Rondo Awards - Best Independent Production on DVD

In my ongoing review of categories for the 2008 Rondo Awards, we come to the

Best Independent Production on DVD -

and my choice is
Trailer Park of Terror!!

Trailer Park is a really fun and well-made movie - I reviewed it here.


It is out on DVD now, and if you haven't seen it you should! It's my choice for Best Indy production on DVD, and btw, they announced yesterday that the Rondo Awards will begin next Sunday!! Woo hoo!

Rondo Awards - Best CD

The ballot is being finalized as we speak, and I expect an official announcement of this year's Rondo Award nominees soon. In the category of Best CD, my choice for 2007 is Nashville's own premiere horror band, The Creeping Cruds and their latest CD, Tennessee Bloodbath!


The official Creeping Cruds website is: http://www.creepingcruds.com/ and you can, of course, find them on myspace too at: http://www.myspace.com/creepingcruds

You can pick up this cd at either of these spots or on CD Baby, Interpunk.com, itunes, amazon.mp3 or emusic. This is a terrific batch of horror schlock and roll, with songs to make any true monster kid howl with delight such as Come Out Neville (Based on the movie The Omega Man and the Matheson novel I am Legend ), I Kicked Dracula's Ass (sung from the Frankenstein Monster's perspective), and Meat and Three about a man who discovers his baby is now a part of the menu. Big loud guitars, in your face rock and roll with a horror twist - highly recommended.


The guys were also recently interviewed on Rue Morgue Radio - go to
http://www.ruemorgueradio.com/?a=archives
and download the January 9th show.

BEST CLASSIC DVD COLLECTION

Turning attention toward a newly added cate-GORY in last year's Rondo Awards, my choice for Best Classic DVD Collection would be the Icons of Horror Hammer Films collection.

It features four movies never before released on DVD - The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, The Gorgon, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, and Scream of Fear. It's a great 4-pack of Hammer Horror fun - and it's my choice for BEST CLASSIC DVD COLLECTION.

2008 Rondo Awards - Best Movie

2008 was a terrific year for big budget horror, fantasy and sci-fi movies. There were some really fantastic films released, and the choice for Best Movie was really tough this time around.Here's a partial list of some of the movies release in 2008...

Cloverfield
The Spiderwick Chronicles

Let the Right One In

Diary of the Dead

Iron Man

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The Happening

The Incredible Hulk

WALL-E

Hancock

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Journey to the Center of the Earth

The Dark Knight

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Igor

Saw V

Quantum of Solace

Twilight

Punisher: War Zone

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Spirit

It's by no means a complete list, just some of the ones I felt were deserving of possible Rondo inclusion.

Looking at the above list, I have a hard time narrowing it down to just one choice.
I almost chose Cloverfield (it comes in a close second for me), but I have issues with that movie. My number one beef with it is the camera work. I understand that the hand held look is because we're seeing the action through a video camera held by a scurrying survivor of this devastating event (a giant monster invasion), and we're watching the events unfold first person as it happens.

It's a great idea, but the problem lies in the execution. I felt the filmmakers had little respect for the viewer in this area - the whirling, shaky, constantly moving camera movement was way overdone, and in fact I literally felt nauseous watching it, (and even had to turn away from the movie at one point due to motion sickness). This constant camera motion also became distracting to the point of pulling me right out of the story.Instead of being swept up in this gripping event I was constantly annoyed at the camera work.

For an example of how this technique can be used properly check out Diary of the Dead. The lead characters in this film are also on the run in the face of a disaster, a zombie plague in this case, and we're seeing the action through the lens of their video camera, too.This film manages to pull off the same effect without the nausea inducing overuse of Cloverfield. I didn't think it was as good of a movie as Cloverfiled, but I did at least appreciate Romero's restraint on the hand held technique.

The Dark Knight was a good film, and featured an amazing performance by Heath Ledger as the Joker. But although I liked the movie, I didn't feel it was the best picture of 2008.

My choice for Best Movie for 2008 has to go to Iron Man. It was a near perfect comic book adaptation, and really hit a home run in my book.Fantastic special effects, great casting and acting, and a fun storyline. I grew up an avid Marvel comics reader, and for me it really held true to the source material.

