The Vault of Horror Presents the 4th Annual Cyber-Horror Awards

Ray Harryhausen Award
Best Visual Effects
Tom Joelson, Colin Doncaster & Oystein Larsen,
Troll Hunter
Was there any competition here? Troll Hunter received more votes than all the other nominees combined, and with good reason. Joelson, Doncaster and Larsen, along with a legion of artists and creators, brought to life a virtual army of massive, mythic Trolls, giving us one of the most jaw-dropping movie experiences of the year in the process.

Albert S. D'Agostino Award
Best Production Design
Roger Ford,
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Ford, one of the truly great genre production designers, crafted a breathtaking and utterly creepy world for Guillermo del Toro's reimagining of the 1970s TV movie cult classic. Previously recognized for his work on the Narnia films, and on Dr. Who some 40 years ago, Ford outdid himself with DBAOTD's amazing interiors and exteriors.

Tom Savini Award
Best Makeup
Sharon Toohey,
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Relatively new to the movie biz, and taking her first crack at a bona fide horror flick, Sharon Toohey really knocked it out of the park with Tucker & Dale vs. Evil's gut-wrenchingly gross makeup effects. This one also beat the combined votes of both of its fellow nominees, The Human Centipede 2 and Fright Night.

Bernard Hermann Award
Best Score
Tie: Joseph Bishara, Insidious
& Steven Price, Attack the Block
For the first time in the history of the Cyber Horror Awards, we have a dead heat. Steven Price (right) created a unique, cutting-edge urban style score for this year's big winner, Attack the Block, while Bishara's unforgettably disturbing music for Insidious earned that film what is surprisingly its only CHA.

Molly Arbuthnot Award
Best Costume Design
Ha Nguyen,
Priest
This acclaimed post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller was made especially remarkable by the highly imaginative work that went into dressing its characters. Nguyen, whose previous body of work includes the likes of House on Haunted Hill (1999), Thinner, Mortal Kombat and The Mask, turned out to be just the person for the job.

Karl Freund Award
Best Cinematography
Hallvard Bræin,
Troll Hunter
It's quite a challenge shooting things that aren't really there and still giving it the scope that they need to be epic. That's what Bræin pulled off with his work in Troll Hunter, teaming with the effects designers to convincingly create the world of Norway's fictional trolls. It's fitting that this movie won CHAs in both categories.

Curt Siodmak Award
Best Screenplay
Joe Cornish,
Attack the Block
As with most years, one film dominated this year and that was Joe Cornish's Attack the Block. Also as in the past, with winner like Black Swan, we have the same film winning in both the Siodmak and Cronenberg Awards for screenplay and directing. Cornish's script was a perfect evocation of London street slang, laced with sharp wit and strong dialogue.

Linnea Quigley Award
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bettis,
The Woman
A small-time low budget little thriller, this film came out of nowhere and surprised a lot of people with its extremely powerful performances. Chief among these was Angela Bettis as tortured housewife Belle Cleek, giving us a nightmarish, complex interpretation of a very challenging role.

Dwight Frye Award
Best Supporting Actor
John Goodman,
Red State
This one wasn't even close. Beloved character actor Goodman's turn as FBI agent Al Zimmer in Kevin Smith's twisted take on Bible belt religious fanaticism really resonated with moviegoers this year, and with good reason. Once again, as he has so many times in the past, Goodman gave us a character who stole the show. This time, horror fans got to reap the benefits.

Vincent Price Award
Best Actor
Rutger Hauer,
Hobo with a Shotgun
One of 2011's festival darlings was this exploitation potboiler about a nameless homeless man who takes the law into his own hands, blowing away criminals with his titular weapon. Veteran genre legend Hauer came back strong with this one, and his performance was rightly the most memorable thing about the film.

Jamie Lee Curtis Award
Best Actress
Jodie Whittaker,
Attack the Block
In the chaotic world of Joe Cornish's excellent alien horror comedy, Whittaker's Sam is sort of the voice of reason, and she does her part well. Not only is it a fine performance worthy of recognition, but one of the best-written female roles of the year. For a genre that is often criticized for lacking positive parts for actresses, this is an exception that I'd like to see more of.

David Cronenberg Award
Best Director
Joe Cornish,
Attack the Block
Usually it holds true with most movie awards that a writer/director will win both the writing and directing awards, and the CHAs are no different. Joe Cornish gave us what was undoubtedly 2011's most unique and memorable horror flick, and deserves credit for crafting an instant cult classic.

