Horror at the Oscars Part 2: This Time It’s Personal
Horror fanatics are still buzzing like chainsaws over the Academy Awards’ genre montage. Anywhere there could be a conversation about it online, there was one. Many were upset over the Twilight ‘tweens’ participation, as if their mere presence sent a message about the state of scary in Hollyweird, USA.
A few seemed happy, though, to just get a glimpse of their beloved Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 if only for a few seconds. But many called the selections generic and thoughtless, demanding the likes of Demons and TerrorVision instead (well, maybe not TerrorVision; that was just me).
How about Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer? Re-Animator? It’s Alive? Tombs of the Blind Dead? Coffin Joe? No list is perfect, but with a bit more care and a phone call to any one of us, the Oscars could have elevated that section into a real scream. Or maybe they could have looped a copy of Terror in the Aisles. Again, one phone call, and I could have sent my copy FedEx. (P.S. Please be kind and rewind.)
But here at Dread Central we have the real horror tribute. When Mauro Fiore, the once key grip of Saturday the 14th wins an Oscar for cinematography, we are there. Same with Paul N.J. Ottosson, whose sound design on The Hurt Locker brought home the gold. We will always know and be endeared to him as the man who did the sound design for Phantasm IV: Oblivion.
We will start off, however, with some sadness — the death scroll. As noted previously in Part 1, many of our horror loved ones were missing from the dearly departed list. Our Joe Moe did a touching write-up for his friend Robert Quarry lost to us in 2009. Known for his characterization of Count Yorga (1970-1971), he acted alongside Vincent Price (Dr. Phibes Rises Again) and stared in many genre films thoughout the 70’s and 90’s. He deserved to be up there, too.
Please note this is NOT going to be an all-inclusive list of every genre project these stars have worked on. Just some highlights. Feel free to add your own memories of them in our comments section below.
Our dearly departed:
Patrick Swayze: (misc genre: “Amazing Stories,” Ghost, Donnie Darko)
Dan O’Bannon: Alien, The Return of the Living Dead, Invaders from Mars (remake), Total Recall, Dead & Buried
Maurice Jarre : Jacob’s Ladder, Les yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face), (misc. genre: Ghost, Solar Crisis, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Enemy Mine)
Jean Simmons : “Dark Shadows” (misc. genre: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within)
David Carradine : Dead & Breakfast, “Charmed,” Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, Nosferatu: The First Vampire, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Evil Toons, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, “Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense,” The Bad Seed, Trick or Treats, Q, (misc. genre: Death Race, “The Ray Bradbury Theater,” Dune Warriors, Sonny Boy, “Amazing Stories,” Deathsport, Future Force)
Daniel Melnick: (misc. genre: Altered States, Straw Dogs)
Dom DeLuise : Haunted Honeymoon, “The Munsters” (misc. genre: “Stargate SG-1,” “Amazing Stories”)
Army Archerd : “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” (misc. genre: Planet of the Apes)
Ron Silver : Skeletons, Shadow Zone: The Undead Express, Silent Rage, The Entity (misc. genre: Time Cop, Lifepod, Blue Steel)
Brittany Murphy: Freeway, Deadline
Joseph Wiseman : (misc. genre: “The Twilight Zone”)
Jack Cardiff: Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye
Michael Jackson: “Thriller” (misc. genre: Men in Black II, Captain EO)
Natasha Richardson: “Tales from the Crypt,” Past Midnight, The Handmaid’s Tale, Gothic
David Brown: Jaws, Jaws 2, Sssssss
Chas. Balun: Evil Toons, horror icon
Zelda Rubinstein: Poltergeist, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Behind the Mask
Jacinto Molina aka Paul Naschy: The Mark of the Wolfman, Werewolf Shadow, Dracula’s Great Love
Edward Woodward: The Wicker Man
Dick Durock: Swamp Thing
Clayton Hill: Dawn of the Dead, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
Lou Gentile: Paranormal investigator on numerous TV shows
Hanz Holzer: Paranormal investigator on numerous TV shows
Marilyn Chambers: Rabid
Lou Perryman: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Andy Hallett: “Angel”
Kim Manners: “Supernatural”
Robert Quarry: Count Yorga
Ray Dennis Steckler: Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
Bill Landis: Sleazoid Express
Forrest J Ackerman: Horror icon
Part Two of our Oscars Round-up
- Achievement in Sound Mixing
WINNER:
The Hurt Locker
Paul N.J. Ottosson: Drag Me to Hell, The Grudge 2, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Dentist 2, Phantasm IV: Oblivion, The Prophecy II, Progeny, Jack Frost, Asylum, Skeletons, Vampire Journals, Little Witches, Head of the Family, Amityville: Dollhouse (misc. genre: Moonbase, The Invader, Mystery Monsters, Omega Doom — with Rutger Hauer and robot chicks that look like they are out of a Robert Palmer video), Virtual Encounters, Oblivion 2: Backlash, Zarkorr! The Invader, Nemesis III: Prey Harder, The Demolitionist)
Ray Beckett: Lair of the White Worm
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Avatar
Christopher Boyes: King Kong (remake), Blood Work, Dracula 2000 (misc. genre: Space Cowboys)
Gary Summers: The Haunting, Lake Placid, The Addams Family (misc. genre: Frequency, Jurassic Park III, Mars Attacks!, Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Willow, Howard the Duck, all of those Lord of the Rings movies)
