Best Film of 2007
I nominated "Black Sheep," “Bug," "28 Weeks Later," "Hostel 2," and "Saw IV." Well 2007 seemed to bring us more and more horror sequels while not exactly spitting out the best filmmaking. But although i enjoyed the top 5 films, I still felt 2 of them could have been even better: “Saw IV” and “Black Sheep.” “Bug” was a really good film but not enough scares…more paranoia. “Hostel 2” was pretty good but the trailer was even better. Besides, I spent the entire film comparing parts 1 & 2 and the major differences. “28 Weeks Later” was very impressive but I was hoping for some more connections to our survivors from the first film. When push came to shove, am giving the award to “Saw IV.” It’s still the best franchise ever…from first movie to the last one. No other franchise has 4 or more complete films, with good plots and no cheesiness.
Best Film of 2006
I nominated "Candy Stripers," “The Grudge 2," "Slither," "Hostel," and "Saw III." Another year has gone by and another brilliant “Saw” film was released. I will say that although the year saw a bunch of decent horror films (Slither, Silent Hill, Rest Stop, Stay Alive”), frankly it was difficult coming up with a top 5. I did choose “Candy Stripers” which really was better than it seemed it would be. “The Grudge 2” while confusing at times and not that scary, was still quite enjoyable and worth some viewings. However the best 2 films were easily “Hostel” and “Saw III.” I think the trailer for “Hostel Part 2” actually increased my enjoyment of the original film. The film was well made, lots of good ideas and quite scary. However I am a bit too much of a “homer” for the “Saw” franchise so that, combined with the brilliant ending, I have to award best horror film to “Jigsaw’s” film. Besides...could I really award a victory to a film that basically copied “Eurotrip”?
Best Film of 2005
I nominated “Cry_Wolf" "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" "Land of the Dead," "Saw II," and "The Amityville Horror." When 2005 started I had more hopes for a good run of movies and by year's end I got disappointed. The top 5 are good films but really not as perfect as in years past. Examples being "Amityville Horror," "Dead Birds," "Exorcism of Emily Rose" "Boogeyman," and "Dominion: Exorcist Prequel." All had either good scares or good plots but not both. "Dominion" was the better of the 2 Exorcist prequels and "Land of the Dead" redeemed much of Romero's recent works. "Land" did a nice job but overall though "Saw II" just had better story, better exuection and was more cohesive all around!
Best Film of 2004
I nominated “Dawn of the Dead,” “The Grudge,” “Open Water,” “The Village,” and “The Forgotten.” I thought we really had some scary movies in 2004 but I gotta say this was a close race. "Dawn" was really a nice change of pace for Zombie films and "The Village" was so misunderstood but still packed a nice wallop. "Open Water" and "The Grudge" actually should have won this award but frankly they could have been so much better than they were - they had flaws that could have been corrected but even then were still top 5 finishers. I have to go with "The Forgotten" though because it did some new stuff, provided some violently surprising scares and was truly freaky at a time when audiences needed something they were not expecting.
Best Film of 2003
I nominated “Final Destination 2,” “Freddy Vs. Jason,” “Identity,” “28 Days Later,” and “Wrong Turn.” I didn’t think 2003 had strong films although there were more than usual going directly to the box office (as opposed to the video store shelves). I thought “28 days Later” was a nice change of pace for zombie films and the sequels to have really taken the series to the next level in terms of ideas and effects. But “Identity” wins because it really took us back to thrillers, mysteries and surprise endings, all with some scariness thrown in.
Best Film of 2002
I nominated “Eight Legged Freaks,” “Ghost Ship,” “May,” “Resident Evil,” and “The Ring.” “Eight” had great effects and “The Ring” was quite scary. “May” just came out of left field with how good it was given it was straight to video. But “Resident Evil:” had the effects, the action and the story to make for a winner.
Best Film of 2001
I nominated “Frailty,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “The Pool,” “Session 9,” and “Slashers.” I didn’t find this year to be very prolific in terms of great stuff so “Frailty” won hands-down. It had the story, the acting and the believability to be a winner. The rest were good but all missed something to be great.
Best Film of 2000
I nominated “American Psycho,” “Anatomie,” “Cherry Falls,” “Ginger Snaps,” “Psycho Beach Party.” These 5 were very strong films and all deserved a victory here. 2 of the films I have nominated as “Most Unique Story” (Cherry Falls, Ginger Snaps). I’m given the German film the victory because it was a nice addition to the slasher genre with some good ideas and better execution.
Best Film of 1999
I nominated “Blair Witch Project,” “Lake Placid,” “Ninth Gate,” “Ravenous” and “Stir of Echoes.” I loved the stories in “Ninth Gate,” and “Blair Witch Project” and the effects in “Stir of Echoes” and “Lake Placid.” “Stir of Echoes” was a very close 2nd place but the winner is “Ravenous.” Despite a terrible showing at the box office, the film had a great score, great story and damn it, was unique.
Best Gore
I nominated “Buried Alive,” “Cannibal Ferox,” “Dead Alive,” Organ,” and “Ravenous.” The fact is, all these 5 are so great they are almost indistinguishable…almost. See, “Cannibal Ferox” used real animals and for that fact alone, it’s a winner here.
Worst Use of Nudity
I nominated “Blood Surf,” “Lair of the White Worm,” “Vampire Sisters," “Santa Claws,” and “Silent Prey.” To win in this category is not just to have women who probably shouldn’t be videotaped topless or nude, you need to take the extra step. That step is thrown in scenes of nudity which make no sense given the story. The nudity in “Lair” was so uncalled for but the actress wasn’t that bad looking. The other films were more deserving of a nomination than a victory. “Blood Surf” was the winner because frankly, those women should have kept their shirts on.
