(originally written August 26, 2019)

Beyond madness and through the roaring caves of hell, there lies the ritual chamber for our 2019 Hooptober seance, hosted as always by the immortal Cinemonster. Always a delightful pleasure to participate in these with everyone on Letterboxd. It's my biggest Halloween tradition nowadays. I've been at it for 5 of the 6 years so far, and have loved this genre all my life, and it's kind of amazing there still seems to be thousands of miles of uncharted water in horror cinema out there for me to explore. I just hope I chose more wisely this time, since my 2018 batch, though a memorable marathon of experiences, wasn't especially rewarding in the long run (2017 and 2016 were better).

And into the foggy night we traipse...

The Rules:

6 Countries
1. Frankenstein Created Woman (UK) - continuing my annual Hooptober trek through the Hammer Frankenstein series
2. Black Sunday (Italy)
3. Extraordinary Tales (Luxembourg)
4. In a Glass Cage (Spain)
5. Death Weekend (Canada)
6. Daimajin (Japan)

6 Decades
1. The Witches (1966)
2. Cry of the Banshee (1970) - gotta have one Vincent Price movie in here
3. Spellcaster (1987 - when it was made, even though it didn't get released until 1992)
4, Warlock: The Armageddon (1993)
5. Frostbitten (2006)
6. Burning Bright (2010)

6 Films from Before 1966
1. The Phantom of the Opera (1925) (re-watch)
2. Horror Island (1941)
3. The Undead (1957)
4. Giant from the Unknown (1958)
5. Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1969)
6. Black Sunday (1960)

6 Films Whose Year Ends in '6'
1. The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976)
2. The Wind (1986)
3. From Beyond (1986)
4. Frostbitten (2006)
5. Pet (2016)
6. Sam Was Here (2016)

6 Films Featuring Work from the Following: John Carl Buechler, Jack Pierce, Rob Bottin, Screaming Mad George, Lon Chaney and Carlo Rambaldi
1. Cellar Dweller (1988) (John Carl Buechler)
2. Giant from the Unknown (1958) (Jack Pierce)
3. The Howling (1981) (Rob Bottin) (re-watch)
4. Faust: Love of the Damned (2000) (Screaming Mad George)
5. The Phantom of the Opera (1925) (Lon Chaney) (re-watch)
6. Primal Rage (1988) (Carlo Rambaldi)

The 6th Film of a Franchise
1. Amityville: It's About Time (1992)

1 Reptile Rampage film as tribute to Crawl
1. Alligator II: The Mutation (1991)

2 Women-Directed Films
1. Raw (2016) (Julia Ducournau)
2. The Ranger (2018) (Jenn Wexler)

The Lowest Rated Film from the '80s That You Can Access
1. Home Sweet Home (1981)
2. Zombi 5: Killing Birds (1988)

1 Film Where the Men and Women of the Church are Having a Bad Day
1. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)

1 Larry Cohen or Dick Miller Film
1. A Return to Salem's Lot (1987) (Larry Cohen)
2. The Undead (1957) (Dick Miller)

1 Classic Universal Film
1. Horror Island (1941)

1 Film with Dee Wallace
1. Abominable (2006)
2. The Howling (1981)
3. Alligator II: The Mutation (1991)

1 Film with a Black Director or Predominantly Black Cast (no Jordan Peele)
1. The House on Skull Mountain (1974)

1 film from a Mexican director to honor 2 great films from Gigi Saul Guerrero & Issa López. (NO GDT, but it can be GSG or Issa)
1. The Mansion of Madness (1973) (Juan Lopez Moctezuma)
2. Here Comes the Devil (2012) (Adrian Garcia Bogliano)

And 1 Tobe Hooper Film (there must always be a Hooper film)
1. Mortuary (2005)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(October 4, 2019)
One month later...

Well, that was quite a ride! Here's how it shook out in the end, ranked best to worst:

1) From Beyond (B+)
2) Warlock: The Armageddon (B+)
3) Black Sunday (B)
4) The Witch Who Came from the Sea (B)
5) Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (B)
6) Extraordinary Tales (B)
7) A Return to Salem's Lot (B)
8) Raw (B)
9) Pet (B)
10) The Phantom of the Opera 1925 (B)
11) The Howling (B)
12) The Wind (B-)
13) Faust: Love of the Damned (B-)
14) Here Comes the Devil (B-)
15) In a Glass Cage (B-)
16) The Undead (B-)
17) Don't Torture a Duckling (B-)
18) Horror Island (C+)
19) Abominable (C+)
20) Death Weekend (C+)
21) Cellar Dweller (C+)
22) Daimajin (C+)
23) Cry of the Banshee (C+)
24) The House on Skull Mountain (C+)
25) Frankenstein Created Woman (C+)
26) Spellcaster (C+)
27) Alligator II: The Mutation (C+)
28) Primal Rage (C)
29) Sam Was Here (C)
30) Amityville: It's About Time (C)
31) Mortuary (C-)
32) The Witches 1966 (C-)
33) Frostbitten (C-)
34) Burning Bright (C-)
35) The Ranger (C-)
36) The Mansion of Madness (D+)
37) Giant from the Unknown (D)
38) Home Sweet Home (D-)
39) Zombi V: Killing Birds (F)