Personally, I like Sony Vegas Pro (versions 10 and up should work with Windows 8 ).
The simplicity of the program is what makes it the best. It takes less than a day to catch up on how to do the most basic editing. There are also a lot of built in features, and you can always make a video look good with the extra effects and border resize options.
The price, however, is not so pretty, but, you get what you pay for.
Also, not a joke, there is the free alternative, Windows Movie Maker. You can download it straight from Microsoft's website, and it'll work with Windows 8 (I have it). It is very basic though, and does not have as much of the features as Sony Vegas or After Effects.
Hope I helped