David Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy, a late-night talk show host sick of coming second-place to Johnny Carson. In a desperate bid to boost ratings, the opportunistic presenter hosts an occultist special on Halloween 1977.

This Australian found footage flick knows exactly where it sits and how to execute its Larry Sanders-meets-The Exorcist premise, nailing the 1970s TV aesthetic and Satanic Panic hysteria with devilish detail. Strong characterisation clearly establishes the parts being played in paranormal proceedings, from Uri Gellar-style psychic (Fayssal Bazzi) to James Randi-inspired skeptic (Ian Bliss).

Dastmalchian is perfectly slippery as the presenter whose own hosting takes a backseat to that of his apparently possessed Regan-esque guest, a 13-year-old former cultist (Ingrid Torelli) with more baggage than Ellen Degeneres.

It all builds a frenzied house of cards on the brink of collapsing into the biggest chat show disaster since Jimmy Fallon interviewed Donald Trump (or anyone else for that matter). And for the most part it pulls it off, a brilliantly observed and instantly recognisable media circus that puts the black into mass entertainment.

The trouble comes when Late Night with the Devil violates its well-crafted identity by breaking more rules of broadcasting than GB News. Coupled with an unnecessary need to over-explain itself, abandoning the logic of its found footage premise causes us to stop believing in the film’s reality.

Fortunately Colin and Cameron Cairnes have done enough to ensure this story of so-called personalities selling their souls for talk show fame is fun, scary and (in the world of James Corden and Piers Morgan) well within the realms of reality.