It was as if the pages of a comic book had come to life. I had my doubts going in whether they could convincingly pull off the armor effects, but it was really well done.Robert Downy Jr. was fantastic as Tony Stark, and Jeff Bridges was a perfect villain. I liked the always lovely Gwyneth Paltrow as love interest Pepper Potts too.It was just a really entertaining movie, and in my opinion the best of 2008. So it gets my vote for Best Movie in the 2008 Rondos!

Rondo Awards - Best DVD Company - Alpha Video

The 7th annual Rondo Awards are just around the corner, so I thought I'd spend the next few days going over some of my personal endorsements for this year's awards. First up I'll take a look at Best DVD Company.

In the DVD Company of the Year category, my personal selection is, and has been for several years now, ALPHA VIDEO. Alpha Video is best known for low priced public domain movies. They typically have no (or very few) extras on the discs. Why, you might ask, would I vote for a DVD company like Alpha for best video company when they don't even have extras on their discs? Well, let me tell you...

Alpha Video has done more to keep classic horror alive than most video companies out there. People who are willing purchase expensive films from companies such as Criterion, for instance, are genre fans – they would buy these movies regardless of the price. It’s the non-genre fans who are paid the biggest service from Alpha Video, and that is exactly the way in which Alpha is helping keep classic horror alive.

Now don’t get me wrong – I LOVE many of the films that companies like Criterion put out. They have a really terrific selection of DVDs. I just am not going to spend 30-40 dollars on movies like THE BLOB, or FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, as fond as I am of those movies (and believe me, I really, really like both of them). As much as I might like to buy these, I am a father of three boys, and my discretionary income for DVD purchases is severely limited. I won’t buy a $40 DVD, but I might just pick up a 5 or 6 dollar print of something like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, SHOCK with Vincent Price, REEFER MADNESS, or any of a number of the fun films from their catalog. And I know there are many people out there just like me, folks who might otherwise not even think about buying an old horror movie, but for five bucks, why not?

Alpha has a terrific selection of movies in a variety of categories: Horror, Sci-fi, Exploitation, Serials, Silent Movies, old Television series, and more. Plus they’ve started distributing some newer material such as Mark Redfield’s terrific DR.JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, (which I highly recommend). Their covers are really top notch, and really make these DVDs stand out on the shelves.

So for these reasons I’m voting for Alpha Video for DVD Company of the Year in the Rondo Awards again this year. Good luck Alpha, and I hope all of you out there vote in the Rondo Awards this year.

Frank Dietz draws the Doc!

This year is the second consecutive win for my buddy Frank Dietz as Artist of the Year in the Rondo Awards! I'd like to congratulate Frank, and thought this the perfect time to share a drawing of myself that Frank did and presented to me as a surprise gift at Wonderfest 2007. He and Nurse Moan-eek gave it to me during the Monster on the Campus live show. As usual, Frank did a terrific job with this piece. Thanks again Frank - you're the best!!

Rondo Thanks

Wanted to say thank you again to everyone who voted for Dr. Gangrene and all the ghouls and gals here at Creature Feature - close to 200 of you voted for us for Best Horror Host, and that's a tremendous show of support - it is greatly appreciated. You guys are the best!!

I also wanted to mention one other very special award that was given to the late Ben Chapman - he was nominated into the Rondo Hall of Fame. Over the past few years Ben Chapman has become a staple of conventions, appearing all over the country, meeting adoring fans everywhere. Ben was a great guy and was an overwhelmingly popular choice for the Rondo Hall of Fame.

2008 Rondo Awards

The Rondo Awards are in and it was an exciting year - the turnout was bigger than any previous year - almost 3000 people voted!

The winner of Best Horror Host was Penny Dreadful, who hosts in the New England area. Our congratulations to Penny.

In the Best Fan Event, the other category we were nominated for, the winner was the Monroeville Mall Zombie walk. We finished in second in this category - with any luck we'll win this one one of these days. We've come in second almost every year (3rd by one vote last year!)

Cult Radio a Go-Go won best Audio Site - I was very happy about this one, as that is the station that played the Dr. Gangrene Audio program a few weeks back, so in some small way I was a part of that one.

Our good friend Tim Lucas won Best Writer for the second straight year, which is richly deserved. He also won Best Book for his Mario Bava book, which is a massive work of research lovingly written over years of Tim's life.

My pal Frank Dietz won artist of the year for the second straight year, and I'm thrilled for him. Frank is an amazing artist and one of the best guys you could ever hope to meet.

I am really looking forward to Wonderfest this year, and hanging out with both Frank and Tim - and speaking of Wonderfest, it came in second in the Best Convention category by a mere 11 votes! The gap is closing, and I think next year will be Wonderfest's year to take Best Convention.

The Hall of Fame was especially cool this year, with both Ed Big Daddy Roth and Ghoulardi getting in, as well as Bernie Wrightson. Too cool!!

So all in all another terror-ific Rondo season. Some surprises, upsets, and thrilling results. AND more participation than ever before. Here's to David Colton, Rondo organizer, and all the Rondo staff for a job well done!!



BEST FILM
ROB ZOMBIE'S HALLOWEEN (553 votes)



Runner-up: GRINDHOUSE (293 votes)
Honorable mentions: SWEENEY TODD, 300



BEST TV PRESENTATION

DOCTOR WHO: 'Blink' (293 votes)




Runner-up: LOST: 'Through the Looking Glass' (275)

Honorable mention: HEROES: 'Five Years Gone';
TIN MAN (Sci Fi Channel)



BEST CLASSIC DVD
NOSFERATU: THE ULTIMATE EDITION (340 votes)



Runners-up: THE MONSTER SQUAD (327)
Honorable mention: BBC's COUNT DRACULA



BEST CLASSIC HORROR COLLECTION



UNIVERSAL HORROR CLASSIC MOVIE ARCHIVE (285 votes)


Runner-up: GODZILLA COLLECTION (280)
Honorable mention: MARIO BAVA COLLECTION (Vol. 1 and 2);
THE FLY COLLECTION; ICONS OF HORROR: THE SAM KATZMAN COLLECTION


BEST RESTORATION

NOSFERATU: THE ULTIMATE EDITION (413 votes)



Runner-up: WITCHFINDER GENERAL

Honorable mention: POPEYE THE SAILOR (1933-1938);
HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME; BBC's COUNT DRACULA; SPIDER BABY


BEST DVD EXTRA

HALLOWEEN: THE HAPPY HAUNTING OF AMERICA bonus disc (424 votes)



Runner-up: BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA deleted scenes (271)
Honorable mention: VINCENT PRICE SCREEN LEGENDS, Art of Fear



BEST DVD COMMENTARY
Malcolm McDowell, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (525 votes)



Runner-up: Jack Hill, Sid Haig, SPIDER BABY (159)
Honorable mention: Tim Lucas, MARIO BAVA COLLECTION;
Tom Weaver with Richard, Alex Gordon, Yvonne Romain, MONSTERS AND MADMEN



BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

VAMPIRA THE MOVIE (422 votes)



Runner-up: CHAINSAW SALLY (197)
Honorable mention: H.P. LOVECRAFT: PICKMAN'S MODEL;
PENNY DREADFUL'S SHILLING SHOCKERS;
LOST ON ADVENTURE ISLAND



BEST BOOK

MARIO BAVA: ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK,
by Tim Lucas (255 votes)




Runner-up: BELA LUGOSI: DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES, by Gary Don Rhodes and Richard Sheffield (226)

Honorable mention: UNIVERSAL HORRORS (revised), by Tom Weaver, Michael and John Brunas




BEST MAGAZINE
RUE MORGUE (336 votes)



Runner-up: FANGORIA (256)

Honorable mentions: VIDEO WATCHDOG,
MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT,
SCARY MONSTERS MAGAZINE



BEST ARTICLE

'Adult Fairy Tales & Frustrated Love Stories: The Cinematic Legacy of Terence Fisher,' by Neal Barrow, LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #19 (204 votes)




Runner-up: 'Honoring Horror at the Oscars,' by Tall Paul Davis, HORROR HOUND #6 (182 votes)

Honorable mentions: 'Kids vs. Monsters,' (Monster Squad retrospective),
by Chris Alexander and Jovanka Vuckovic, RUE MORGUE #69;

'Personal Appearances of Karloff and Lugosi,' by Greg Mank,


MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #23;
'I Was a Teenage Werewolf: Still Fab and Furry After All These Years,'
by Don Vaughan, FILMFAX #116;


'The Tingler,' by Christopher Schaefer, MONDO CULT #2



BEST COVER
SCARY MONSTERS #64 by Terry Beatty (305 votes)




Runner-up: AMAZING FIGURE MODELER #39 (211)

Honorable mentions: MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #23 by Joe Schovitz;



BEST WEBSITE
TRAILERS FROM HELL (137 votes)



Runner-up: Video Watchblog (116)

Honorable mentions: Universal Monster Army;
horrorhosts.com; E-Gor's Chamber of TV Horror Hosts;
Creepyclassics; The Drunken Severed Head



BEST CONVENTION OF 2007
MONSTER BASH (136 votes)



Runner-up: Wonderfest (125)

Honorable mention: Screamfest; Fangoria Weekend of Horrors



BEST FAN EVENT
MONROEVILLE MALL ZOMBIE WALK (345 votes)




Photo by Shawn Wall, shawnwall.com

Runner-up: Dr. Gangrene's Chiller Theatre Live at WonderFest (168)

Honorable mention: Monster Squad reunion (Monster-Mania);
Witches' Dungeon Classic Movie Museum (Bristol, CT.)
Universal Monster Army traveling toy exhibit





FAVORITE HORROR HOST (Active)

Penny Dreadful (309 votes)



Runner-up: Svengoolie (249)
Honorable mention: Count Gore De Vol; Dr. Gangrene





BEST AUDIO SITE OR PODCAST

CULT RADIO A GO-GO (207 votes)




Runner-up: RUE MORGUE RADIO (170)
Honorable mention: VOICES IN THE DARK;
ROTTING FLESH RADIO;
OLD TIME RADIO NETWORK AT PODSHOW



BEST CD
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (288 votes)



Runnerup: THE GHASTLY ONES
Honorable mention: LURKING CORPSES, Lust for Blood;
RADIO APOCALYPSE




BEST HORROR COMIC BOOK

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Season 8, by Joss Whedon (295 votes)

Runner up: DC ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN (183)
Honorable mention: THE GOON; THE TRAP-DOOR MAKER; GRAPHIC CLASSICS: BRAM STOKER

BEST TOY, MODEL OR COLLECTIBLE

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS ACTION FIGURES by Toy Island (297 votes)

Photo by Michael Crawford, Captain Toy

Runners-up (224 votes each): FRANKENSTEIN GIANT PEZ;

KING KONG WORKING ARMATURE (Sideshow)

COUNT ALUCARD'S CONTROVERSY OF THE YEAR

DO I HAVE TO BUY THAT ONE TOO? (440 votes)

Fans object when new releases are packaged with films they already have.

Runner-up: New special effects in old films (285)

Honorable mention: Who owns online art?



BEST DVD COMPANY

ANCHOR BAY (303 votes)

Runner-up: MGM (172)

Honorable mention: Universal




CLASSIC MOST IN NEED OF DVD RELEASE OR RESTORATION


ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (84 votes)





Runner up: DRACULA

Honorable mention: BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN




Writer of the Year (write-in category)

TIM LUCAS

Photo by Donna Lucas

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

FRANK DIETZ





SPECIAL RONDO AWARDS

Monster Kid of the Year
MICHAEL SCHLESINGER




For working behind the scenes at Sony on behalf of monster fans everywhere. He directed
the English dubbing of GODZILLA 2000; helped bring LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA
to theatres; convinced Sony that the Sam Katzman collection, including The Giant Claw and
The Werewolf, was worthy; and remains every monster fan's man on the inside. A true Monster Kid in every way, he is Rondo's choice for Monster Kid of 2007.




MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME

Six new inductees are:




Cortlandt Hull and Dennis Vincent, the
geniuses behind the Witch's Dungeon movie
exhibits.





Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth, who brought dragsters
and fun to the world of monsters.




Bernie Wrightson, who helped invent Swamp Thing,
a patchwork Frankenstein monster and the modern horror comic.




Archie Goodwin, the firm editing pen behind
Warren Publication's creepiest monsters.




Ghoulardi, whose wink and nod made the airwaves of
Cleveland just a little bit spookier.




Ben Chapman, who was gentler than the Creature he
portrayed, and far bigger, too. His warmth, grace and
love of his fans will never be forgotten.

Rondo Awards postponed...

Due to the tremendous number of voters the announcement of the winners of the Rondo Awards has been postponed until Wednesday, March 12th. This is an amazing feat, and Dave Colton and all the organizers of the Rondos are to be commended - the Rondos keep growing and becoming more popular all the time. I feel the inclusion of the new horror host category had a lot to do witht he influx of new voters. Will be very exciting indeed to see who wins all the cateGORIES - tune in Wed for more info at www.rondoaward.com and www.classichorrorfilmboard.com as well as right her on this blog Thursday!!

Last Week to Vote in Rondos

This is it! The final week for the Rondo Awards - voting ends midnight Sat March 8th! If you haven't voted yet, then what are you waiting for? Go to www.rondoaward.com and vote today!!

80th Academy Awards

I watched the Academy Awards Sunday night, and during the presentations they showed a montage of all 79 previous winners for Best Picture. I kept count of the ones I had seen from this list, and am embarassed to say it is under 20. Wow - that surprised me. My wife and I decided we need to take some time to sit and watch more of these. Time. Yeah, that's the trick - seems there's never enough time - I have stacks of movies I want to watch, and never enough time to view them all.

The one movie I came away wanting to see the most after the awards show was "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.). I'm going to be on the lookout for this one.

The horror category was woefully under represented this year, as usual. Sweeney Todd is the only horror movie I remember seeing nominated in any of the categories. Transformers got a couple of nominations, and I was glad to see Ratatouille get several nominations. Surprisingly, 300 didn't get a single nomination, not even for visual effects. Interesting. Matter of fact, of the list of films nominated for Best Movie in the Rondo Awards, only Pirates of the Caribbean got any Oscar nominations at all, and those were for technical categories.

Take a look at the list below, and you'll see some very worthy nominees were left off the Academy Awards list. I'm not surprised, but let me tell you, I bet over time I'll find myself watching the movies off the Rondo list way more than those on the Oscars list.

Rondo Awards - Best Movie of 2007
-- BEOWULF
-- '1408'
-- GHOST RIDER
-- GRINDHOUSE
-- HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
-- THE HITCHER
-- THE HOST
-- I AM LEGEND
-- THE INVASION
-- THE LAST MIMZY
-- THE MESSENGERS
-- THE MIST
-- THE ORPHANAGE
-- PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: WORLD'S END
-- ROB ZOMBIE'S HALLOWEEN
-- 30 DAYS OF NIGHT
-- 300
-- 28 WEEKS LATER
-- SPIDER-MAN III
-- STARDUST
-- SWEENEY TODD

Academy Awards - Best Picture
--Atonement
--Juno
--Michael Clayton
--No Country for Old Men
--There Will Be Blood

All the World's a Purple Knif

The Rondo Awards have grown by leaps and bounds since it began in 2002. The original ballot contained 14 categories - this year there are 27, almost double! Every year there are more voters as the word spreads about the Rondos - 1480 people voted last year, and founder David Colton said voting for this year is on pace to break that number once again.

The Monster Kid Hall of Fame was introduced in the Rondos second year, 2003. It is a special category established to honor those people who have helped keep classic horror alive through the years. The winners each receive a plaque with Rondo Hatton's image on it (once again a sculpted likeness of Rondo Hatton). There were 6 inductees in the first year, and a more worthy six could not have been honored. They were: Forrest J. Ackerman, James Warren, Zacherley, Vampira, and Bob and Kathy Burns.

Here's the complete list of previous inductees into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame:
Bob and Kathy Burns, Forrest J Ackerman and James Warren, Zacherley, Vampira, Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury, Alex and Richard Gordon, William K. Everson, Rick Baker, Basil Gogos, Roger Corman, Dick Klemensen, Gary and Sue Svehla, James Bama, Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, Paul and Jackie Blaisdell, Joe Dante, Don Glut, Jack Davis, German Robles and Frank Frazetta.

This category is a write-in category. There were two horror hosts honored that first year (Zacherley and Vampira) and this year I propose there should be one other added to that list - Ernie Anderson, a.k.a. GHOULARDI.

Ghoulardi began hosting horror movies in1963 in Cleveland, Ohio. His show quickly became so popular they added a second show on Saturday afternoons in addition to his Friday night show. It was a wacky, crazy show - Ghoulardi had a true beatnik sensibility about him. He referred to himself in third person, wore a fake van dyke beard, called people knif (fink spelled backwards), blew up things with boom booms (fireworks) in studio, and often wore crazy items on his head like hats, helmets, and even a faucet! Ernie was a former DJ, and the Ghoulardi show became famous for it's use of music during the show, the best known of which was "Papa Oom Mow Mow" by the Remingtons. His catch phrase was Stay Sick - Turn Blue!