Andy Nelson: Cloverfield, Virtuosity, Jacob’s Ladder, “Tales from the Crypt,” Gothic (misc. genre: The X-Files, RoboCop 3)
Tony Johnson: Boogeyman, Braindead
Inglourious Basterds
Michael Minkler: Death Proof, Grindhouse, Insomnia, The Mummy Returns, Exorcist (remaster), Hollow Man, Mimic, The Addams Family, “Tales from the Crypt,” The ‘burbs, The Hitcher, Amityville 3-D, Jaws 3-D, Hell Night, Wolfen, Fade to Black, Nightwing, The Swarm, Exorcist II: The Heretic (misc. genre: The Abyss, UFOria, Repo Man, Strange Invaders, TRON, Altered States, Time After Time; and the original Star Wars in 1977)
Tony Lamberti: Friday the 13th (remake), Venom, Godzilla (remake), The Relic (misc. genre: “Firefly,” Kull the Conqueror, Congo)
Mark Ulano: Death Proof, Grindhouse, Disturbia, From Dusk Till Dawn, Pet Sematary, Vamp, Once Bitten, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Cujo, Time Walker, The Slumber Party Massacre, Hospital Massacre, New Year’s Evil (misc. genre: Terminator Salvation, Outbreak, Space Raiders, Android, Forbidden World, The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood
Star Trek
Anna Behlme: Cloverfield, Virtuosity, Flatliners (misc. genre: War of the Worlds (remake), The X-Files, Masters of the Universe)
Andy Nelson: Cloverfield, Virtuosity, Jacob’s Ladder, “Tales from the Crypt,” Virtuosity, Dead Ringers, Gothic, Bloodbath at the House of Death (misc. genre: War of the Worlds (remake), The X-Files)
Peter J. Devlin: The Skeleton Key, Curled
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Greg P. Russell: The Uninvited, Quarantine (remake) Prom Night (remake) Godzilla (remake), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (remake) Tremors, Nightmare on Elm Street: the Dream Child, “Tales from the Crypt,” Wicked Stepmother, 976-Evil, Twice Dead, Pumpkinhead, Vampire at Midnight, Maniac Cop, Prime Evil, The Hidden, My Demon Lover, (misc. genre: Starship Troopers, the unspeakable madness that are My Little Pony: The Movie, Under the Rainbow, and Zorro the Gay Blade)
Gary Summers: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Fracture, The Haunting, The Addams Family, (misc. genre: all those Lord of the Rings movies, Jurassic Park III, Frequency, Jurassic Park, Willow, Spaceballs, Howard the Duck, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire Strikes Back, fucking STAR WARS)
Geoffrey Patterson: Apt Pupil, Return of the Living Dead III, The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter, Leprechaun (misc. genre: The X-Files)
- Best Cinematography
WINNER:
Avatar
Mauro Fiore: Lost Souls, Saturday the 14th Strikes Back, The Return of Swamp Thing, Stripped to Kill II: Live Girls
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Inglourious Basterds
Robert Richardson: (misc. genre: Repo Man)
- Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
WINNER:
Up
Michael Giacchino: “Lost”
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Avatar
James Horner: Mighty Joe Young, Aliens, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Deadly Blessing, Wolfen, Humanoids of the Deep, The Hand (misc. genre: “Star Trek: New Voyages,” Willow, “Amazing Stories,” Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Brainstorm, Space Raiders, Krull, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Battle Beyond the Stars, Project X)
The Hurt Locker
Marco Beltrami: “V,” The Omen (remake), Underworld: Evolution, Creature Editing 101, Cursed, Hellboy, Halloween: Resurrection, Blade II, Resident Evil, Dracula 2000, Scream 3, Scream 2, Inhumanoid, Scream, Nightwatch (misc. genre: Repo Men, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Dracula II: Ascension, The Crow: Salvation, Mimic)
Buck Sanders: The Omen (remake), Underworld: Evolution, Hellboy, Blade II, Resident Evil, Joy Ride, Scary Movie 2, Scream 3, Dracula 2000, Hunger, Paranoid (misc. genre: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Highway 395, Mindgame)
Sherlock Holmes
Hans Zimmer: The Ring, Paperhouse, The Ring Two, Jason X, Scream 2, Cursed
- Achievement in Visual Effects
WINNER:
Avatar
Joe Letteri: Van Helsing, King Kong (remake) (misc. genre: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Jurassic Park, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Abyss)
Stephen Rosenbaum: Death Becomes Her (misc. genre: Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Abyss)
Richard Bane ham: (misc. genre: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
Andrew R. Jones: Godzilla (remake)
District 9
Dan Kaufman: The Haunted Mansion, Scary Movie 3, What Lies Beneath (misc. genre: Virus, Dark City, “The Shining,” The Relic, Outbreak)
Peter Muyzer: Orphan, Lost Boys: The Tribe, Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Robert Habros: Creature, Poltergeist: The Legacy,” Infested, Army of Darkness, Warlock, Leviathan (misc. genre: “Stargate SG-1,” Mom and Dad Save the World, Suburban Commando, Timebomb, A Gnome Named Gnorm, “The Outer Limits”)
Matt Aitken: The Frighteners (misc. genre: The Day the Earth Stood Still, King Kong (remake), all those Lord of the Rings movies)
Star Trek
Roger Guyett: The Amityville Horror (remake) (misc. genre: Mars Attacks!, Dragonheart)
Russell Earl: Deep Rising
Paul Kavanagh: Deep Rising (misc. genre: The Lost World: Jurassic Park)
Burt Dalton: The Ring (remake), Spellbinder (misc. genre: “Alien Nation”)
- Best Documentary Feature
WINNER:
The Cove
Fisher Stevens: The Midnight Meat Train (The co-star of Short Circuit and Short Circuit 2? And now he is nominated for an Academy Award? It’s not like he was in the Super Mario Bros. movie -– oh wait …)
Look for our final installment … Part 3 tomorrow.
– Heather Buckley
Categorized:News