Val Lewton Award
Best Film
Attack the Block,
Studio Canal
And there you have it, the movie that rightfully dominated the 4th Annual Cyber Horror Awards, as Let the Right One In, Trick 'r Treat and Black Swan did in previous years. It takes great originality and great technique combined to create a horror gem. In a genre that too often cannibalizes itself and sticks to easy cliches, this movie gave us something unique and special. The online horror community has spoken, and selected this as the standout motion picture of 2011. And deservedly so!

1st Annual Cyber Horror Awards
2nd Annual Cyber Horror Awards
3rd Annual Cyber Horror Awards

2011 Cyber Horror Award Nominees

Val Lewton Award for Best Film

Attack the Block, Studio Canal

Troll Hunter, Filmkameratene A/S

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Reliance Big Pictures/Loubyloo Productions

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Miramax/FilmDistrict

Insidious, FilmDistrict/Stage 6 Films

David Cronenberg Award for Best Director

Andre Ovredal, Troll Hunter

Joe Cornish, Attack the Block

Eli Craig, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Troy Nixey, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

James Wan, Insidious

Vincent Price Award for Best Actor

John Boyega, Attack the Block

Michael Parks, Red State

Otto Jesperen, Troll Hunter

Rutger Hauer, Hobo with a Shotgun

Laurence R. Harvey, The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence

Jamie Lee Curtis Award for Best Actress

Katie Holmes, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Amber Heard, The Ward

Jodie Whittaker, Attack the Block

Melissa Leo, Red State

Rachelle Lefevre, The Caller

Dwight Frye Award for Best Supporting Actor

Tony Todd, Final Destination 5

David Tennant, Fright Night

John Goodman, Red State

Timothy Spall, Wake Wood

Gary Oldman, Red Riding Hood

Linnea Quigley Award for Best Supporting Actress

Mamie Gummer, The Ward

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melancholia

Angela Bettis, The Woman

Bailee Madison, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Lin Shaye, Insidious

Curt Siodmak Award for Best Screenplay

Joe Cornish, Attack the Block

Kevin Smith, Red State

Andre Ovredal & Havard S. Johansen, Troll Hunter

Eli Craig & Morgan Jurgenson, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Leigh Whannell, Insidious

Molly Arbuthnot Award for Best Costume Design

Ha Nguyen, Priest

Cindy Evans, Red Riding Hood

Mary Hyde-Kerr, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Tom Savini Award for Best Makeup

Sharon Toohey and David Trainor, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Douglas Noe, Fright Night

Jenna Wrage, Harriet Thompson & Emma Slater, The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence

Ray Harryhausen Award for Best Visual Effects

Troll Hunter

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

The Thing

Albert S. D'Agostino Award for Best Production Design

Theater Bizarre

Troll Hunter

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Bernard Herrmann Award for Best Score

Joseph Bishara, Insidious

Steven Price, Attack the Block

Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Karl Freund Award for Best Cinematography

Manuel Alberto Claro, Melancholia

Hallvard Braein, Troll Hunter

Eduard Grau, The Awakening

Thomas Townend, Attack the Block

Oliver Stapleton, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

It's Almost That Time Again... The 4th Annual CHAs Are Coming!

Unwrapping presents...taking stock of where we've been and where we're going...spending time with those we love. These are the things we enjoy doing come the end of the year. Another thing we seem to all enjoy is endlessly compiling our picks for the best of everything in the past year. And so... it is with great pride that I remind you all that the 4th Annual Cyber-Horror Awards are on the way!

That's right, the one and only original horror film awards voted on exclusively by the online horror blogging community are on their way back, and I for one can't wait to see who and what gets voted as the best in horror films for 2011. Previous winners have included the likes of Let the Right One In (2008), Trick 'r Treat (2009) and Black Swan (2010). What will this year's awards hold in store, after a 2011 that gave us the likes of Insidious, Red State, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Priest, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, A Serbian Film and so many more?

I'm in the process of getting together some stellar judges to help me compile a list of nominees next month. Once that's done, ballots will be going out to horror bloggers/online writers far and wide in February, with the winners being announced in March. So sit tight, and get ready for those annoying bloggers to once again have their voices heard!

