From my impression. He signed a deal with the devil and now he had to pay his dues.

Ambiguity leaves the audience unsettled, and good horror is unsettling.

I think the head split was just an illusion but the Demon definitely ended everyone else, as the Skeptic was burned to a crisp but his suit was pristine, Gus was turned into a turntable and June was slumped over with damage to her neck. So I think the entire night was the Demon and the Cult finally getting what they wanted out of Jack. As the people in full costumes in the audience were Cult members (like the Skeleton and the Frankenstein's Monster). The way I seen the film was at first Minnie was trying to contact and warn Jack by making contact with Christu, then the Demon took out Christu as a way of stopping any warnings from Minnie getting through. Then June mentions how Lilly went into a fuge state a few days ago and was constantly talking about Jack in a familiar way, so I think ever since then the Demon was in constant full control of Lilly and playing pretend that it was a young girl, as it instinctively knows what camera is on them and follows it in-between each camera cut. There's also how Lilly reacts to the mass hypnotism, she's giggling and laughing the entire time asking "Why is Gus acting so silly?" ... that's because the Demon isn't falling for the hypnosis and it's genuinely confused as to what everyone else is supposed to be seeing. Lilly also knows the name of the random make up person who comes up to her during the break and she is able to know when even the backstage cameras are filming her. Theres also a ton of subliminal images of Minnie surrounding Jack, she appears in the mirror during one of the backstage segments, she faintly appears beside Jack when Christu is talking to Eddie's family, she appears in the occult items on stage, she also appears superimposed over Lilly during the hypnosis and conversation with the Demon, and then eventually behind Jack holding his shoulder. I think Minnie is trying to warn Jack about what's about to happen, as she still loves him, and realises that the deal Jack made "Amongst the Tall Trees" came at a price that will be taken in the form of everyone that he loves being taken from him, that's why his wife suddenly got an illness that she shouldn't have gotten and that's why June was also taken at the end, as the price for a deal with a Demon is always a twisted interpretation of the deal. During the hallucination at the end when Jack finally sees and talks to Minnie, Minnie says something like "Oh thank God, I didn't think they were going to let you see me!" ... I think the "They" she is referring to their is the Demon and the Cove Cult, but at some point during their conversation the Demon takes control of the hallucination again and then tells Jack to use the occult dagger. Which in turn completes not only the Abbraxis Cults ritual (as they exclusively used 13 year olds and Lilly was 13) and it fulfils Jack's contract with the Cove Cult, as he will be "No.1 in Late Night" but not as a famous presenter but as an infamous butcher! ... and by having the entire thing broadcast it also unleashes the Demon into the homes and lives of the viewers. It's a very interesting film, the only negatives about it are the 5 mins of Production Studio intros at the start of the film, the opening exposition segment gave me unintentional Anchorman Vibes and all of the Stills and photographs used were all so terribly photoshopped that they looked like memes or something. ... but other than that it's a great new film to add to the Halloween rotation.

Jack clearly didn't snap and kill everyone, because the skeptic was melted like a Nazi who just opened the Ark of the Covenant. He made a deal with the Devil to become famous, a demon came on the show and killed everyone but him, and then Jack was shown a brief hallucination by Satan to fuck with him. Then he snaps out of it and is standing there just before the cops bust in. Now, we don't get a rundown of what happened in the world after the Live show aired, but I'm guessing that show was talked about non-stop for a loooong time, making Jack and his show bigger than Carson.

Christou getting the name Peterman in his first reading was a nod to the screenwriter. Carmichael says Christou is “all wax, no wick” and ends up melting like a candle 🕯️. This movie was well written and directed. Fun horror movie. Loved it

I felt like the end played out in reality. The spirit of Jack's wife was both a guardian angel and devil hunter. She put Jack into a state of delusion. Only Jack could get close to Lilly at the end due to his grief-stricken delusional state. His grief was like armour between Jack and the devil, ultimately ending the devil's potential reign on earth.

