The 10 Best Horror Films of 2007

2007 was one hell of a year for horror fans. A number of high profile pics impressed, some foreign affairs had our mandibles dangling, Stephen King enjoyed one of his many standout years and we even got one of the greatest Halloween themed films in existence.

Yeah, 2007 is certainly a year I can get behind!

Oh, and don’t hesitate to check out all of our other Annual Top 10 Lists.

10 1408

The cynical and skeptical writer Mike Enslin writes books evaluating supernatural phenomena in hotels, graveyards and other haunted places, usually debunking the mystery. While writing his latest book, he travels from Los Angeles to New York to spend one night in the Dolphin Hotel’s posessed room 1408, which is permanently unavailable for guests. The reluctant manager Mr. Gerald Olin objects to his request and offers an upgrade, expensive booze and finally relates the death of more than fifty guests over decades in the cursed room. However Mike threatens Mr. Olin, promising to sue the hotel, and is finally allowed to check into the room. Later in the night, he finds that guests of room 1408, once they have checked in, might never leave the room alive.

09 Grindhouse

A double-bill of thrillers that recall both filmmakers’ favorite exploitation films. “Grindhouse” (a downtown movie theater in disrepair since its glory days as a movie palace known for “grinding out” non-stop double-bill programs of B-movies) is presented as one full-length feature comprised of two individual films helmed separately by each director. “Death Proof,” is a rip-roaring slasher flick where the killer pursues his victims with a car rather than a knife, while “Planet Terror” shows us a view of the world in the midst of a zombie outbreak. The films are joined together by clever faux trailers that recall the ’50s exploitation drive-in classics.

08 28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later picks up six months after the Rage Virus has decimated the city of London. The US Army has restored order and is repopulating the quarantined city, when a carrier of the Rage Virus enters London and unknowingly re-ignites the spread of the deadly infection and the nightmare begins… again.

07 Paranormal Activity

After a young, middle class couple moves into a suburban ‘starter’ tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.

06 The Orphanage

Laura, a former orphan, raises her adopted son Simón together with her husband Carlos in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. While at the orphanage Simón tells Laura that he has five invisible friends which she believes are a product of his active imagination. Laura decides to reopen the orphanage to cater for disabled children and throws a party. During the party Simón tries to persuade Laura to go and take a look at his friends cabin but she’s too busy. Later on she sees a mysterious masked boy and realizes that Simón has also disappeared. Laura feels the presence of other people in the house and months later Laura invites a team of parapsychologists to try to unravel the mystery.

05 The Mist

Everyone thinks of it as a harmless lightning storm. When Dave Drayton notices a strange mist on the lake, he thinks nothing of it. When he, his son, Billy Drayton, and his neighbor Brent Norton travel to the supermarket, the unthinkable happens. On their way to the market, they see the army, firefighters, and the police heading toward the mist. When he sees this Brent mentions something about “Project Arrowhead”, a secret military project that no one knows about. As they are shopping, they see three soldiers walk in, pick up a few things, then head toward the mist. All eighty of the store’s shoppers have no clue what is going on until an old man runs in the market with a bloody nose and declares “Something in the mist!” He tells them to close the door. About five seconds after they close the door, the entire store shakes, as though it has been lifted several feet above the ground. When David is asked to check on the generator, he finds the loading dock door being pushed on by …

04 The Girl Next Door

Based on the Jack Ketchum novel of the same name, The Girl Next Door follows the unspeakable torture and abuses committed on a teenage girl in the care of her aunt…and the boys who witness and fail to report the crime.

03 [REC]

“REC” turns on a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at the local fire station. Receiving a call from an old lady trapped in her house, they reach her building to hear horrifying screams — which begin a long nightmare and a uniquely dramatic TV report.

02 Trick ‘r Treat

Five interwoven stories that occur on the same block, on the same night. A couple finds what happens when they blow a jack o’ lantern out before midnight, a high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer, a college virgin might have met the right guy for her, a group of mean teens play a prank that they take too far, and a hermit is visited by a special trick or treater.

01 30 Days of Night

This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only the small town’s husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction.