Dario Argento’s gifted protégé Michele Soavi looked set to have a stellar career of his own until he tragically lost his young son and retreated from the industry.

Third feature The Sect confirmed his talent.

Tracking a German schoolteacher (Kelly Curtis) who gets mixed up in a Manson-alike cult, it plummets down twisted rabbit-holes and delivers one squirm-inducing set-piece after another, the camera dancing in elaborate patterns.

Style over substance? Perhaps, but here, at least, Soavi’s style is all his own.

Argh! A comatose woman on a hospital bed suddenly sits up and strangles the person looking over her. Then slits her own throat.

Remake rights: OK, so The Midnight Meat Train was too plush for it’s own good – but Ryûhei Kitamura has all the right moves.