1. The Cabin in the Woods 2012
Group of friends travel to an isolated cabin deep within the woods,
while there they discover a cellar which is full of old creepy objects
and books, one of the group's members reads a passage from one of the
books unknowingly releasing a family of killer zombies.
I loved The Cabin in the Woods, I wasn't too sure about it to begin
with, however after giving it a chance it turned out to be one of my
favorite ever horror films. I was just expecting some run of the mill
predictable teen horror movie, however I was completely wrong. The Cabin
in the Woods is funny, original, very surprising and incredibly
entertaining.
2. The Mist 2007
After what appears to be just a short lightning storm a mist begins
to engulf the small town, at first the town's population believe the fog
is a result of experiments from the nearby military base, however
something evil lives within the mist.
I love films that create a feeling of isolation and The Mist is one
of the best examples of that, it's incredibly engrossing and very
atmospheric and I was completely hooked after the first few minutes. I
have enjoyed much of the work of Steven King but this is him at his
best. Many people criticize the ending which is fair enough, and while
the fathers actions may have been in hast, I did find the ending
disturbing, unexpected and also memorable.
3. Insidious 2010
Shortly after their son Dalton falls into a coma, his mother begins
to hear strange voices and see ghostly figures. After the doctors are
unable to determine what is wrong with Dalton, his parents seek another
type of specialist to help their son.
Insidious is here because I found it to be one of the scariest and
creepiest movies that I have ever seen. The scene in the bed room, with
the demon standing next to the bed pointing at the child is probably the
creepiest things I have seen in a horror movie. There are some great
shock scares happening throughout the movie, however it's the
psychological tension building that really gave me chills.
4. Saw 2004
Two men wake up chained with a dead body lying in the middle of the
room, they must follow certain rules and undertake certain challenges to
keep them and their families alive.
I was hooked from the very start, great tension and atmosphere and
very mysterious that keeps the viewer guessing. Good original idea with
good acting, overall a very solid movie with some nice twists and turns,
plus some nice gore to top it off, intelligent horror with a great
horror villain.
5. Slither 2006
A meteorite crashes near a small town, one of the towns folk find the
crash site but he is then infected by some kind of parasite which
mutates him, the parasite aims to infect and take over the entire town.
Slither is a great horror/science fiction/comedy which is highly
entertaining, it has borrowed elements from classic horror movies like
The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatches and various zombie movies but
it adds its own uniqueness to them. Slither is great fun, it has a great
cast, good solid special effects if somewhat a little disgusting at
times.
6. Paranormal Activity 2007
When a young couple move into a new home, shortly after moving in
strange and unexplained things begin to happen. In the beginning the
unexplained activity is minor however as the days pass the paranormal
activity becomes more serious.
I was in the cinema when I first started watching Paranormal
Activity, and as it began not realizing that it was a first person
camera style movie I almost walked out, not being much of a fan of that
style of movie. However I decided to stay and I am glad that I did
because Paranormal Activity turned out to be one of the scariest movies
that I have ever seen. Paranormal Activity is such a basic movie, yet I
was completely engrossed and it gave me chills like no movie had done
before, It surprised me and I found it very entertaining.
7. The Hills Have Eyes 2006
A family are traveling through what is thought to be an uninhabited
area of America that was once used by the government for nuclear
testing. During their journey their camper van breaks down, it turns out
there are people living in the area after all, and they have brutal
intentions.
A great remake and better than the original 1977 movie in my opinion,
one of the most tense and brutal movies that I have ever seen, there
are actually a couple of the scenes that were difficult to watch, I
remember turning my head away while watching it in the cinema. It also
provides a great revenge story and a very satisfying ending.
8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003
Passing though Texas a group of friends get stalked and murdered by a
deformed killer, the survivors have to fight for their lives.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake is a definite favorite of mine,
very atmospheric with some nice tension building moments. It includes a
good cast, good solid acting with brutal and graphic murders, for me
this is better than the original.
9. Mirrors 2008
An ex cop (Ben) starts working as a night watch man in a department
store which was partly damaged by a fire. During his patrols he comes
across a large and strangely undamaged mirror, while looking into the
mirror (Ben) begins to see disturbing images in the reflection.
Mirrors may not be an original idea with many of the scenes being
done before or something very similar. Despite the fact that we have
seen similar style movies before about mirrors, I think Mirrors does a
better job of recreating those scenes with better tension and definitely
better effects. I found Mirrors to be scary with decent and not over
used special effects with good tension and atmosphere, definitely a
favorite recent horror movie.
10. Hostel 2005
Three young American back backers travel to Slovakia because they
hear the local girls love Americans, however it's all too good to be
true as they soon discover.
Hostel is a very brutal and cruel movie showing the worst in humanity
and actually being believable at the same time, which I think makes
this even more disturbing. Hostel is very entertaining and engrossing, I
hadn't seen anything like this before and it also has a nice revenge
story which provided a good satisfying ending.
11. The Grudge 2004
An American nurse is living and working in Japan, she is given the
job of looking after a mentally disturbed women, she soon discovers that
there is something evil inhabiting the house.
The plot is very simple it's not hard to follow and certainly not
mentally taxing. However The Grudge has a very creepy atmosphere
throughout, it has a similar feel to the remake of The Ring, however in
my opinion The Grudge has more tension and it's scarier overall. The
Grudge doesn't have much reply value but as a first time viewing it's
one of the scariest movies I have seen.
