Announcing the Nominees for the First-Ever Cyber Horror Awards!

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

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Theater Full of Kids Subjected to My Bloody Valentine

A whole bunch of parents who had expected to enjoy the wonders of Disney animation with their little tykes were instead made to witness nubile teens being impaled with a pick-axe. British website ThisIsHampshire.net reports that workers at Southampton's Odeon Cinema mistakenly loaded My Bloody Valentine 3-D into a projector that was meant for Bolt, the animated flick about a cute and cuddly dog who thinks he's a superhero.

Apparently, it took a whole ten minutes for what had to be some of the densest parents in the history of parenting to realize that the wrong movie was being shown and raise a fuss, many of their kids obviously shaken up by the R-rated mayhem onscreen.

The Odeon refunded customers their tickets, and gave them comp passes to a movie of their choice. Would love to know if any of them sent the kids home and used the passes to see My Bloody Valentine.

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James Whitmore 1921-2009

Another of the great post-World War II generation of actors has left us. James Whitmore, best known to horror fans as the unflappable Sgt. Ben Peterson of the classic giant ant picture Them! (1954), passed away last Friday at the age of 87.

In addition to his role in Them!, Whitmore also starred in the beloved Twilight Zone episode "On Thursday We Leave for Home", and one of his last film roles came in 1997 in the monster flick The Relic.

After a few years in Hollywood, Whitmore became known mainly as a TV and B-movie actor of the 1950s and 1960s. He did extensive work on stage as well, including the show Give 'Em Hell Harry, in which he played the title part of President Harry S. Truman. In fact, his starring turn in the 1975 motion picture version earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Many younger fans best remember Whitmore for his memorable supporting performance as Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). I'll also never forget his starring role in the 1986 TV production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons.

Frank Darabont, who was honored to direct Whitmore in both Shawshank and The Majestic (2001), sent in a heartwarming remembrance of the actor to Ain't It Cool News, which you can read here.

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The Return of the "Cyber-Horror Elite": Presenting the Top 20 Foreign Horror Films of All Time!

Once again, I, the most stat-crazy horror blogger on the web, have culled the collective wisdom of cyberspace's gurus of gore in order to give you, the readers, another list to nitpick! This time, I've chosen to take a closer look at another area which many felt was underrepresented in our original Top 50 Horror Films of All Time--namely, movies originating outside the United States.

It was quite telling that this time out, I received dramatically less participation than the previous two times. While I got over 30 submissions before, this time I only received top 10 lists from 14 participants. Now, it could be that ol' B-Sol is just wearing out his welcome, or it could very well be that this is a decidedly tougher area to consider, and many didn't feel confident enough in their knowledge of foreign horror to take part.

That said, I believe this to be a very solid list, compiled using the same points system as before, incorporating everyone's top 10 list into a final Top 20. For the third time in a row, I find myself surprised at the number-one vote-getter--this time more than ever before. Not because it isn't necessarily worthy, but rather because it is a movie that is so extremely recent. Judge for yourself:

1. Let the Right One In (2008) – Sweden
2. Suspiria (1977) – Italy
3. Cemetery Man (1994) – Italy
4. Nosferatu (1922) – Germany
5. Diaboliques (1955) – France
6. The Descent (2005) – United Kingdom
7. The Wicker Man (1973) – United Kingdom
8. Horror of Dracula (1958) – United Kingdom
9. 28 Days Later (2002) – United Kingdom
10. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) – Germany
11. Audition (1999) – Japan
12. The Host (2006) – South Korea
13. Zombi 2 (1979) – Italy
14. Dead Alive (1992) – New Zealand
15. Ringu (1998) – Japan
16. Inside (2007) – France
17. [REC] (2007) – Spain
18. Shaun of the Dead (2004) – United Kingdom
19. Wolf Creek (2005) – Australia
20. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) – United Kingdom

Some others that missed it by that much: Heavenly Creatures, The Vampire Lovers, Jigoku, The Orphanage, Don’t Look Now, Ju-On, Riget

Country-by-country breakdown:

United Kingdom: 6
Italy: 3
Germany: 2
Japan: 2
France: 2
South Korea: 1
New Zealand: 1
Spain: 1
Australia 1
Sweden: 1

(Worth noting that only 12 of the 20 are in a language other than English.)

Our participants this time around included:

Wes Fierce of Horror Film Magazine
The Lightning Bug of The Lightning Bug's Lair
Sean T. Collins of Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat, Marvel.com and Maxim
CRwM of And Now the Screaming Starts
Justin of Send More Cops
Peter Hall of Horror's Not Dead
John Kenneth Muir, horror critic (Booklist Editor's Choice)
Pax Romano of Billy Loves Stu
Scott Weinberg of FEARnet, Cinematical, Horror.com and Rotten Tomatoes
Brian Matus of FangoriaOnline
Nate Yapp of Classic-Horror.com
Carnacki of The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire
Corey of Evil on Two Legs
And yours truly, of course.

Digest. Discuss. Debate. Distribute.

* Top 25 Horror Films of the Modern Era

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Happy Weekend from Hieronymus Bosch!!

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Repo! Sequel Still a Possibility?

