Random Ramblings from the Vault...

• Must say I greatly enjoyed seeing a horror movie tribute at the Oscars. Could I have done without the Twilight kids introducing it? Yeah, but that was made up for by The Shining, Nosferatu, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Blob, Alien, Jaws, Rosemary's Baby--*inhale*--The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Silence of the Lambs, Saw, Psycho, Carrie, Night of the Living Dead, Little Shop of Horrors, Misery, The Omen...OK, I'll stop. Yeah, it was pretty cool.

• Speaking of the Oscars, how about the director of Near Dark winning for Best Director? Congratulations, Ms. Bigelow. Somewhere, your brother Bam Bam is smiling down on you.

• So I had a lot of fun with Alice in Narnia--or rather, Alice in Wonderland, excuse me. It was indeed a visual feast and a pleasure, even if Lewis Carroll probably would've been left scratching his head at the sheer direness of it all.

• I get sad when I think of all the great horror character actors of the past, guys like Peter Lorre and Dwight Frye, who would've had even more notoriety today in my opinion, in a time when character-style actors without marquee good looks are allowed to shine in big-time starring roles.

• Not to sound precious or trite, but I don't know if I saw a horror movie in 2009 as horrifying or upsetting to me as the documentary film The Cove, which deservedly won the Oscar.

• Thank you, Calabrese, for keeping horror rock alive. These guys are really outstanding. I have an interview lined up with the band later this week, so stay tuned.

• How weird is it to think that George Romero has made just as many zombie movies in the last five years of his career as he made in the first 20?

• Coolest Universal werewolf: Henry Hull or Lon Chaney Jr.?

• So Leprechaun, Pinhead and Jason have all gone to space. Which one was the worst disaster? I say Leprechaun by far. In fact, I contend the other two are somewhat salvageable. But Leppy? No way.

• If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the winners of the 2009 Cyber Horror Awards. Thanks again to all who voted!