As a kid I saw just the boat scene from Friday the 13th, and it scared me so much I started avoiding all slashers. (The Happy Birthday to Me poster only made it worse). This simply became a habit, and until last year I’d missed not only every F13 except Final Chapter, but entire categories of movies. Cult films. Giallos. The entire Troma filmography. I decided to watch not just the slashers, but all of the movies I should have. How old does a movie have to be before not seeing it, qualifies as missing it? I chose three years. Here are my favorites so far, in rough order of preference.

Tourist Trap
Hell House LLC
Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor
Graduation Day
Motel Hell
Deep Red
Opera
Halloween II
April Fools Day
The Thing (2011)
Blow Out*
Blood Hook
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part III
Friday the 13th Part III
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
Freddy vs. Jason
Psycho II
Color Out of Space
The Beyond
Killer Workout
The Purge: Anarchy
The Purge: Election Year
The First Purge
The Forever Purge
Slither
Cabin Fever
House of the Devil
Sacrament
Innkeepers
Dead Alive
Hellraiser: Judgment
Burial Ground
Cemetery Man
Nightwatch
New York Ripper
Zombi 2
Demons
Demons 2
Nightmare on Elm Street 2
Scream Blacula Scream
Chopping Mall
Video Dead
The Fun House
Gremlins 2
Toxic Avenger 2
Omen 2
Inferno
Giallo
Tales from the Hood 2
Class of Nuke ‘Em High
Dr. Giggles
Invisible Man
Maniac Cop
Shivers
Kathy’s Curse

Honorable mention: Frankenhooker
Dishonorable mention: The Visitor

*Blow Out is just on the edge of being horror. But it’s such an exquisite movie I just had to include it. That scene with the bridge and the frog may be the best shot I’ve seen in any film.

– EC