I quietly added an extra page to the Menu over the weekend called Must Watch Horror. It's not what you think it is.
I spend a good bit of time going through "best of" lists in genre films to see where my favorites wind up. I also pull recs for reviews of novel entrants into these lists, like forever and a day ago where someone claimed Noriko's Dinner Table was one of the best horrors ever made (it is.)
Now I've decided to actually do something with these lists. I pulled the recommendations/favorites list from Jen and Sylvia Soska (directors of American Mary, See No Evil 2, "T is for Torture Porn" in The ABCs of Horror 2) as well as the subjects of Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies, Vol. 1 (a book I'm featured in) and went through my own viewing history.
The results are under Must Watch Horror. Anything I watched before I really sat down with these lists is marked in Blue. New viewings inspired by the list are marked in Red. Any titles I liked and recommend are bolded. And yes, there are titles that are blue and not bolded (sorry, I just don't care for Suspiria or Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.)
I've already knocked two off the massive lists (featuring very little crossover): Excision and Two Thousand Maniacs!. I recommend both if you haven't seen them and both can be viewed on new horror streaming service Shudder (think Netflix for a discerning horror audience, with reviews and beautiful curated collections by theme). Reviews are coming up for both films this week.
I don't know how long it will take to go through these lists. I just know that I wanted to share my progress on this quest with you as it happens.