Dear readers, I'm a simple man, with simple dreams. One of those dreams was to create the first horror film awards ever determined by the online horror community. And now, thanks to the associations I've made via the VoH, that dream is soon to become a reality.
It's simple, really. There has never been a set of awards recognizing excellence in horror, as voted upon by the writers/bloggers whose passion it is to cover the genre on the internet. With our world transforming the way it has, online writers and bloggers have gained an amazing level of visibility in mainstream culture--some would say even supplanting the role enjoyed by traditional film critics. They have their awards, why shouldn't we have ours?
To that end, I have assembled some of the best and brightest of those who dedicate themselves to all things terrifying, many of which have taken part in the past in the Vault's "Cyber-Horror Elite" lists. As I write this, in fact, they are deliberating the list of nominees you're about to read. The results will be tallied at the end of he month.
It's an idea whose time has come: The web's first horror movie awards.
2008 Cyber Horror Award Nominees
Val Lewton Award for Best Film
Eden Lake, Rollercoaster Films
Let the Right One In, EFTI
The Midnight Meat Train, Lions Gate
The Strangers, Rogue Pictures
Tokyo Gore Police, Fever Dreams/Nikkatsu
David Cronenberg Award for Best Director
Tomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In
Bryan Bertino, The Strangers
Ryuhei Kitamura, The Midnight Meat Train
Matt Reeves, Cloverfield
James Watkins, Eden Lake
Jamie Lee Curtis Award for Best Actress
Jennifer Carpenter, Quarantine
Mylene Jampanoi, Martyrs
Lina Leandersson, Let the Right One In
Kelly Reilly, Eden Lake
Liv Tyler, The Strangers
Vincent Price Award for Best Actor
Simon Callow, Chemical Wedding
Kare Hedebrant, Let the Right One In
Andy Serkis, The Cottage
Keifer Sutherland, Mirrors
Jonathan Tucker, The Ruins
Dwight Frye Award for Best Supporting Actor
Anthony Head, Repo! The Genetic Opera
Vinnie Jones, The Midnight Meat Train
Jack O’Connell, Eden Lake
Linnea Quigley Award for Best Supporting Actress
Morjana Alaoui, Martyrs
Julie Benz, Saw V
Lizzy Caplan, Cloverfield
Curt Siodmak Award for Best Screenplay
Jeff Buhler, The Midnight Meat Train
Pascal Laugier, Martyrs
John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In
Scott B. Smith, The Ruins
James Watkins, Eden Lake
Karl Freund Award for Best Cinematography
Maxime Alexandre, Mirrors
David A. Armstrong, Saw V
Michael Bonvillain, Cloverfield
Hoyte van Hoytema, Let the Right One In
Peter Sova, The Strangers
Bernard Hermann Award for Best Score
Charlie Clouser, Saw V
Johan Soderqvist, Let the Right One In
Darren Smith & Terrance Zdunich, Repo! The Genetic Opera
Tom Savini Award for Best Makeup
Paul Hyett, Eden Lake
Greg Nicotero, Diary of the Dead & Mirrors
Yoshihiro Nishimura, Tokyo Gore Police
Albert S. D'Agostino Award for Best Production Design
David Hackl, Repo! The Genetic Opera
Tony Ianni, Saw V
Grant Major, The Ruins
Ray Harryhausen Award for Best Visual Effects
Mirrors
The Ruins
Shutter
Epic!
ReplyDeleteHey man, not really related to this post, but I was thinking of writing a new article for the Vault. Let me know if that's alright.
ReplyDeleteGreat ballot, Brian, though I'll definitely be turning in some write-ins. Darius Khondji is horror's best cinematographer of '08 hands down for his work not only on FUNNY GAMES U.S. but THE RUINS as well.
ReplyDeleteAlso, no love for Television or a category for Best Straight-to-DVD?
Really looking forward to how this turns out.
Karl: Your contributions are always welcome! Let me know when and what you'd like to post, and we'll make it happen.
ReplyDeletePeter: Thanks! Send as many write-ins as you like. Straight-to-DVD movies are eligible for Best Film--I didn't want to ghetto-ize them into their own category. As for TV categories, I gave it some serious consideration, and in the end I just wasn't sure there was enough quality stuff out there to truly support it. If I'm in the minority on that opinion, I'd be more than willing to include TV in next year's awards!
Interesting - Will be cool to see what makes the grade.
ReplyDeleteDang. I'm behind on my horror new releases. I have seen approximately none of those.
ReplyDeleteThe missus saw Mirrors though, so I've basically got the gist of it.
Really, really want to see Let the Right One in.
The only person I'd really feel good about giving an award to would be Nicotero. His work was awesome as always.
ReplyDeleteI've managed to see most of these movies but the one I'm most interested in is Martyrs. Damn that sounds like a great movie.
ReplyDeleteGreat list here and I can't wait to see who comes out on top.
The problem with Martyrs right now is that it has not yet been made officially available to American audiences. Of course, those of us who have been around the internet once or twice know there are ways of getting around that little problem...
ReplyDeleteNormally I don't have much of a problem getting to see the latest flicks. Martyrs seems to be the one that's eluding me.
ReplyDeleteBut just like the great slashers of our time, I'll stalk it and kill it as soon as I can.
I had a chance to see Martyrs in theatres and it was fucking mind blowing. I've never experienced anything like that in the theatre. I walked away hating it, than after thinking about it for 2 weeks I found out I completely loved it. If Martyrs is on the ballots, Trick R Treat should definitely be as well, as that was the best Horror movie of 2008, IMO.
ReplyDelete