The Sect

Fans of spaghetti shockers will lap up this offering from Dario Argento - godfather of Italian horror - acolyte Michele Soavi who, after Argento-influenced fare such as The Church, finally established himself as a horror stylist in his own right with this highly atmospheric fantasy about a coven of devil worshippers carrying out ritualistic killings in modern-day Frankfurt. It's less a story than a succession of surreal and bravura set pieces; Soavi holds back on the gore (for the most part) emphasising suspense instead and succeeds in coming up with a good deal of genuine frights. He wrings good performances from Kelly Leigh Curtis as a schoolteacher caught up in the murders and, most notably, from Herbert Lom as the cult leader. After years as Peter Sellers's bumbling stooge in the Pink Panther films, it's nice to see Lom playing the kind of sinister parts for which he was known back in the 1950s and 1960s.