Wednesday, March 25, 2009

2008 Rondo Awards are in.

Well if you didn't figure it out my my complete lack of screaming and strutting I didn't get a Rondo. But that's OK this is one of the awards that it truly is enough to be honoured with a nomination. But that does mean I'm NOT doing the 100 ways to kill yourself post.

Congratulations to all the well deserving winners and to fellow LOTTD members Max Cheney (Drunken Severed Head Blog) who took runner up, and Brian Solomon (Vault of Horror) and Stacie Ponder(Final Girl) who scored honourable mentions in the Best Blog catagory. Here is the Official Rondo Press release:

Barbie tops Creature in Rondo model showdown


Rue Morgue takes four Rondos; Twilight Zone is Best Book;

Rich Koz as Svengoolie is voted favorite horror host;

Tim Lucas is Best Writer; Basil Gogos is Best Artist;

Ackerman's caregiver Joe Moe is named Monster Kid of Year


MARCH 24, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

By David Colton
CHFB News

ARLINGTON, VA -- Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, TV's The Munsters and Ray Harryhausen's
7th Voyage of
Sinbad were all winners Monday in the Seventh Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror
Awards, which also honored
the man who cared for sci-fi legend Forrest J Ackerman in the final
years of his life.


But the biggest surprise came when a special "Hitchcock" edition of Barbie, dressed like
Tippi Hedren and
swarmed by miniature crows from The Birds, topped the Creature from the Black
Lagoon in a showdown for
Best Model, Toy or Collectible.

Not only did the 50-year-old doll from Mattel beat out the green-scaled Creature, but she outclassed
models
from The Exorcist, Invasion of the Saucermen and even an action figure of Rondo Hatton himself,
the obscure
1940s horror actor who inspired the fan awards.

The Rondos are an annual celebration of the vintage monsters who sparked almost a century of horror films
and sequels. The worldwide online survey by the Classic Horror Film Board, a 14-year old online community, is
the largest in the genre and drew a record 2,932 emailed votes.

image

Beyond Barbie's latest triumph, winners Monday ranged from the modern -- The Dark Knight was
voted best film
of 2008, the BBC's Doctor Who was favorite television show -- to classic horrors from the past:

-- A new edition of the 1960 film, Psycho, was voted Best Classic Horror DVD.
-- A collection of Harryhausen's 1950s science fiction films, including a colorized Earth vs. the Flying Saucers,
was named Best DVD Collection, and the collected episodes of The Munsters was the favorite TV collection.

-- The painstaking reconstruction of Carl Dreyer's atmospheric 1932 chiller, Vampyr, was voted Best
Restoration.


The most emotional moments came when it was announced in an online ceremony that a Los Angeles
producer,
Joe Moe, had been named "Monster Kid of the Year,'' for his long years serving as a friend and
caregiver for horror
and science fiction collector Ackerman. The founder of Famous Monsters of Filmland
magazine, Ackerman died
this year at the age of 92.

"For his quiet, constant and unwavering stewardship of Forrest J Ackerman's final decade of life,'' the
Rondo citation reads, "Joe Moe revealed not only the man behind Mr. Monster, but the grace and
strength of the ultimate fan. For being there when we all couldn't, Joe Moe is Monster Kid of the Year.''

Moe, contacted by phone during the event, said, "If ever there was a time when I needed my monster
family, it's now. Thank you so much for validating the work I tried to do in a fashion that would make
all of you proud. I tried not to cry for Forry but now that he's gone, this honor from you, my pals, has me
in tears. Thank you so much."

image

Other winners included:

-- Best DVD Extra: "One for the Fire,'' a documentary about the making of Night of the Living Dead.
-- Best DVD Commentary: Makeup master Rick Baker, Bob Burns, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman and
Brent Armstrong for The Mummy (1932).
-- Best Documentary: Spine-Tingler: The William Castle Story.
-- Book of the Year: The Twilight Zone by Martin Grams.
-- Best Magazine: Rue Morgue.
-- Best Article: "Coffin Joe Resurrected,'' a look at the legendary Brazilian filmmaker Jose Mojica Marins,
by Scott Gabbey and Jovanka Vuckovic in Rue Morgue.
-- Best Magazine Cover: Rue Morgue #83, a portrait of Ackerman by longtime Famous Monsters artist
Basil Gogos.
-- Best Website: Trailers from Hell.
-- Best Blog: Video Watchblog.

-- Convention of the Year: WonderFest in Louisville.
-- Fan Event of the Year: World Zombie Day.
-- Favorite Horror Host: Svengoolie, played by Rich Koz, in Chicago.
-- Best Horror Audio Site: Rue Morgue Radio.
-- CD of the Year: Soundtrack of The Blob by Monstrous Movie Music.
-- Best Horror Comic Book: Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch, by Mike Mignola.
-- Biggest controversy: An L.A. fan's disputed claim he had once examined the long-lost Lon Chaney
film, London After Midnight.

-- Writer of the Year: Tim Lucas, author and editor of Video Watchdog
-- Artist of the Year: Basil Gogos.
-- Favorite DVD Reviewer: Glenn Erickson of DVD Savant.
-- Vasaria Public Citizen Award: Cameron McCasland and Creature Cinema for public service announcements
by Nashville's Dr. Gangrene and Nurse Moan-Eek.


-- Monster Kid Hall of Fame inductees: European horror actor Paul Naschy, Jim and Marian Clatterbaugh of
Monsters from the Vault magazine, painter Ken Kelly, the late Calvin Beck, founder of Castle of Frankenstein
magazine, the late Lux Interior, lead singer for punk band The Cramps and an influence on the psychobilly
horror rock movement, and the late Bob Wilkins, original host of San Francisco's Creature Features.

Many of the Rondo winners will receive Rondo busts, sculpted by Kerry Gammill and cast by Tim Lindsey,
at the Wonderfest convention in Louisville on May 16.

Further information, including runners-up and all the nominees, can be found at rondoaward.com

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