Best Anthology
I nominated “Body Bags,” “Creepshow,” “Tales from the Crypt (1972),” “Tales from the Darkside,” and “Terror Tract.” The key here was not just to have some good episodes but to have the story surrounding the episodes make sense too. Frankly, only “Terror Tract” molded the individual episodes to a grander story and had everything relate to each other. The other films although all having great individual episodes had no connections at all.
Best Foreign Film
I nominated “Anatomie,” “Brotherhood of the Wolf,” “Man Bites Dog,” “The Pool,” and “Ringu.” All 5 were great films with “Ringu” being the scariest but “Brotherhood” had the best action and best continuity to it.
Best Effects
I nominated “Final Destination 2,” “Hellraiser 2,” “Lake Placid,” “The Relic,” and “Screamers.” Some good films here with great effects but “Final D 2” just blew the others away with it’s opening car crash. That became the “end all, be all” in special effects.
Best Title
I nominated “Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things,” “Chopping Mall,” “Curious Dr. Humpp,” “Outback Vampires,” and “Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator.” It was such a close call with “Stuff” but “Children” wins this award. It’s a long title with did connect to the film’s plot but kept both the title and film on a funny yet serious note. And it did still relate to the story in that the adults began acting like children and they paid for it.
Best Sequel
I nominated “Final Destination 2,” “Jason X,” “From Dusk till Dawn 3,” “Hellraiser 2,” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.” To win this award you needed to make a film that stayed true to the previous film but still added something special. Although most sequels are unnecessary, you needed to explain why this film was truly necessary. I loved “Hellraiser 2” and they would have been a winner prior to 2000 but once “Jason X” came out, that was my winner. It went out of its way to explain all the flaws from the prior films while making everything still believable. The effects were really nice and there were still some cool tributes to the prior films.
Worst Sequel
I nominated “Blair Witch Project 2,” “Firday the 13th, part 5,” “Hellraiser 6,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Next Generation,” and “Troll 2.” This was a tough call as all 5 of these films are embarrassing and humiliating to their brethren. “Blair” was an absolute mess but at least tried to keep the semblance of a connection to its predecessor. Some could call “Chainsaw” a remake of the original, so using that reasoning it at least could be seen as connected too. But “Hellraiser 6” wins this one. It didn’t connect to the prior films and surely could have been its own film had it eliminated the 2-3 minutes that the Pinhead character spent on screen. It’s a bastardization of the series and definitely a waste of money.
Worst Film, Non-Sequel
I nominated “Ax ‘Em,” “It's Alive,” “Hellgate,” “Night Crawlers,” and “Savage Vengeance.” These are some of the worst films ever made in any genre but I will admit that I have already updated this category twice, removing “Severed” and "The Coroner." As bad as “Ax ‘Em” is, it tried to be a good film. "Hellgate" didn't try hard enough to be it's absolute worst and frankly "It's Alive" takes badness to a new level but I'm gonna give it the benefit of the doubt and saw the fact that 35 years have passed, time has taken it's toll on the film. Our winner “Night Crawlers” was just an abysmal piece of filmmaking. Too much papier-mâché and a lack of talent made me immediate declare this film a “Loser.”
Best Use of Nudity
I nominated “Nude for Satan," "Reincarnation of Isabel," "Shivers of the Vampire," "Stormswept," and "Zombie Lake.” Outside of "Stormswept," the other 4 films are all foreign films and frankly those are the best for a category such as this one. I could have added films such as "Bare Wench Project" and "Erotic Witch Project" but those really are erotic films with a touch of horror. These 5 films are still trying to be scary or at least mysterious. Let me just say as good as some of these films are in having basically 90 consecutive minutes of nudity...the underwater shots in "Zombie Lake" are the best.
Scariest
I nominated “The Blair Witch Project," "The Exorcist," "Ringu," "The Sixth Sense," and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” I know that a lot of people feel that "Blair Witch" was both over-hyped and overrated but frankly I liked the uniqueness and individuality of the movie. It was trying a brand new way to scare people and I think it worked. Ignore the sequel and the spoofs that have followed and enjoy this film for what it was...a great indie film. As for the others, "Ringu" was one of the scariest ones and as good as the story in the American remake was, the Japanese version is scarier. But frankly the best of best (sir! with honors!) is an old classic. "The Exorcist" is "hands down," the scariest movie. This film has lasted 30 years, endless inventions of movie effects to still remain at the head of its class. Movie-makers won't even get down and take the time to do what these filmmakers did in terms of work in scaring people. What Linda Blair and her extra did in creating such a creepy and eerie atmosphere is just phenomenal. It doesn't get any scary than this (unless it is the 25th Anniversary edition: "The Version you've never seen).
Best Film, Non-Sequel
I nominated “Near Dark,” “Prophecy,” Ravenous,” “Relentless,” and “Screamers.” Although this was a close competition, especially with “Ravenous” winning “Best Film of 2000” and “Most Unique Story,” “Near Dark” is our winner. It was so unique, so novel and damn it, so good. I can’t fault the other films but I’ll say if you gave me these 5 films on dvd’s to watch and 2 hours to do so…I’d grab “Near Dark.” It’s a new twist on the vampire genre and makes it’s predecessor films in history lesser in comparison.
Most Unique Story
I nominated “Cherry Falls,” “Ginger Snaps,” “Jack Frost 2,” “Near Dark,” and “Ravenous.” Yet another example of 5 films all revamping their genres, for the better. However “Ravenous” obliterated all prior Cannibal films and then created its own genre: “horror epics.” For that itself, it’s a winner!