Repo! The Genetic Opera has proven to be one of the most divisive genre films of recent years, with some flocking to it as a cult classic, and many others calling it one of the worst movies ever made. However you feel about it, there may be more of it on the horizon.

In an interview with Moviehole.net promoting the movie's DVD release, star Alexa Vega hinted that prequel/sequel talks are still alive despite the film's limited release and lackluster box office:

"[F]rom the very, very beginning, we always talked about a prequel or a sequel to this movie. And it’s hard, because as of right now, we all want to do it, but... it didn’t really do as we hoped. And we didn’t really have a lot of support. But we’re hoping that the fans will come back, and it will be an underground cult classic that will grow, and that will eventually spark us to do either the prequel or the sequel to this film.

"The story’s not yet finished. There’s so much left... to wonder. 'Okay, what happens to GeneCo?' Or, 'How did they get here?'... there’s so many questions that still need to be answered."

Director Darren Lynn Bousman's grassroots "Repo tour" has done a lot to drum up support for the flick, and indeed, a kind of "Rocky Horror" buzz has slowly built around it since its release last year, so a limited-release or direct-to-video sequel is certainly well within the realm of possibility.

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Chats with My Bloody Valentine Composers, Past and Present

A treat for you horror movie music lovers today. Ain't It Cool News correspondent ScoreKeeper has done something very cool indeed. If you click here, you can check out a pair of interviews he/she has conducted.

The first is with Michael Wandmacher, composer of the score for My Bloody Valentine 3-D (as well as Punisher: Warzone and the recent flopped revival of The Night Stalker TV series). The second is with Paul Zaza, composer of the score for the 1981 original My Bloody Valentine, in addition to other horror faves like Popcorn and the Prom Night series.

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VAULT EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Dawn of the Dead's "Helicopter Zombie", Jim Krut

Last October, I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Krut at the always-fun Chiller Theatre convention in New Jersey. Most horror fans would best know this extremely tall and friendly gentleman as the infamous "helicopter zombie" from George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. That's right, Jim was the unforgettable flat-top ghoul who gets his cranium chopped in the chopper during the airport scene.

Needless to say, I was dying for a chance to talk to the man who had become such a beloved icon of horror history. Jim was kind enough to give me some of his time, and the result is the interview I bring to you today, my second Vaultcast.

I apologize for the annoying feedback buzz that accompanies a lot of the audio, it won't happen again in future Vaultcasts. But if you bear with it, the interview is a very worthwhile listen, as Jim talks about things like...

• Accidentally stabbing Tom Savini in the stomach
• His kids' reaction to watching their dad's head get sliced open
• The camaraderie between DOTD zombies
• The reasons Dario Argento cut his scene from the European version of the movie
• And much more...

If you prefer, you can visit my official Vaultcast page and download the interview to listen to whenever. It consists of two separate files, so when you listen, make sure to listen to part one first!

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Horror Artist Puts His Talent to Work for a Good Cause

Not long ago, I put together a post on the unique work of Chris Zenga, creator of the ZomBears. Today, I'm devoting some space on the Vault to talk about Chris' very worthwhile support of BRAFF, the Baikal Region Adoptive Family Fund.

Chris has illustrated two completely new ZomBears especially for BRAFF, with a portion of the proceeds from both going to the organization which helps orphans from the Baikal region of Russia and Mongolia to find homes, and helps improve the lives of those who can't. I strongly urge you to check out the following links, and if you can manage it, buy one of Chris' prints and donate to this worthy cause:

http://braff.org/

http://chriszenga.redbubble.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Day-After/47807952031

http://thedayafterart.blogspot.com/

Below are the two brand new ZomBear prints, "Dr. Tekyll" and "Tedd the Ripper":


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Today's post took priority for me today, but check back tomorrow for my podcast interview with Jim Krut, the Helicopter Zombie!

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Leatherface Hanging Up the Chainsaw for Good?

After 35 years, a sequel, a prequel, and three different reboots, it could finally be the end of the road for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise... at least for the foreseeable future.

Brad Fuller of Platinum Dunes (the company responsible for the last two TCM entries) told ShockTillYouDrop yesterday that there is no interest on either their part, or Warner Bros.' part, on making another one:

"I think the original rights owners now own those rights. I haven't heard anything for over a year now, but I think they want to go out and make their own Texas Chainsaw. While I used to always hope and pray that we could do another one, I don't feel that anymore."

Fuller and his partner Andrew Form go on to indicate that they want to distance themselves from the "torture porn" aspect of horror that TCM (at least their version of it) represents. With Friday the 13th hitting theaters next week, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake--set to start filming in 12 weeks--is next up for them.

Could this mean that the torture porn subgenre is finally petering out? In any event, we may have seen the last of everyone's favorite redneck cannibals. As for those "original rights owners" Fuller was referring to, I'm not sure if he's talking about Tobe Hooper, who formed the company Vortex Inc. in 1973 for the specific purpose of producing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A new TCM flick from Hooper himself would certainly be an item of interest.

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A heads-up to all you loyal Vault Dwellers: Look for my second Vaultcast tomorrow, when I plan to upload the phone interview I just conducted with Jim Krut, better known to you folks as Dawn of the Dead's "Helicopter Zombie"!

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