I want to thank you... Everybody else who had "ending explained", did not explain ending just recapped the movie (and this happens all the time)... But, when I saw you had "ending explained"... I said to myself, he is very honest and true, and he will actually explain the ending... And I was right, you actually explained the ending, at least how you saw it... So, thank you 👍

I loved this film (saw it 3 times in a week) my perspective changed each time. My thoughts are, lily did take over the set and kill everyone, Jack gets launched and then dragged away my Leo, but if you look closely throughout the film and at the end, everything behind the scenes is black and white, widescreen, everything “on air” is colour 4:3, at the bit where he’s reliving moments from the show, that’s colour widescreen, to me indicting it’s not on air or behind the scenes, this bit I’m not sure about, maybe a figment of his imagination, he did seem to hit his head when he was launched, then we get the “station difficulties” sign again, but once it goes to him signing the contract, which we see at the start of the film in black in white, but at the end it’s Colour 4:3, so from the films logic, back on air. He gets lead through the “woods” and through a sliding door, just like the set door, where the people in the background are the Skull mask, witch and Pete, all from the audience, then the door opens back up and he sees his wife, who accuses him of making a Deal with the devil, he proceeds to admit he “knew there was sacrifice but he never thought it would be this, he didn’t mean for it to end like this” she begs to be out her misery, he kills her, cut to lily, in the studio all still colour 4:3. So. My theory is, part of his sacrifice was killing lily, we know he was part of the cult in the woods, it looks like the cult leader lily was born under was part of the cult, and we know lily was born and raised to be sacrificed, Jack ultimately sacrifices her in front of a like studio audience and tv viewers at home, and admits to sacrificing his wife for fame (albeit unknowingly) lily has taken the form of his wife to trick him into “putting her out the misery” but the misery is actually he’s putting lily out her misery of being possessed. Just my theory, I loved this film so much I got the poster for my wall, I will buy this on DVD or steaming or wherever it is released and watching it again and again, to really try understand the end properly. But I loved it.

Spot on. After my second viewing, I realized Lily killing everyone was an illusion cast by Abraxis. Jack killed June, Carmichael, Gus, and Lily. What's really scary is that the Bohemian Grove (Bohemian Group) is a real secret society, and it's clear that Jack's deal with the devil was with them. Lily's prediction that Jack would become even more famous was a serious foreshadowing of the ending. This is one of the best films of 2024, and Late Night with the Devil will become a horror classic. Yours was the best review of this film I've seen. Great job.

Abraxas were all under control at the end. By us the audience witnessing the sacrifice we all fell under him In the prologue we are introduced to the Cult that needs a sacrifice for arbraxis and the narrator states that he needs an audience to witness the sacrifice. When the member is done with the sacrifice He states "and it's done ". Later on in the end of the film when Lily is revealed to be dead and stabbed by Jack, the film says "end transmission" but then quickly changes "and so it is done "

Really appreciate the fact that you tried your best to explain the ending. Most people don’t explain the ending even when they say they will. I’m subscribing.

A final sacrifice was needed to unleash Abraxis into the mortal world. Having already corrupted him to achieve fame, the devil tricked Jack into killing the thirteen year old Lily who was destined to be sacrificed.

*Well, the narration at the beginning does say, "What you are about to see is, the recently discovered master tape of what went to air that night.". So, the tape would have only picked up Dr. June giving suggestions to everyone on stage and in the studio. Which leads me to believe that the demon took control of Carmichael's hypnotism of Gus right away, and gave it its cheesy realism as a way to show off for the cameras. Which would also explain Lily's relentless eye contact with the cameras. Then, when it came time to playback Lily's & Dr. June's session, it was the demon's way of saying, "check THIS out!"/"...my turn"/"THIS IS SPARTA!"/"Say HELLO to my LIL FRIEND!"/"King Kong ain't got SHIT on me!"/You will respect my authorit-ah!"*

Your theory doesn't work. Even a hypnotized Jack couldn't twist his cohost's head all the way around, or burn the skeptic to death without accelerant.

I liked the hypnosis twist to the movie. We got to experience Jack's descent into madness. The scene where they used the tape playback to show that most people saw Gus having worms was an illusion and then showing Lilly's transformation was still real... or was it? Maybe we were still under hypnosis and seeing what Lilly wanted us to see through suggestion. Or maybe I'm still under hypnosis as I type this and stuck in my own nightmare. Very clever.

Well idk cause at the beginning of the movie we are told this is a master tape from that night that we are watching and because as in the movie " tape doesn't lie" we saw lilly killing everyone.

It is really interesting how there are so many different ideas about the ending of the movie! I guess I take a more optimistic approach. The scene where Jack and Madeline profess their love for each other is genuine, and despite what Jack has done, Madeline saves Jack from himself (and the demon) by tricking him into killing Lilly, something he would have not done on his own. By doing that, he closed the door and ended the threat.

I think it will have a prequel movie dealing with him and the bohemian grove stuff

I think the movie is making the value judgment that you can't be a massive success existentially without sacrificing and being miserable spiritually. This is hinted at when we see his highest rated show ever was Jack reminiscing with his dying wife. It's implied that Jack sold his soul in the Grove "amongst the tall trees." This deal facilitated his rising popularity but his goal was always to be number one. He gets closest to this goal when he seemingly exploits his wife's illness for ratings. Some producer liked the idea at the very least.. When he finally achieves his goal and has the most popular show on television, we see that the price is high. Jack is left with nothing and is alone at the top with nothing but his ratings.

Hell yeah was hoping you did a video on this movie, I freaking loved it

Keep up the great work

My interpretation on first watch was that it was not a literal deal with the devil but a figurative one. Jack somehow induced cancer in his wife (e.g. by exposing her to carcinogens). He made her sick to boost his own ratings (we learn that the episode where he had his wife on air was his highest rated yet), but he had hoped that she would eventually recover ("It wasn't supposed to turn out this way"). The movie is just him dealing with his own personal hell from the guilt of killing his wife. But I can see how a literal interpretation is much more likely.

I see the end as jack snapped and killed everyone. Think about all the stress he was under. Add the stress with hypnosis and he just lost it

So i think people missed when Carmichael winked at the camera during the hypnosis scene. It's really quick but he definitely does! He was in control of Gus/ the crowd the whole time

Thanks for the great explanation. Made more sense after your clarification.

Few things 1. They said during the film that the demon Akbra(whatever) was a “performer and wants an audience” to see what he wants them to see? At the very start of the film a TV on set blurs and shows that demonic face that is shown at the end of the film. 2. The tape is apparently from the archives, so they are the played back version, which should be the real version. but we are told this from a random voice at the begging who I think is the demon showing us what he wants us to see. Also, how would camera men follow Jack into the epilogue? Unless it was someone else’s set. 3. Lilly was apart of a cult that bred young girls for sacrifice. So I think the demon needed her to be killed and Jack sold his soul and killed her to seal the deal. What we saw throughout the entire film was the demons version or quite possibly, the demons own talk show (many little UBC hail Abraxis hints) Lilly twisted Jack into seeing the initial ending and convinced him to kill her through the mercy killing of his wife. Which inadvertently sealed the deal and sold Jacks soul for fame. However, these deals with the devil never go to plan and the sirens you hear at the end are also the end of Jacks dream. Jack may have also been possessed himself, which would explain the ways in which everyone on set was murdered. Anyway, loved this!

He got what he wanted his show was number one, so his pact was due. The original sacrifice was provided to close the pact, so the deal was completed.

I think that we ARE the audience and in a part of the movie it stated that the rituals were completed by sacrifice and in the end we see the sacrifice, so the demon or whatever was let out into the audience(us). In the ending clip it says "it is done" so it was the ritual completed and all of us are part of it. IDK

I may have not the understood the ending of the film, i am just happy i understood your awesome accent!

The documentary “An honest liar” is worth checking out. It’s about James Randi whom I assume the skeptic in this movie is based on.

I thought maybe, it was all in his head. And Jack was the one who killed everyone. Maybe after having a mental breakdown, after killing his wife.

Loved the movie, and the ending was fine by me. David D and the rest of the cast were awesome. I've seen it four times and i get more out of it each viewing. Enjoyed your video.

One of the best movies I've seen in years. The endings ambiguity is part of the fun imo. Jack definitely got his fame, and paid one hell of a price.

