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   Truly great horror has always been scarring and tough-to-watch; MARTYRS - which was executed with skill and intelligence at every level - arguably ranks as truly great horror and quite frankly nothing in 2008 had a hope of coming close to achieving its monumental impact.

Eden Lake:   Directors: James Watkins

Half a year’s worth of pre-release, enigmatic hype turned out to be warranted in the case of CLOVERFIELD, the best of 2008’s You Tube-generation handheld horrors. Matt Reeves’ film aped both MIRACLE MILE (which has a near-identical ending) and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in its depiction of a mini-apocalypse complete with a sinister military presence and a world that doesn’t have a clue why it is being hurled into chaos. Its biggest achievement, however, was turning a familiar GODZILLA-inspired monster-on-the-rampage story into a terrifyingly authentic evocation of a city plunging into confusion and mayhem. This is GODZILLA for a scarred, scared generation who spent several hours on September 11^th, 2001 watching in horror as the world they thought they knew got thrown into disarray. CLOVERFIELD is rife with visual echoes of that day’s events while also crafting some haunting subversive imagery of its own, not least the show-stopping moment in which the Statue of Liberty’s head smashes into the New York streets, provoking bystanders to take pictures with their phones while their city explodes around them. A genuinely terrifying monster and an uncharacteristically pessimistic ending (for a major studio release) help add up to a triumph.

   Continuing the renaissance of Spanish horror, REC was also one of several 2008 handheld, first-person faux-reality horror movies. It’s a fair assumption that, if you hated BLAIR WITCH PROJECT for its shakicam chills, you probably took an instant dislike to this, DIARY OF THE DEAD, CLOVERFIELD, et al. But, if you buy into REC’s digital-age reboot of Romero’s original zombie-siege scenario, the film delivered many genuine frights, including a nose-biting, creepy-assed zombie-kid sequence to rival the matricide interlude in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. In the U.S., the inevitable Hollywood remake (QUARANTINE) was in theatres before any official release of REC. It comes highly recommended in itself, though the uninitiated should not hesitate in tracking down the original : a relentlessly intense document of a zombie-like virus running rampant in an apartment building that climaxes with an extraordinary 15 minutes of night-vision terror. The nightmarish final scenes - offering homage’s to BLAIR WITCH, THE EVIL DEAD and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - are destined to rank among the all-time scariest horror movie moments.

   Along with 2007’s 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, this Swedish adaptation of an acclaimed revisionist horror novel, revives the vampire movie from its long-term post-BUFFY slump. Cannily avoiding the clichés and contrivances you might expect from its plot (vulnerable, lonely kid befriends an equally outcast, blood-sucking perpetual adolescent in search of a new “guardian”), this visually stunning, gorgeously atmospheric movie won more universal praise than pretty much any other horror flick this year. It’s a perfectly pitched combination of horror, pathos and dark wit, with two central juvenile performances that impress on all sorts of levels. In fact, if you overlook some ropey CGI cats (why?!), you’d be hard pressed to find fault with this exquisite, unique movie.

   Greg McLean’s follow up to the superior true-crime-torture movie WOLF CREEK more than lived up to the promise he showed in his feature debut. An intense, pared-down old-school monster-movie, it combined the intelligence and sophisticated suspense mechanics of JAWS with an unusually convincing and sparse use of special effects (digital and otherwise). Low on in-your-face gore but high on tension and taut set pieces, this beautifully shot movie deserved a far greater fate than the throwaway release it received from “Dimension Extreme” and puts to shame all those sob-inducingly crap monster-of-the-week Sci-fi Channel movies.

   You need to be a Tim Burton fan to fully appreciate this Hammer Horror-influenced cinematic interpretation of the Sondheim musical, though surely everyone can enjoy the David Bowie-channelling zest that Johnny Depp (sporting a hairstyle that looks like he went for a trim at the Bride of Frankenstein’s Styling Saloon) brings to the title role. A triumph of period-Gothic style, it also has an appropriately bizarre turn from Helena Bonham Carter (sporting a hairstyle that looks like husband Tim Burton styled it while she slept) and a consistent stream of terrific musical numbers. The barber chair murder scenes, all bright red arterial spray and fresh cadavers disappearing violently through trapdoors, provided some of the most satisfyingly gruesome set pieces of the year.

One of three excellent low budget British horrors to emerge in 2008, Steven Sheil’s gruesome, grimly funny homage to 70’s exploitation movies ranks among the best ever riffs on the immortal TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. A very British take on the survivalist horror theme, it pit’s a lowly airport cleaner against a deeply twisted family headed by Perry Benson and Dido Miles as the sickest, most intimidating mum and dad you’ll see on screen this decade. The reveal of a drooling, spastic son living on the top floor and the sight of Benson ejaculating into a slab of raw meat provide moments you won’t easily forget though the movie’s disturbing piece de resistance is a simultaneously horrifying and hilarious depiction of a typical British Christmas as celebrated by Benson & Miles. For British viewers there’s an extra frisson to be had from the obvious similarity between the main characters and real-life notorious serial killers Fred and Rosemary West.

It wasn’t universally embraced, but this intense home-invasion horror from Rogue Pictures was among the most financially successful genre pics of 2008. Deservedly so, too, because Bryan Berlito’s relentlessly intense account of the terrorization of troubled couple Liv Tyler & Scott Speedman in their South Carolina holiday home, had some of the year’s most memorable scares. There are clear echoes of previous movies (from WHEN A STRANGER CALLS to THEM), but the execution is remarkably effective, and Berlito reminds us, after all the gruesome SAW sequels, of how the threat of brutality can often be more terrifying than watching someone’s insides being rearranged. Surprisingly bleak for a mainstream horror, the movie pleases by offering no explanation for the actions of its antagonists, beyond the unforgettable line : “Because you were home…”

   Director Stevan Mena’s follow-up to atmospheric retro-slasher MALEVOLENCE was this very witty mock-umentary about the trials and tribulations of a hack horror director (amusingly and touchingly played by David Naughton) as he attempts bring his latest ill-fated production to the screen. Iconic cameos - including a hilarious Gunnar Hansen - and some painfully funny insight into the world of genre filmmaking alternate with surprising moments of pathos. Released straight to DVD by Anchor Bay, this SPINAL TAP for horror fans deserves a cult following.

Honorable Mentions: