I spent most of this thread going "omigosh, YES!"
I made my kids sit through the "sociological impact of the original 'Night of the Living Dead'" monologue. I wanted them to understand what a big damned deal it was to have a black hero at the time period. (Being children of an entirely different era, they would have missed it entirely.) Especially to have a black hero who picks up the world's palest blonde white woman and carries her to safety.
I'm a huge horror fan, and my all time favorites are "Evil Dead 1 & 2" and "3," "Army of Darkness." Out of all the horror movies I've seen, 1 and 2 are the only ones who continually have the power to make me jump. I've seen them repeatedly, too...they went onto the "must buy!" list fast.