Guillermo del Toro adores Pupi Avati and you should too. Less famous than his Italian brethren Bava, Argento and Fulci, Avati makes horror films that possess a fragile beauty yet pulse with insidious tension.

The House With Laughing Windows is his masterpiece. Art restorer Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) visits a sleepy village to touch up a fresco depicting the slaughter of St. Sebastian... only for events to play out like some sort of Italian Wicker Man, the cruel horrors cavorting in brilliant sunlight. (See also Avati’s bizarre 1983 zombie film, Zeder.)

Argh! The freaky, bloody ending. WTF?!

Remake rights: Martyrs’ Pascal Laugier. He cherishes Picnic At Hanging Rock, a film House shares much in common with.