The Vault of Horror Presents the 2010 Cyber Horror Awards

Ray Harryhausen Award
Best Visual Effects
Black Swan
This powerful film was rendered even more powerful by the striking visual effects work of NY/LA company Look FX, in addition to many other fine artists who were able to bring Darren Aronofsky's startling vision to life on the silver screen.

Albert S. D'Agostino Award
Best Production Design
Dante Ferretti,
Shutter Island
One of the most brilliant production designers in the business, Ferretti has been Martin Scorsese's go-to guy since 1993's Age of Innocence, and his work in Shutter Island can stand alongside some of the best stuff he's ever done, including Interview with the Vampire, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd.

Tom Savini Award
Best Makeup
Rick Baker, The Wolfman
The first time this award has gone to anyone other than Greg Nicotero, and clearly, if anyone deserved it this year, it was the legendary Baker for his work in the Universal werewolf remake. Revisiting old territory in his depiction of lyncanthropy, Baker did such a fine job that not even CGI tampering could ruin it.

Bernard Hermann Award
Best Score
Clint Mansell, Black Swan
As he did with Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, Aronofsky went with Mansell to deliver yet another haunting, powerful score--and he most certainly delivered it. Using the same effortless technique with which he recently wowed genre fans with his Moon score, Mansell composed a suite of music that stays with you longer after the lights come up.

Molly Arbuthnot Award
Best Costume Design
Milena Canonero,
The Wolfman
Canonero cut her teeth working on A Clockwork Orange and The Shining for Stanley Kubrick, and she returned to the genre last year with some very impressive work recreating Victorian England for this very atmospheric period film--which just happens to be about werewolves.

Karl Freund Award
Best Cinematography
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Watching Black Swan is indeed a dream-like, somewhat dizzying experience--and it takes a certain kind of cinematographer to pull that off. Iron Man DP Libatique did it for Aronofsky on Pi and Requiem for a Dream, and completely outdoes himself here.

Curt Siodmak Award
Best Screenplay
Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz & John McLaughlin,
Black Swan
Heyman, Heinz and McLaughlin joined forces to deliver Aronofsky that rare gem of a horror script--subtle yet strong, terrifying yet beautiful. Black Swan works on many levels, and it is a testament to this fine collaboration that the finished product was such a truly memorable motion picture.

Linnea Quigley Award
Best Supporting Actress
Delphine Chaneac, Splice
The beautiful Chaneac was transformed into a bizarre, human/animal hybrid through the wonders of CGI, and managed to turn in a startling performance in the process. As Dren, she may have been nearly unrecognizable, but the part she played deserves all the recognition in the world.

Dwight Frye Award
Best Supporting Actor
Vincent Cassel,
Black Swan
The character jokingly referred to in an SNL spoof as "the world's only straight French choreographer" was portrayed rivetingly by Cassel, who took a part that could have easily been lost in the shuffle of Aronofsky's intense psychological thriller, and made it shine.

Vincent Price Award
Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island
Though a stretch to be considered a genuine horror flick, Martin Scorsese's latest was a tense thriller/drama with enough chills to qualify--and the director once again brought out a terrific performance from Leo, taking the actor one more step away from his boyish, child star roots.

Jamie Lee Curtis Award
Best Actress
Natalie Portman,
Black Swan
She won the Oscar for this one, and now, she's won the Cyber Horror Award (how's that for a come-down, folks?) No one even came close to Portman in this category, with the stunning actress landing almost every single vote cast. A career-making turn which demonstrated just what kind of acting chops she really has.

David Cronenberg Award
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky,
Black Swan
As if there was any doubt. The gifted director who gave us Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler returned with a vengeance last year, closing out 2010 with what may have been the greatest work he's ever done. The auteur's masterful style was on full display in this, one of the greatest thrillers seen in recent years. Perhaps that's why the next and final award is really no surprise...

Val Lewton Award
Best Film
Black Swan,
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Taking home 8 out of 13 Cyber Horror Awards, Black Swan clearly was head-and-shoulders above the pack as the most memorable--and certainly most talked-about--horror film of 2010. Deriving most of its scares from atmospheric, psychological means, the film nevertheless packs a powerful enough punch to have been welcomed by genre filmgoers with open arms. It's rare that a mainstream thriller works so effectively as both horror and drama, but Black Swan pulled it off, and deserves to be recognized as the best of the best.