Even though I've sort of been slacking recently when it comes to keeping up with my usual pace of filmwatching (I blame long work hours and being pulled into a "Stardew Valley" obsession last month), there's nothing like my favorite Letterboxd community project kicking off for it's tenth annual year to get me back into the swing of things!

I reiterate: year ten! Good lord.

And my personal thinking when it came to compiling my list this time around? I'm checking off a LOT of embarrassing blindspots that I should have seen already, whether it be genre classics that came out decades ago ("Frenzy", "The Toxic Avenger", "Nightbreed") or more recent highly respected or downright new-canonical work ("Titane", Luca Guadagnino' "Suspiria" remake, "I Saw The Devil").

Plus, you know, a bunch of other random weird shit as well. It wouldn't be Hooptober without the weird shit!

(Link to the kickoff post from sir Cinemonster.)

RULES:
Watch (at least) 31 movies between Sept 15 and Oct 31. One movie can satisfy multiple categories (but none will for me). And last, but certainly not least: rate and review every last one.

Below are my picks for this year:

[SIX COUNTRIES]
- "Horrors Of Malformed Men" (1969) [Japan]
- "Alison's Birthday" (1981) [Australia]
- "Cemetery Of Terror" (1985) [Mexico]
- "Bacurau" (2019) [Brazil]
- "Titane" (2021) [France]
- "I Saw The Devil" (2010) [South Korea]

[EIGHT DECADES]
- "The Spiral Staircase" (1946)
- "Night Of The Demon" (1957)
- "Seconds" (1966)
- "Magic" (1978)
- "The Toxic Avenger" (1984)
- "The Dentist" (1996)
- "Three...Extremes" (2004)
- "Suspiria" (2018)

[TWO POST-APOCALYPTIC OR NATURAL DISASTER FILMS]
- "Empire Of The Ants" (1977)
- "The Day The Earth Caught Fire" (1961)

[ONE FILM WITH ROBERT ENGLUND]
- "Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon" (2006)

[ONE FILM WHERE SOMETHING IS UNDERGROUND]
- "Death Line" (1972)

[THREE SATAN CENTERED FILMS]
- "Amityville II: The Possession" (1981)
- "Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977)
- "The Exorcist: Believer" (2023)

[ONE AMICUS FILM]
- "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" (1965)

[WORST DRACULA FILM THAT YOU HAVEN'T SEEN]
- "Dracula's Dog" (1977)

[ONE LGBTQ+ HORROR FILM]
- "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker" (1981)

[ONE BRIAN DE PALMA FILM]
- "The Fury" (1978)

[ONE WES CRAVEN FILM]
- "Red Eye" (2005)

[ONE KEN RUSSELL FILM]
- "Gothic" (1986)

[ONE ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM]
- "Frenzy" (1972)

[ONE MOREHEAD & BENSON FILM]
- "The Endless" (2017)

[TWO PETER CUSHING FILMS]
- "The Curse Of Frankenstein" (1957)
- "Twins Of Evil" (1971)

[ONE FILM BASED ON A BRAM STOKER STORY]
- "The Last Voyage Of The Demeter" (2023)

[ONE FILM BASED ON A CLIVE BARKER STORY]
- "Nightbreed" (1990)

[ONE FILM RELEASED IN THE YEAR YOU TURNED 10]
- "Jack Frost" (1997)

[ONE MARIO BAVA FILM]
- "Black Sabbath" (1963)

[ONE FILM WITH "X" IN THE TITLE]
- "X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes" (1963)

[ONE TOBE HOOPER FILM]
- "Spontaneous Combustion" (1990)

[EXTRA CREDIT FOR MANIACS]
- "The Zodiac Killer" (1971)
- "10 Rillington Place" (1971)
- "Shaky Shivers" (2023)