We don't know what Jack asked for at The Grove. He may have asked for exactly what he got during the movie, the highest TV ratings ever. And then once he got it, he had to pay his dues. Also, in a very disturbing way, it is possible that every other character in the movie other than Jack, including Lily, were all sacrifices that were "due" to the Abraxas in exchange for Jack Delroy's success. At the end of the movie, him being the only survivor of the carnage, implied to me that he was the sole cause of it whether he be the scapegoat or the benefactor. It highlighted how his misguided lust for success, colored by extreme selfishness, led to ultimate loss of his soul, alone with no one else left but him.

Thank you! I love this theory.

They are not even hiding it

This whole movie is so captivating the ending blew my mind like no tomorrow

The end of the film is an allegory for how cult followings always ended in everyone dying. Abraxas had a hold on Madeline's soul and she couldn't go to Heaven until Jack absolved her of his deal, and he had to perform a sacrifice - his guests including Lilly. Demons are tricky, Abraxas would let Madeline go while claiming Lilly's soul until another person comes along. It's a neverending cycle. Because it takes place in the 70s, Jack would likely end up in a mental institution or even get the electric chair.

this movie rips, it lived up to the hype! So many interpretations!

Interesting take!

Just saw this yesterday and had no problem with the ending. Great video, Barry!

the forshadowing with bohemian grove made me believe he made some kind of pact with a demon that set him up at the end of the movie, i believe the demon tricked him into killing the girl by appearing as his wife in his mind or made him relive the final moments with his wife in his own head, or maybe there was some other explaination i dont know, i thought the movie was decent but i cant stand vague endings on horror movies, it wasnt too bad though

good point, i also noticed that he had problems to end the trance. it also happened to me in the hypnosis training that i practiced trance induction with my wife and did not manage to get her out and she stayed hypnotized the whole evening.

Barry!!! Whats up my dude. I never actually thought about the fact Jack couldve killed everyone. Went right over my head. Intriguing as all hell!

There should be a follow up on what's happened to Jack Delroy, that would be interesting

4:40 Wait what? If the thing we were seeing as the movie viewers was a recording of that specific episode of Jack's program then how was the recording capable of recording the worms illusion? Was the bald guy actually magic or did the demon manage to put the illusion everyone saw into the final recording? Or what?

It just got silly at the end. Basically the hypocrisy part messed it up for me.

need to watch the playback of jack killing the people or was he just in a trance but the video needs to be watched lol

It was a solid movie. Cool ending to keep you guessing.

The kid was possessed before the Fugue. That's why it couldn't be hypnotized, asking why the guys with worms was acting weird, that's why it kept starring into the camera with that weird expression as a method to "possess" the audience (us) too. He most likely made a deal way back "in the trees" or with that cult. This entity was playing around like one would probably expect, feeding on fears, being horrifically mischievous with the attention and audience. I think the movie was solid and a little refreshing but the ending was all too rushed.

But we’re literally watching the tapes being played back so why do we see the worms and then not. Unless the hypnosis works on us too.

LILLY KEPT TELLING JACK HE WAS GOING TO BE FAMOUS AND YOU'LL KNOW IF JACK KILLED EVERYONE INSTEAD OF LILLY IF NO ONE HEADS WERE EXPLODED

The impression I got was Jack wanted the best ratings so he as explained in this video made a deal with the Devil with the price of his wife getting terminal lung cancer. Having said this, I've read enough Ghost Rider comic books to know that the Devil will honour the terms of a contract but he'll use a method gullible dummies like Jack did not sign up for. In Ghost Rider, motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze makes a deal with the Devil to spare his foster father Crash Simpson from dying from terminal cancer (much like Jack's wife) for his mortal soul. Devil honours the bargain: Crash does not die from cancer, he dies from a motorcycle stunt gone horribly wrong. Same thing here with Jack. Jack got exactly what he wanted. Jack gets a Halloween show that amps up the ratings in exchange for his wife's life but the devil sets things up all nicely for Lilly and the good Doctor June to come on the show and do that summoning, along with the doubting skeptic and the deadspeaker. Once all the pieces are in place, events happen that get the viewers hooked, and begin the rating climb. At the right moment, Lilly goes full demonic mode and kills everyone, live on the air. Jack tries to escape but the Devil has one more thing waiting: he takes Jack through a mirror dreamscape of his show to remind him not only what he asked for, what he had to pay to get it, but also in assh?le fashion showed Jack flashbacks that led him to where he is now. The devil is not done with him yet though, because among the wrecked corpses of the people killed by Lilly, the Devil makes Jack kill Lilly through the metaphorical sacrifice of his wife in the flashback. That's my take anyways. It's a little different from Wolfman's take since I think Lilly really did kill everyone in demonic fashion but it was Jack who killed Lilly because the Devil wanted to finish up his assh?lery with a flourish. If you look closely at the ending scene, Gus's head is still twisted around, Doctor June's neck is still slit, and the sceptic's head is still a smoldering cinder.

