New on DVD

Get tickets, showtimes and more at MSN Movies

"Wind Chill" (DVD and cable)

Although it had a very brief theatrical run in 2007, this intimate creepfest starring Emily Blunt ("The Devil Wears Prada") has found new life on cable in 2008 -- actually, that's where I saw it. Two college students share a car home for the holidays, but find themselves stranded on a deserted stretch of wintry road that's got a hell of a lot more than pine trees and roadkill on either side. Director Gregory Jacobs turns up the claustrophobia and isolation, while Blunt and co-star Ashton Holmes earn our sympathy despite not even having names (they're listed as "Guy" and "Girl"). Another example of doing more with less, "Wind Chill" makes for a frosty late-night treat.

"Inside" (DVD)

I struggled with putting this one on my list for two reasons: a plot point halfway through that has a character doing something utterly stupid purely to keep the film running for another 45 minutes, and the picture's unrelenting, over-the-top gore that pushed even my tolerance to the extreme. But "extreme" is what the current crop of French horror filmmakers are aiming for, and "Inside" deserves mention because it's also honestly eerie and even subversive. As a mother-to-be struggles to keep another woman from taking her unborn baby, you feel society's last moorings (of feminine compassion and maternal love) finally coming unglued.

"Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer" (DVD)

Jack Brooks is going nowhere in college, has a humdrum job as a plumber, and can't relate to his so-called girlfriend. He's angry as hell at the world, and how he channels that anger and finds his destiny is the core of this throwback to all those delightfully icky '80s horror features. The filmmakers make a point of using physical effects, not CGI, and the result is a gruesome homage with an oddly endearing antihero at its core. Not exactly a movie that walks off with Oscars, I can see Jack being a cult figure 10 or 20 years from now.

"Let the Right One In" (in limited release)

It has gotten harder these past few years, but every once in a while a horror film transcends itself and reminds us why the genre is still so viable. This year, "Let the Right One In" takes that bold step as a lonely little boy living in a depressing Swedish suburb finds friendship and even love with an ancient vampire trapped in the body of a 12-year-old girl. Simultaneously moving, haunting and finally poetic, "Let the Right One In" and its two astonishing young stars (neither of whom ever appeared in a feature film before) stay with you long after all the body-count dreck that Hollywood churns out. Naturally, a remake is on the way, but, please, seek out the original.

"Splinter" (limited release on Oct. 31)

A hardened criminal and his unstable girlfriend take a vacationing couple hostage on a rural back road, but things take a turn for the worse when they must barricade themselves inside a convenience store against a lethal and bizarre form of life. "Splinter" makes the most of its spare, low-budget resources, ratcheting up the suspense while introducing both some surprising character turns and a grotesquely original monster. With just the right balance of gore, tension and empathy, "Splinter" does indeed get under your skin.

"The Burrowers" (screening at festivals; theatrical release coming)

Writer/director J.T. Petty's only previous credits include a self-made grad school project turned indie feature ("Soft for Digging") and a direct-to-DVD franchise entry ("Mimic: Sentinel"). But he knocks it out of the park with his third effort, a horror/Western hybrid brimming with real chills, macabre monsters and rich characters. In the Dakota Territories of the 1870s, cowboys and soldiers form a posse to pursue what they think is a band of murderous Indians, but find themselves up against something much older and more horrifying. Gory, tense and laced with bigger themes, this is how horror should be done.

"Trick 'r Treat" (screening at festivals; DTV release next year)

One of the best horror movies of the year is one you can't see for the foreseeable future. Originally slated to come out last Halloween (duh), director Michael Dougherty's classy/creepy anthology film has been sitting on the shelf for a year now with no relief in sight. That's too bad, because Dougherty has concocted a nasty horror comedy that delivers both big laughs and satisfying scares, all while weaving an assortment of tales and characters around the holiday that horror fans love best. The studio won't get behind this, but, hey, there's always "Saw V."

Send your thoughts on horror movies in 2008 to heymsn@microsoft.com

Sound off: Comment on this story | Features archive

Don Kaye covers movies and television for MSN.com, Fangoria and others. He saw his first horror movie, "The Mummy's Hand," at the age of 5.