When looking for the best horror movies, considering the amount of titles that are constantly being released (especially from the indie film scene), it’s rather easy to forget about some past gems or to have missed one altogether. Below or three horror movies that were considered some of the best of their respective time.
Vacancy (2007)
David and Amy, a couple struggling to keep their marriage alive, find themselves trying to stay alive after their car breaks down in a nowhere town. With only the TV to distract them, David starts watching a VHS tape that’s left in the room. He thinks he’s watching a b-horror flick, but soon figures out that the murders he’s watching are very real and that they took place in the same room the couple is staying in. The struggling pair must work together if they’re going to survive the night.
You know a movie is going to be good when it starts off with Hitchcockian credits and music. Vacancy could have easily been a mindless slasher, but the filmmakers instead gave horror fans an intelligent scare that begs to be revisited. Directed by Nimrod Antal, the film stars Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, and, in of his creepiest roles, Frank Whaley.
Ed e n Lake (2008)
This intense British horror piece is, at times, terrifying and disturbing. Fans and critics alike consider this one of the best genre films to come out of the U.K. in years. If you have never seen a British horror movie, this one will show you that they are very effective.
With a positive score of 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the site provides the premise for one of the best horror movies of 2008.
“A romantic weekend in the woods turns into a bloody struggle for survival when a vacationing couple finds their campsite surrounded by an aggressive gang of obnoxious adolescents.”
Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
Bryan Singer produced this film of five interwoven stories that take place on Halloween: a high school principal moonlights as a serial killer, a college virgin meets “the one,” a group of teenagers perform a nasty prank, a woman who hates the nighttime has to contend with her Halloween-obsessed husband, and a bitter old man squares-off against a demon.
Anthology horror movies are usually a mixed bag, but Trick ‘r Treat pulls off a rarity as every story told is extremely well done. Some of the stories are genuinely frightening, and some aren’t afraid to exchange some screams for laughter. But from beginning to end, horror fans will enjoy one of the best anthology movies ever made.
From Vacancy to Trick ‘r Treat, some of the best horror movies are waiting to be revisited or discovered.