Such a fantastic movie. Really gets you thinking for sure

Will you be doing a ‘you’ll never find me’ ending explained? Very interesting to see others views on that story.

Maybe it's only me but I think Carmichael is the devil. The film centers on Jack's pursuit for the truth and Carmichael attempts to dispel that the devil exists. The clue is in the title, Lilley is a distraction, yes she is possessed but not by the devil. The other major clue is Carmichael performing magic, that we all saw...I.e master of illusion. Another reference to the devil and finally as an illusionist he performed the greatest trick....that the devil does not exist by finding ways to discredit Jack. He then appears to be killed by the demon but listen to what he says, he calls it master, he knows what it is. I have watched this movie several times now and I am fully convinced the plot lines are there to deceive us that ultimately the devil doesn't exist yet he is named in the title. Finally the devil was present from the start of the late night show way before Lilly appeared .

He's in a dream from the hypnosis awake lol great film top 10 horror film all time great plot

I love this movie for everything but especially because the message is true some people will do any and everything sacrifice any and everybody to become famous that's what all of the celebrities are going through right now.. this isn't just a movie it's basically a documentary with actors

from the beginning onwards the movie was very unsettling....

I think your right on with your explanation

Great film. The film always walk between the lines and play with us as we are viewers mesmerize too in a way. In french we say "briser le quatrième mur" which means that the film break the fourth wall but i don't know if it's a English expression.

THANK YOU! IMO this is the correct conclusion! The real string-pullers were the big wigs at The Grove. Jack indeed was the murderer and WE were all hypnotized.

It`s like they made up 4 different endings and just showed them all. They needed those title cards from Clue between the scenes that said "That`s what could have happened" and "But this is what really happened".

The ending is to be taken literally because it’s found footage. Unfortunately they added the hallucination scenes deviated from the conceit and ruins the movie.

In the end where it say's End of transmission .there's a word appearing So it is done its really quick..and then it goes back to End of transmission.

the fact that everyone was freaking out and when gus first started to pick the hole lily started smiling, Car lost control right then

I love this movie!!!!🎃

I mean they showed in tapes that lily is possessed , that means she actually killed everyone

This is an interesting interpretation. I actually really like this. I don’t think this is what happened. But I really like this view of events

There was a point in the movie some may have missed. There were audience members who didn't see the worms in the hypnotic state. All audiences were gone, though when Lily was possessed. Jack did sign a deal with the devil. But it was abrakkus. ABRAKKUS, the word Abra kadabra is formed from. Magic, TV magic. Was a fantastic movie. The end was setup throughout the whole movie. Christou died prior to the hypnosis.

I was thinking he sold his wife's soul for fame and that's exactly what he got, not the way he wanted

Right before the clip of the show begins we are shown a clock that slowly moves up and beeps - were we hypnotized the whole time?

This movie is so good.

I loved the ending of the movie. I like this interpretation. I am watching it for the third time (twice in the cinema) with a friend who hasn't seen it yer. I will keep this theory in mind.

