do I need to see the first 1137 THXs before I see this one?

It is advisable but not necessary. They were released as prequels many years later as films with the THX logo. The continuity is all over the place. Really, based on his THX prequels we should have seen the Star Wars prequels sucking miles off.

If I didn’t talk the way I talk I wouldn’t know who the hell I am, Sean Connery on his accent

Unless you speak Chinese you won’t understand much of 583 because it never had a proper Western release.

I'd also advise seeing the prequel movie "THX Zero" right after this one. It really fleshes out the narrative.

You can watch this as a stand alone film. However, I would recommend seeing Nosfera 1 before watching Nosfera 2.

LOL good one!

Look, here's the only ones you really need to see in this franchise:

1, 2, 3 (debatable), 9, 31, 55, 84, 137, 309 (really good!), 443, 706, 778, 889, 957, and of course 1039.

There are certain entries that have devoted followings, but really don't add anything new. 666 (the antichrist one) is beloved by horror fans. Some people said 360 brought everything full circle, but then 361 blew that theory out of the water. I'll always have a soft spot for 555, the one with the Scarlatti soundtrack. The biggest surprise was when the theme song for 707 ("I Could Be Good For You") became a huge hit. Too bad the movie wasn't as good.

The hype surrounding 1000 brought the franchise back to water-cooler discussion, but only because everyone had forgotten how bad 996, 997, 998 (especially 998!), and 999 were. And how did 201-299 ever get greenlighted? There was an occasional surprise, but I'm convinced people were buying tickets just to see how bad this series could get.

If you only ever hear about 1138 these days, it's because that's the one where people finally realized, "There's nowhere they can go from here." Occasionally you'll hear that James Cameron is negotiating for the rights and wants to make 4-5 more, but by now, who would be interested? There's been so many that the entire series just kind of blurs together. I was at a library used-book sale just the other day, and there were cheesy VHS copies of at least 25 films from this franchise.

That, and the Home Alone franchise.

Read the books first.