This is not really a race, well, a race against time I guess.
Coming in to 2019, I looked at my over 600 horror movie collection and thought to myself…”How many could I watch in one year, 200, 300…500?” That is a tall task, so I thought, how about 365, one per day, but it does not have to be one every day. But, I got through January and realized I paced myself close to 500 by the end of the year. So, it was decided to watch 500 in 2019. And, looking back on the decisions, well I didn’t honestly expect to be this tough.
As a big horror fan, I expected it to be a breeze. I thought to myself, if there came a time where there is a lull and I was burnt out, I could turn to some series. Watching Friday the 13th, Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street would really eat in to the 500, well, not really. Were talking 30 or so movies of 500. But currently, we are nearly finished with April and I am sitting at 148 viewed in 2019 with a pace of 495 for the year. It was crazy, at one point I was pacing myself over 600, but I took a break. Yes, the expected burn out has happened. I have way more interests than horror and as the weather has warmed up, I have noticed the decline. It is expected, but I will keep moving with this. There are 256 more days in the year and I need 352 more to hit 500. I do believe I can do this.
One of the best things about my quest, Shudder has played a big part. Shudder has a ton of great content. This does include the Last Drive In with the legend Joe Bob Briggs. I am marking my list with JBB if I watch it with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder. The other thing, I have seen a good number of new horror to me, like plenty of those crazy cannibal films from the late 1970s and early 1980s. So anything with the letter “N” next to it, is new to me. I have been waiting to watch movies on release dates or special holidays. April 1st, I watch April Fools Day or My Bloody Valentine in February 14. Some I will not be able to wait for, like Halloween or the next Friday the 13th. That doesn’t mean I can’t re-watch them, I just cannot put them back on the list.
Now, I will also document some stand out films, only new to me. I have watched every entry into the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series and a bunch of well known that don’t need to mentioned. I am also attaching the Google Docs list up to today. So enjoy and please follow my journey to 500 and hopefully beyond.
There are the first 148, I am almost certain nothing repeats. I have worked hard to not watch the same damn movies over and over.
If I can make a few suggestions on this list of things to watch. Most will be of the Italian horror variety. I went through a big Italian phase during this list. But here are a couple I suggest. I will also like to mention, I could not finish Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals. It was hard to watch.
There are plenty of others, but these three take the cake. Silly, fun and gore filled. I finally saw the Changeling and it was super good. So, I say check out most of these movies. I do wanna give a shout out to my bro inlaw, he really suggests Bruno Mattei’s Hell of the Living Dead and Contamination.
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