AI art especially since…