The first two I haven't seen are The Descent and Diabolique. I have seen 45 of the initial 50 essentials.
Those two films I think of as being two very different types of Horror films, yet I can see you enjoying both a lot.
Alien and An American Werewolf in London.
I tried to get Mrs. 1SO to watch Alien, but she heard it was very gooey and that turned her off more than being scary. I want to show her James Gunn's Slither this year, but I think that one's more gooey so I'll probably just watch it alone.
Those two films are why I decided to include TSZDT Top 50. Alien I love, one of the Top 10 Horror films ever made. American Werewolf I like parts of, but there's a lot that doesn't work for me. However, if someone wanted to do a Corndog like marathon of the genre, Werewolf has to be included.
I have my work cut out for me! Those movies and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari would make a good starter list for me for Shocktober, unless you'd like to recommend something(s) instead! (We talked about The Collector, but it's not at my library.)
Dr. Caligari is a great starter because the Horror is in the atmosphere. It sets the table for the month really well.
The first two I haven't seen are The Bride of Frankenstein and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I've seen 60% of it.
Would you say this is because you're still educating yourself on the Classics, or is early Horror not as interesting to you as more recent films?