15 Best Horror Movies Of 2017

7. Gerald's Game

Netflix's surprise hit of the year, the adaptation of Stephen King's Gerald's Game came out of nowhere to capitalise on the King revival kickstarted by IT. About a couple's weekend away at an isolated vacation home, when a sexcapade goes awry and leaves a scantily-clad wife played by Carla Gugino handcuffed to a bed with no way of prying herself free, without spoiling too much, it's safe to say nothing good happens as she attempts to escape from her precarious situation.

Spending a whole movie with a person confined to one location could have easily lost its lustre, but director Mike Flanagan (who has slowly become one of the defining voices in the genre) finds imaginative ways to keep the horror varied, moving from surreal moments of psychological terror one minute to jaw-dropping bits of brutality the next.

Unfortunately, there's no getting around the god-awful ending, but up until those final five minutes, Gerald's Game was easily a contender for the best horror film of the year. It's a shame it fumbled the landing so thoroughly, but then it probably wouldn't be a Stephen King adaptation if it got away without crumbling under some of the writer's more questionable material.