(updated with 6 more movies on 10/31/17)

I love horror movies, but for the past several years I didn’t have the time to watch them. Between weird work hours, side hustles and raising kids, it was hard to justify ditching out for two hours to immerse myself in something like “Hostel: Part II.”

I had more control over my free time this year, and decided to spend the year recommitting to scary movies. Here’s what I’ve seen so far in 2017, with my absolute favorites in bold.

1. Bride of Frankenstein – “I want friend… like me.” “I love dead… hate living.” Fantastic. And that homonculus scene was so weird and wonderful.
2. Diary of the Dead
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street – The original. Hadn’t watched it in 30 years.
4. 13 Sins – Metaphor for drug addiction? I dunno. I was all-in as the 13 challenges escalated.
5. Green Room – This one came highly recommended, but didn’t connect with me. Patrick Stewart was awesome, though.
6. The Invitation – One of the best movies I watched all year. I wrote about it here.
7. Quarantine
8. Saw 2
9. The Devil’s Rejects
10. They Look Like People
11. You’re Next
12. Saw 3
13. Saw VI – At this point, I realized I’d gone too far and just need to sit tight until “Jigsaw” comes out
14. Blair Witch – Awful, awful, awful.
15. V/H/S – Like everyone else, I’m kinda tired of “found footage” flicks, That said, this was a pretty solid anthology. I loved “10/31/98” and “Amateur Night.”
16. Pandorum
17. Hostel – I put off watching this because the idea of “torture porn” is such a turn-off. I was pleasantly surprised by “Hostel,” and decided to watch more Eli Roth stuff after seeing it.
18. Drag Me to Hell – So. Much. Fun. Don’t mess with gypsy curses.
19. Train to Busan – Great visuals and innovative approaches to the zombie genre
20. Lords of Salem
21. Tourist Trap – 1979 flick recommended by my friend Mike “McBeardo” McPadden. The ending is creepy and hilarious.
22. The Witch – Bored me to tears
23. Let Me In
24. Hostel: Part II
25. Oculus
26. Beware the Slender Man
27. Clown – More Eli Roth. The suicide scene is amazing… the blood splatter is multi-colored!
28. Hostel: Part III
29. House of the Devil – Pitch-perfect 80s throwback
30. Kill List
31. The Strangers
32. The Audition – Overrated
33. V/H/S 2 – Worth it for “Safe Haven,” the cult story in the anthology.
34. Evil Dead – The original
35. XX – I wanted to like this way more than I did
36. Would You Rather – I think I enjoy these worst-case scenario, ethical quandary movies (Saw, Belko Experiment)
37. Cube
38. The Sacrament – Eli Roth produced this slow-burning, Guyana-inspired, found footage flick. The tension is stressful and uncomfortable.
39. Get Out
40. Sound of My Voice
41. Tod Browning’s Freaks – My friend Giorgio begged me to watch this. The fact that “Freaks” came out in 1932 and still manages to unnerve in 2017 is quite a feat. One of us… we accept her…
42. Kong: Skull Island
43. #HORROR
44. Pieces
45. The Belko Experiment
46. Circle
47. The Descent
48. Human Centipede – I tried. I couldn’t make it through the whole movie. Sadism without the smarts or humor.
49. Green Inferno – If you see only one cannibal movie this year…
50. Slashers – Low-budget flick inspired by “Running Man”
51. The Void – Cool imagery; not-so-great movie
52. Planet Terror – Robert Rodriguez’s pulp zombie movie; over-the-top and totally fun
53. Split – I didn’t spoil the ending for myself before watching. McEvoy’s pretty great in this.
54. The Rezort
55. Creep – Another found footage flick, and the reason why I don’t look for side gigs on Craigslist
56. 21 Days
57. Chicago Rot – Homegrown horror!
58. Knock Knock
59. The Bye Bye Man – This is everything people hate about Hollywood-made horror
60. Afflicted
61. They’re Watching
62. Raw – Arty cannibal movie
63. Devil
64. Havenhurst
65. Alien: Covenant
66. It – Um, I may be the only person I know who didn’t think this was all that scary… or good.
67. Halloween – The original. It totally holds up.
68. Death Note – Great concept, but kind of disappointing.
69. Jigsaw – Dumb with 2D characters and ridiculous twists.