Before finding out about it and wanting to see them actually seeing it.
I first read about the House that Dreaded Sundown (1976) in the very early 2000s, probably 2000 or 2001. I heard the killer from it had an identical costume to the one Jason later used in Friday the 13th Part 2. As a huge Friday the 13th fan I immediately wanted to see it. But it was only available as an out of print VHS. So I waited...and waited...and waited. Finally this year I got the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.
So yeah about 18 years unless I think of another.
Congratulations on finally getting to see it. Evil Dead came out when I was 7, and I guess I was 24 or 25 when I finally got to see that one. The Boogens came out the same year, but I would be in my early or mid 30's before I finally tracked down a copy of that one.
I wanted to see THE AFRICAN QUEEN all my life (well, not ALL my life, but since I was about 8 years old . . . so around 1972). About 2 years ago I bought the CASABLANCA/AFRICAN QUEEN double feature DVD. I finally got to watch THE AFRICAN QUEEN. I thought it was okay, but mostly a disappointment.
I heard about DRILLER KILLER when I was in primary school, and just loved the name (how could you not?!)...didn't actually see it till my late 20s. It was ok but I've not felt the need to see it again
When I was in high school THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER came out. Just before the credits rolled, a message flashed on the screen . . . "Watch for more adventures of Talon in TALES OF THE ANCIENT EMPIRE!"
Some 35 years later, I saw TALES OF THE ANCIENT EMPIRE show up on DVD at Hastings. It had NOTHING to do with the original film and was far, far worse. What a let-down!
Hearkening to a thread in the What Was That Film subforum, I saw the box cover of XTRO (1982) in about 1985 or 1986. It wasn't until 2013 or so that I finally saw it.
Gone With The Wind (1939). Heard about it as a kid, maybe around 1979-1980. Didn't see it until about 2014, when I went to a Sunday movie session at a local theatre.
I waited years to see many of the films that were banned by our "beloved" censor board - films like The Exorcist, The Omen, The Texas Underpants Massacre, The Devil's Rain, etc - and was surprised in some cases and went 'meh' in others.
Space monster dagora. Took me years to find a place I could see it at.
I'm still catching up on stuff from the '80s that I used to see in video stores or in cable TV listings but never got around to watching! Two examples from this past weekend: The Slayer (1982) and The Evil (1978)!
Around when I starten looking at this forum I wanted to see Robot Monster and The Giant Claw. Both still up and counting...