Noms for Genre Entertainment's Top Honors Announced

Coming on the heels of my woeful lamentation for Oscar's neglect of sci-fi/horror/fantasy projects, here come the nominations for the 34th annual Saturn Awards, which were announced yesterday. Since 1975, the Saturns have recognized excellence in the "speculative" genres of movies and TV. In the interest of unity of theme, I'll stick with the horror stuff. Here goes:

Best Horror Film

30 Days of Night

1408

Ghost Rider

Grindhouse

The Mist

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

No 28 Weeks Later?? Bizarre. And since when is Ghost Rider a horror movie? Incidentally, horror-themed sci-fi flicks Cloverfield and I Am Legend were also nominated for Best Science Fiction Film.

Best Actor

John Cusack (1408)

Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)

Will Smith (I Am Legend)

Will Smith?? Hmmm.

Best Actress

Helena Bonham Carter (Sweeney Todd)

Belen Rueda (The Orphanage)

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Rickman (Sweeney Todd)

Shame to see Rickman get it for Sweeney and not Timothy Spall.

Best Supporting Actress

Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield)

Marcia Gay Harden (The Mist)

Rose McGowan (Planet Terror)

Best Direction

Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd)

Frank Darabont (The Mist)

Best Writing

John Logan (Sweeney Todd)

Best Costume

Colleen Atwood (Sweeney Todd)

Atwood was also nominated for the Oscar.

Best Makeup

Howard Berger, Greg Nicotero & Jake Garber (Planet Terror)

Davina Lamont (30 Days of Night)

Peter Owen & Ivana Primorac (Sweeney Todd)

Nicotero is the heir to the Savini throne, but my vote goes to Lamont.

Best International Film

Day Watch (Belarus)

The Orphanage (Spain)

Very surprising not to see [REC], which I found to be better than any American horror movie I saw all year.

Best Network TV Series

Supernatural

Best Syndicated/Cable TV Series

Dexter

Go, Dex! Best show I've seen since the heyday of HBO.

Best International Series

Jeckyll (UK)

Best Actor on TV

Michael C. Hall (Dexter)

After literally stealing the show on Six Feet Under and now starring in this cult smash, watch for Hall to become one of the major movie stars of the next decade.

Best Supporting Actor on TV

Erik King (Dexter)

Best Supporting Actress on TV

Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter)

Jaime Murray (Dexter)

Carpenter is another major reason to catch Dexter. She'll be playing the lead in Quarantine, this year's American version of [REC]--which will at least make that pill a lot easier to swallow.

Best DVD Release

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Remix)

Driftwood

White Noise 2

Best Classic Film DVD Release

Alligator

The Monster Squad

Witchfinder General

Monster Squad finally got its feverishly awaited release last year, so that's got to be the sentimental favorite.

Best Collection on DVD

The Mario Bava Collection (Vol. 1&2)

Vincent Price (MGM Screen Legends Collection)

Best Retro TV Series on DVD

Count Dracula

The 1977 BBC miniseries is now available with the baby-killing scene fully restored. Yay!

George Pal Memorial Award

Guillermo del Toro

Special Achievement Award

Tim Lucas (author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark)

For the complete list of nominees, go here.