Top 10 Horror Movies of 2008

Welcome to my countdown of the best horror films of each year (and decade). I am starting with 2009 and working my way back all the way until 1970 or so. If all pans out the way I imagine, I will post one or two top 10 horror movie lists per week until I run out of years. A bit daunting, sure, but it should be fun in addition to my daily horror review.

You can find all of my top horror movie lists here.

*My rules for choosing the films are as follows: Personal preference, I must have viewed the film, U.S. release date, and the musings of random horror resources across the interwebs and beyond.

Alright, let’s reminisce on the year called 2008:

Honorable mentions: Repo! The Genetic Opera, Shrooms, The Lost Boys: The Tribe, and Quarantine

10. Machine Girl

The Machine Girl contains a lot of guilty pleasures: Projectile vomiting, School girl outfits, massive amounts of blood, decapitations, cannibalism and a bra drill. A fun and fast paced gore fest of epic proportions.

9. Gutterballs

It’s like I Spit on Your Grave, but in a bowling alley and turned into a ’80s throwback slasher. All that means that it’s bloody good fun.

8. Midnight Meat Train

Easily the best title of the year, and a nice film to boot. This Clive Barker inspired film cooks up an intriguing plot and serves its alongside a heaping pile of gore.

7. The Signal

A unique psychological horror film that provides a little bit of everything: A little splatter, a little comedy, and a little love story. Plus, it’ll make you think!

6. The Strangers

The opening act is one of the more terrifying sequences in recent horror memory. Director Brian Bertino showcases his ability to create dread and suspense exceptionally well. Also, Liv Tyler.

5. Cloverfield

Big budget Godzilla destroys New York and spawns tons of home movies for your viewing pleasure.

4. Rogue

From the guy who directed Wolf Creek comes a creature feature that is essentially the exact opposite of everything the SyFy channel has ever made. Meaning it’s bloody, scary, and not at all cheap looking.

3. The Cottage

It’s freakin’ hilarious!  The Brits continue their stranglehold on the horror comedy genre with another bloody good ride.

2. REC

Spain burst back into the horror spotlight with The Orphanage in 2007 and kept it going with one of the scariest movies of the decade. Another fantastic example of the less is more philosophy in horror. Sometimes, it’s what you can’t see that stirs up the biggest fears.

1. Inside

Besides being one the most insanely visceral and bloody films of all time, Inside offers heart-stopping tension and dread. If there was any doubt that horror in the 2000′s belonged to the French, this movie settled it.

Care to chime in? Do you agree?