I consider Ghoulardi one of the unholy trinity of horror hosts, alongside Zacherley and Vampira. His show was a major influence to thousands of viewers. I still meet people who remember watching Ghoulardi, even down here in Tennessee - Drew Carey recently gave a quick Ghoulardi history lesson on THE PRICE IS RIGHT when a contestant wore a Ghoulardi t-shirt to a taping. Ernie left the show in 1966 and moved to California where he became the official voice of ABC television.

After the Ghoulardi show ended it changed to the HOOLIHAN AND BIG CHUCK show, hosted by Bob Wells (Hoolihan) and Chuck Schodowski. Chuck had worked on the Ghoulardi show, and was a natural choice to host the show. Hoolihan later left and was replaced by John Rinaldi, and it became THE BIG CHUCK AND LITTLE JOHN SHOW. It was the longest running hosted movie program of all time. Big Chuck and Little John finally retired in 2007.

A second show spun directly off the Ghoulardi show as well - The Ghoul. Hosted by Ron Sweed, it began in 1971, also in Cleveland. Ron was a fan who won an appearance on the Ghoulardi show and became a gofer for the show. He also worked for a while on the Hoolihan and Big Chuck show. He received permission from Ernie to use the Ghoulardi character, (but not the name as it was copyrighted), so he became the Ghoul. He also wore the trademark lab coat, van dyke beard, and fright wig, as well as a pair of sunglasses with one lens missing.

Ernie Anderson passed away in February 1997 of cancer. The movie BOOGIE NIGHTS was dedicated to his memory, as well as a 1997 episode of THE DREW CAREY SHOW. His show is fondly remembered and there is even a Ghoulardi-fest convention in Ohio every year.

So my recommendation for Monster Kid Hall of Fame is Ernie "Ghoulardi" Anderson. His memory lives on in the hearts of viewers across the country. It's time the Rondos recognized him as well.

Stay sick, Turn Blue!

Check out these clips from a Big Chuck and Little John Ghoulardi tribute show:

Rondo Awards - Best Website

One of the things I like best about the Rondo Awards, besides the acknowledgement of the achievements of the individual candidates, is that it exposes voters to a fantastic array of classic horror material they might not previously have been aware of (and in many cases would likely never know about). All of the categories do an excellent in this respect, but perhaps none more so than the BEST WEBSITE category, which contains a variety of sites that every monster kid should spend some serious time exploring. Just take a look at the entries below.

-- Arbogast on Film (Blog for the love of film)
-- Britishhorrorfilms.co.uk (If CHFB was in England ... )
-- Cinefantastique Online (The magazine continues)
-- Cinema Dave (Quick-footed movie blog)
-- Creepy Classics (Monster Bash and latest product news)
-- The Drunken Severed Head (Max Cheney's unique blog about it all)
-- DVD Beaver (DVD comparisons, shot by shot)
-- DVD Drive-In (news and DVD views)
-- DVD Maniacs (news and DVD views)
-- DVD Savant (news and DVD views)
-- Eccentric-cinema (One of earliest cult sites)
-- E-gor's Chamber of TV Horror Hosts (amazingly complete)
-- Film Noir Foundation (For fans of long inky shadows)
-- Frankensteinia (If it didn't exist it would have to be invented)
-- G-Fan.com (John Lees' giant monster army)
-- Groovy Age of Horror (Not for faint-hearted)
-- Horrorhosts.com (Home of the horror host rebirth)
-- Kreepsville Industries (blogs, sounds, guest art)
-- Latarnia: Fantastique International (all things Euro and more)
-- Lugosiphilia Yahoo Group (Bela. Just Bela)
-- The Many Faces of the Frankenstein Monster (like it says)
-- Midnight Marquee online (Editor Gary Svehla's new blog)
-- Mobius Home Video Forum (No detail too small)
-- Monsterama.blogspot.com (Friendly creeps from Jay Stevens)
-- Monster-Maniacs Forum (discussions of monster conventions)
-- Movie Morlocks (TCM blog, many contributors)
-- Scarlet Street (message board to continue)
-- SciFilm.org (Home of Dave Sindelar archives)
-- Secret Fun Spot (Home of Flip! -- and your childhood)
-- Serialsquadron.com (Cliffhangers, restored serials and talk)
-- Solar Guard Academy (Calling all space rangers!)
-- Themonsterclub.com (Still excited about monsters and thrills)
-- Thethunderchild.com (Scifi, fantasy web magazine)
-- Trailers from Hell (Joe Dante, pros comment on trailers)
-- Unimonster's Crypt (Web pioneer John Stevenson reborn)
-- Universal Monster Army (Now a full-fledged message board)
-- Video Watchblog (Tim Lucas goes deeper than even his magazine dares)
-- Zombos' Closet of Horror Blog (John Cozzoli new generation blog)

That list is a collection of websites that are a true celebration of classic horror - and one of the most impressive sites on that list to the demented mind of this southern fried horror host is E-gor's Chamber of TV Horror Movie Hosts.

