A Hell of an episode.

Late night TV can be full of surprises, whether we’re talking about in reality or fantasy, and “Late Night with the Devil” likes to give it a devilish spin. It’s also a found footage movie like “The Blair Witch Project” or “Paranormal Activity,” but it distinguishes itself in different ways. When the show is on the air, it’s in color, and when it’s off the air, it’s in black and white. And when the protagonist is ambitious to have his ratings beat Johnny Carson’s, because it takes place in 1977, then you know he’s going to get a lot more than he bargained for.

The talk show is called “Night Owls with Jack Delroy,” which offers sketch comedies, musical performances, and interviews. It’s popular on a small scale, but its ratings have nothing on Johnny Carson’s. Jack (David Dastmalchian) has lost his wife (Georgina Haig) to lung cancer, even though she never smoked, and has distanced himself from the public. A year later, he comes back, but with poorer ratings and scores.

His only recourse is to host a Halloween special. Not just any Halloween special, but the kind that could change the course of TV (and maybe his life) forever.

Here are his guest interviewees.

First, we have the psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), who talks to deceased loved ones, but begins to have some otherworldly episodes.

Next, we have the magician and paranormal debunker known as the Carmichael the Conjurer (Ian Bliss), who believes Christou’s acts are fake. In fact, he has a check of $100,000 to anyone who can prove supernatural activities exist, and he’s confident he won’t give it away. And he’s about to disapprove of our next guests.

And these guests would happen to be the parapsychologist Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), who is publishing a book about a Satanic church’s mass suicide, and young Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), who is the sole survivor of those suicides. The young lady also has an entity inside her named Mr. Wriggles, and the doctor makes contact with him, which means it’s demonic possession. But Carmichael still believes this is all just special effects.

“Late Night with the Devil” was written, edited, and directed by Australian siblings Colin and Cameron Caines, whose previous work includes “100 Bloody Acres” and “Scare Campaign.” Maybe they could broaden their horizons like how Radio Silence pushed themselves to new heights, and this movie is proof that the Caines have what it takes. This would be a late night movie; not a stupid jump scare fiasco.

Dastmalchain, who also produces it, is riveting and stylish with his hair, words, and persistence. He doesn’t want to take the Robert De Niro approach in “Joker,” he just plays the character as he is. And the interviewees are often fresh and daring, particularly Gordon, who is smarter than any of the wasted performances in “The Exorcist Believer,” and Bliss, who is charming and fun, when he’s never convinced of what evil thing is happening on the show at the moment.

Only a few parts are dull, but the rest is rather entertaining. In fact, most of the movie is entertaining, especially the way it shifts from color to black and white and back to color again. It all depends on when the show is airing, and what needs to be discussed off camera. And unlike “Immaculate,” another horror film released by an independent studio, this one succumbs to no cliches and rips off nothing shamelessly. This is a smart movie about a satanic spin on a talk show, airing on UBC (which partly looks like the ABC logo). Viewer discretion is advised.