I’m going to make a real concerted effort this year. These are all movies I haven’t seen and have streaming access to, so these will all be first-time watches. 

6 countries
- United States, Italy, Norway, Mexico, UK, Japan, Spain, Australia, Turkey, USSR, France, Sweden
8 decades
- 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00, 10s, 2020s
2 post apocalyptic or natural disaster related films
- Mad Max (1979)
- The Running Man (1987)
- The Maze Runner (2014)
1 film with Robert Englund
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
1 something is underground film
- C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989)
- Cellar Dweller (1988)
3 Satan/Devil centered films
- Satan (1974)
- Häxan (1922)
- The Day of the Beast (1995)
1 Amicus film.
- Tales from the Crypt (1972)
The worst Dracula film (by Letterboxd rating) that you haven't seen and can access.
- Dracula 3D (2012)
1 LGBTQ+ connected film
- Nightbreed (1990)
- The Lighthouse (2019)
5 Films from De Palma, Wes Craven, Ken Russell, Hitchcock and/or Moorhead & Benson.
- The Fury (1978)
- Red Eye (2005)
- Crimes of Passion (1984)
- The 39 Steps (1935)
- Resolution (2012)
2 Peter Cushing films
- Horror Express (1977)
- Tales from the Crypt (1972)
1 film based on a work of or invoking the name Bram Stoker
- Dracula 3D (2012)
1 film based on a Clive Barker story
- Nightbreed (1990)
1 film that was released the year that you turned 10
- Cronos (1993)
1 Mario Bava film.
- Black Sunday (1960)
1 film with an 'x' in the title
- Häxan (1922)
And 1 Tobe Hooper Film (There must ALWAYS be a Hooper film)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

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Hooptober wrap up

This year I actually finished my Hooptober list (yes, a few weeks late, but I got a puppy in the middle and that sure threw things off), so if you’ll indulge me, here’s a kind of wrap up. 

First off: all of the movies on my list were first time watches. I really leaned into the excuse of Hooptober to get some new viewing done, especially of movies that I should have seen by now. I also went into most of these movies fairly blind, and even when I did know more than a little about the film, there was a lot I didn’t know (The Ring being more of a slow burn mystery, or Red Eye skipping through genres). 

Unexpected Connections and Themes

The Brian Robbins Cinematic Universe: between Cellar Dweller and C.H.U.D. II, I’ve now seen 28% of the acting filmography of the CEO of Paramount. 

X-Men, but Make it Horror: The Fury, Nightbreed, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, all kind of follow this pattern of Young People discovering their special powers when they’re brought together in some outside institution. 

Style as Crutch: Resolution and Saint Maud both rely heavily on stylistic tropes of their time (lofi mumblecore and A24 slickness) to tell their stories, for better or worse. 

“Name” Director Letdown: Del Toro, De Palma, Argento, and Russell didn’t quite hit the highs I would have wanted. Some of that was expected—later Argento is known to be rough, and I’ve finally admitted to myself that Del Toro, for as nice a guy he is, doesn’t really make movies for me. 

Faves

I don’t really rank movies, but here are some of my favorite discoveries from this project:

Häxan
Viy 
Carnival of Sinners
The Day of the Beast
The Lighthouse
Lake of the Dead
Red Eye
Demons 2

On Hooptober, Generally

I really like the structure. Coming up with a list is almost like a scavenger hunt. It might be easier in some ways to have the flexibility to watch whatever you want in the moment, but I think I wouldn’t have seen a lot of what I ended up seeing, if I was able to overcome choice paralysis at all. My list ended up having a lot of post-apocalypse stories mixed in, which is frankly good because I’m not sure I could have withstood 31 slashers. Forcing myself to try out some new things has me excited for other viewing opportunities: Criterion Channel has a shit ton of Hitchcock coming in December, which is great because The 39 Steps has my wife wanting to do a deep dive. And Carnival of Sinners has me looking up other Faustian movies, because that’s a great theme that can be taken in a lot of directions.