I really enjoyed the movie. I went to the cinema to watch it and I was hooked but the ending was a bit confusing so this video does help make sense of it

Yeah he played a good devil get me my burgundy jacket ahahahaha

i don't know; i mean i guess it's possible but that ending sounds like a cop-out

My take on the ending was shit didn't hit the fan until we saw on tape Jack's wife in a white light behind him. In most movies that light and look is meant for heaven or angels. So lilly saw that the demon in her went berserk because it knew that he was the last hope in getting his demon master resurrected. Just like it was his wife telling him to put her out of her misery by using the sacrificial knife from the cult that ended up being lilly. Of course saying that I wouldn't be surprised if something regarding the hypnosis didn't help in with everything.

Personally i think the wife knew that the child had to be sacrificed as it was now a host of the demon so she tricked him by making him put her out her misery, but actually stabbing the young girl. Therefore finishing the young girls purpose to be sacrificed and stopping the outbreak of the demon. "So it is done" pops up at the end saying "so the sacrifice has been sacrificed"

I saw it for what it was. I saw the last parts as Jack's perspective before it returns to the master tape.

That's a good theory!

I like this movie, i hate movies that leave me in the hunger but this time the movie people on this did it so well

I would agree with you but the crispy skeptic still being burnt up makes me question if Jack really did wipe them all out.

5:56. This scene kind of made me laugh a little. As if handing over the check was going to save haig

Jack was behind it all. He will get away with it.

I thought it was brilliant from beginning to the insane end. I thought all of it actually happened the way we saw it and it was just Jack who was in the trance/dream state. Though I don't know how to explain why the demon would want him to stab her. Maybe it was Minnie's influence on him from beyond the grave. She says something like, "I didn't think they would let you see me" so she used that opportunity to have him "do this last thing for her" and use the knife to kill the possessed Lily. From the very beginning his wife was trying to break through and speak to him and when they summoned Abraxas at one point Lily turns to Jack and in his wifes voice says, "how could you let this happen?" Idk, I need to watch it again to really work it all out. I'm glad it was ambiguous like that, it adds some mystery to it and makes you think a bit and it's magic/supernatural, it shouldn't be easily explained.

lilly is the last survivor of the cult who worshipped abraxis, she was always gonna be sacrificed by wish of abraxis (she had been kidnapped for years) but she was the one who got away from him!!! cue her meeting jack!! someone who had no clue but was in debt to the same demon hence the killing at the end!! he was the fall guy for the girl who was always meant to be the sacrifice!! my take!! could be wrong but...

From what I can tell it's a modern day retelling of "Stingy Jack"(Jack -0-Lantern)

I like to think Jack was the possessed one the whole time.

I think it was Lily doing the killing. That's what I like to believe anyway because I love supernatural stuff, lol.

I also like the theory that there was no demon. It was Madeline getting revenge for being sacrificed for nothing.

The end Jack was tricked by the devil like how Jack did it by the tall trees

I think Lily killed everyone, and jacks wife helped jack kill Lilly, which was the only way to close the vessel which both his wife and the demon can communicate through. Jack's wife clearly desperately tried to warn him through that clairvoyant guy, and when jack let lilly channel abraxus, his wife came through lily and said something like "how can you let this happen, jack"...

I think he became famous because he's the host who killed all his guests.

this movie was bonkers

Your interpretation ignores that the film is made from the original master. Cameras can’t be hypnotized. Lily said Jack would soon be very famous. His infamy started when the police attired. It happened.

I clicked on this video on subbed because the channel name is Wolfman's Got Nards.

The thing is it still shows Car all burned the fuck up. So it couldn't have been Jack that did it, unless we're also saying Jack has pyrokinetic mind powers like a demon does.

It was unique for sure… but I think I was way too hyped for it… I think it could’ve been at least another 20+ minutes longer… mainly to explain a little bit… the whole thing with his wife made no sense to me… the ‘cult’ thing made no sense to me… I get what those are… but how are they tied into the ending??? Even “..the tall trees..” what the heck did I miss!? I don’t think it needed to explain everything in detail… but I assumed I would notice a few, “OHH THAT EXPLAINS ______” like again his wife … her in the bed at the end.. are they trying to say… he killed her?? And if he did, why would he do that?? Why would her health impact his show? I don’t get it??? And what the heck was the whole ending!? Was he hallucinating? Was he in hell? I don’t get it…

I think the Evil One's powers manifested into Jack and Jack ended up killing everyone in his delusional state. My interpretation :)