I'm most wary of watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. How gory is it?

It's been so long since I've watched it that I can't give you an accurate answer, but according to film lore (and wikipedia), Hooper originally hoped the film would get a PG rating because of the low level of gore.

(The MPAA laughed derisively and came back with an X rating.)

Technically more grotesque than gory, but the grotesquerie is profound and disturbing.

That matches my memories. Gore doesn't really bother me, but some of the grotesquerie in Texas Chainsaw Massacre was hard to look at.

For comparison, Jaws in 1975 got a PG rating.

Technically more grotesque than gory, but the grotesquerie is profound and disturbing.

Well, we'll see. I'll likely save it for last.

And now for the monthly Criterion expiration report. Not a ton leaving on October 31 that I feel I need to see. A few classics I've seen but wouldn't mind seeing again, a few collections I'm not really interested in (Jackie Chan, Albert Brooks), and a number of things I've never even heard of. And then of course the inevitable "homework" films I feel I should see. I must say, however, the longer this hellscape that is 2020 lasts, the more I lean toward watching by whim. So I think, beyond the movies I've flagged in the 70s Horror collection (which I presume will expire end of Nov/Dec), I won't be adding too much to my queue.

Somewhat intrigued by:
Don Siegel: The Killers (I don't know that I need to see another version of The Killers, but I usually like Siegel)
Peter Yates: The Deep (Is this as bad as the Rotten Tomatoes score would indicate?)
Alain Delon collection: Once a Thief (mostly because it takes place in SF)
Sofia Coppola: The Virgin Suicides (I didn't like this the first time I saw but I did read and like the book recently so I want to give it another chance.)

I tried to watch It's Alive in recent years and couldn't make it halfway through the movie. I do recall the marketing back in the 70s scaring the bejeezus out of me, however.

I do recall the marketing back in the 70s scaring the bejeezus out of me, however.

I know where I was living when I saw it, and that I saw it in my local 99c theater, but I was pretty surprised when I saw the release date and realized what that must mean in terms of my viewing age. My memory is so vivid because right after I watched it, I walked home, and just when I got into my yard I heard a baby crying and it scared the living daylights out of me. I can only be thankful it didn't have the long term effect that seeing Psycho and Jaws far too young seems to have had, though I still find that bassinet image very creepy.

I'm also really surprised The Exorcist wasn't on that list.

I think they must be carefully avoiding anything that's part of a franchise. No Alien, no 70s Living Dead movies...although including Chainsaw kind of argues against that, hmm. Maybe it's just about what they have the streaming rights for.

It's not really horror (not gross horror, anyway) but I love the 1940s Uninvited with Ray Milland. I don't think it's available anywhere but on DVD, though. It's just a good ghosty, atmospheric movie.

I had a weird craving to see Ghost Story recently, the 1980s one with Craig Wasson and Alice Krige. But I might be better off reading the book again. Early Peter Straub was always great.

Oh, Ghost Story was such a good, creepy book. My parents let me read it when I was 10!

I know where I was living when I saw it, and that I saw it in my local 99c theater, but I was pretty surprised when I saw the release date and realized what that must mean in terms of my viewing age.

If it helps any it only opened in one theater in 1974. It was re-released and came to public attention in 1977.