E-gor's site is run by George Chastain, a lifelong fan of horror hosts. His was one of the first sites I found on the internet about horror hosts, and was probably one of the first ever created. It is, without a doubt, the single greatest collection of data on horror hosts, past and present, that has ever been complied into one archive.

http://myweb.wvnet.edu/e-gor/tvhorrorhosts/

There is a terrific book titled Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed. It was written by Elena Watson, and was one of the first printed reference materials of horror hosts. It chronicles the history of horror hosted movies as well as the careers of the founding fathers and mothers of the genre – hosts such as Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi, and Sir Cecil Creape, my own childhood host. It sports a picture of the greatest host of all time on the cover – the one and only Zacherley.

Elena Watson's book was the blueprint upon which George has built his labor of love. This website is a result of years of research, information gathering, and archiving. Looking through his list of hosts is truly entertaining, as in addition to the information on the hosts and their programs there are also stories and letters from viewers, pictures of many of the hosts, and dates and times they aired.

George has also included samples of his art, and let me tell you, he is one talented guy! http://myweb.wvnet.edu/e-gor/


Take a look at the tribute poster below that he did for my pal Bob Burns, below – it's an 11 X 17 serial spoof playing off Bob's Major Mars movie (which we showed at Wonderfest a couple of years ago). It's fantastic! As well as the Zacherley spoof Aurura box - amazing!

George is a talented illustrator with a true flair for graphic design. He also did the cover for last year's Rondo Award winning Zacherley cd.

So for any of you folks looking for an illustrator or graphic designer for your projects, give George a shout. He'll do you proud and who knows, maybe YOUR project will win a Rondo Award too!

Rondo Awards - Best Horror Host

This year is the first that the new Horror Host category was added to the Rondo Awards. Rondo founder David Colton had toyed with the idea in the past, but this year went ahead and made it official by adding BEST HORROR HOST to the ballot.

This category is for active hosts working today, which excludes the first generation of horror hosts who have retired or passed away. However, they are long from forgotten - two of these, Zacherley and Vampira, are in the Rondo Monster Kid Hall of Fame and I expect others will be added in the future. I personally think Ghoulardi, played by the great Ernie Anderson, should be the next horror host inductee to the Hall of Fame. His influence in the Ohio area is legendary, and I still meet people all the time who rememeber his show fondly.

There were thirteen nominees for Best Horror Host in this year's ballot. I'm honored to be included in this list along with the likes of Count Gore DeVol, Svengoolie, Dr. Morgus and many others. The Rondo Awards also accept write-in candidates, so those folks whose local host wasn't listed can cast their vote appropriatly.

I want to give a big tip of the goggles to David Colton and all the ghouls responsible for adding this category. This year couldn't have been a more appropriate one to add the category, as we've had a number of horror hosts pass away lately. I. Zombie, played by Hayden Milligan, passed away recently, followed by cable access horror host Gotem Shreek (who sadly committed suicide). Legendary host Vampira also passed away recently as well as Chattanooga's Dr. Shock.

Vampira in particular was a major influence on the field. A couple of years ago I celebrated my 40th birthday, and invited a bunch of people over for a party. Something I had always wanted to do was play music, so I got together with a couple of friends and we worked up a few tunes. We each selected one we really liked - and the one I insisted on, and insisted on singing, was VAMPIRA by the Misfits.

So here's to the Rondos, horror hosts past and present, and Vampira.

In the words of Ghoulardi - Stay Sick!

_

Vampira
by The Misfits

Black dress moves in a blue movie
Graverobbers from Outer Space
Your pulmonary trembles in your outstretched arms
tremble so wicked

Two inch nails
Micro waist
With a pale white feline face
Inclination eyebrows to there

Mistress to the horror kid
Cemetary of the white love ghoul well
take off your shabby dress
Come and lay beside me

Come a little bit closer
Come a little bit closer to me
Vampira