The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award, often called the Rondo Award, is an annual award founded in 2002 that honors journalism, scholarship and film preservation in the horror genre, [1] [2] particularly of classic horror film and their modern-day counterparts.
Named in honor of actor Rondo Hatton, it originated at the Classic Horror Film Board and subsequently moved to a dedicated website. Nominees are chosen by a committee that takes suggestions on the website, with the awards selected via an open vote by generally thousands of participants. The Rondo Award was created by journalist David Colton and artist/illustrator Kerry Gammill, [3] and since its inception has been coordinated by Colton, who serves as their presenter annually at the fantasy/horror convention WonderFest.
The Rondo Awards began in 2002, after members of the online Classic Horror Film Board, moderated by journalist David Colton, became aware of a growing body of under-recognized journalism covering the horror genre. [2] The awards took their name from the character actor Rondo Hatton, a cult-classic figure in low-budget horror films. Noted comic book artist and illustrator Kerry Gammill designed the sculpt for the award, a bust of Hatton's character from the movie House of Horrors (1946). [4]
Comic book artist and illustrator Kerry Gammill designed the sculpt for the award, a bust of Hatton's character from the movie House of Horrors (1946). [4]
The initial year attracted 168 voters. The following year brought 600, and the third year 2,000. As of 2018, the number of voters is generally between 3,000 and 3,700. [5] [ self-published source? ] Co-founder Colton presents the awards annually at the fantasy/horror convention WonderFest. [6] [7]
As Colton describes, "We don't have Best Actor, we don't have Best Actress, we don't even have Best Director. It's more about the magazines and the books and the independent films and the documentaries.... It's a little highbrow in that way." [8]
Entertainment Weekly likened The Rondo Award to a "horror Oscar". [9] The Award is a "coveted" prize in the horror community. [10] One PBS station wrote,
Every year, as the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award spotlights shine on the brightest in their respective fields, the Rondo Awards honor achievements in the darker corners of entertainment, the world of classic horror movies. People working for monster magazines, spooky DVD releases and scary movie soundtracks are the types who win the internationally-known Rondo Award. [11]
Horror magazines and websites, including Dread Central , regularly report on the nominations and awards lists. [12]
The awards have been mentioned in such outlets as The Hollywood Reporter , [13] The Austin Chronicle , [14] Famous Monsters of Filmland , [15] Movieweb, [16] MeTV, [17] the UK's Horror Channel, [18] and the Tampa Bay Times , [4] as well as scholarly journals including Psychology and Education, [19] and textbooks including Recovering 1940s Horror Cinema: Traces of a Lost Decade. [20]
In their second year, the Rondo Classic Horror Film Awards created the Monster Kid Hall of Fame, with four to nine, but generally six, living or dead inductees. Also created was another honorary award, Monster Kid of the Year, given to individuals with some important achievement in the field that year.
Monster Kid of the Year: Arnold Kunert, who successfully campaigned for special effects artist Ray Harryhausen to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame [21]
Monster Kid of the Year: The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra writer, director, and star Larry Blamire [22]
Monster Kid of the Year: Monster Kid Home Movies producer Joe Busam [23]
Monster Kid of the Year: Toy collector Ray Castile [24]
Monster Kid of the Year: Sony Pictures executive Michael Schlesinger [25]
Monster Kid of the Year: Producer and Forrest J Ackerman friend, adviser, and caregiver Joe Moe [26]
Monster Kid of the Year: Monsterpalooza convention organizer Eliot Brodsky [27]
Monster Kids of the Year: Historian and writer Gary Gerani; screenwriter, author, and The Twilight Zone archivist Marc Scott Zicree [28]
Monster Kid of the Year: Vincentennial fan festival organizer Tom Stockman [29]
Monster Kid of the Year: Simon Rowson, for discovering lost footage cut from original release of Hammer Studios' Dracula (1958) [30]
Monster Kid of the Year: Paul Larson, for discovering lost Vincent Price PBS footage [31]
Monster Kid of the Year: Frank J. Dello Stritto, author of memoir I Saw What I Saw When I Saw It [32]
Monster Kid of the Year: Victoria Price, daughter of actor Vincent Price, "for her tireless work preserving her late father's legacy in film." [33]
Monster Kids of the Year: Married couple Don and Vicki Smeraldi, new publishers of Scary Monsters Magazine [34]
Monster Kid of the Year: Cohen Media Group executive Tim Lanza [35]
Monster Kid of the Year: Writer, film critic, TV host and actor John Irving Bloom a.k.a. Joe Bob Briggs [36]
Monster Kid of the Year: Filmmaker Jordan Peele [37]
Monster Kid of the Year: UCLA film archivist Scott MacQueen [38]
Monster Kid of the Year: Monster Channel horror host Evan Davis a.k.a. Halloween Jack [39]
Monster Kid of the Year: Documentarian Antonia Carlotta [40]
Monster Kid of the Year: Online influencer Bobby Zier [41]
Ricou Ren Browning was an American stunt performer, filmmaker and actor. A skilled swimmer, he was known for his innovative underwater stunt work, notably in the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon, in which he portrayed the titular Gill-man during the film's underwater scenes, and in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball, for which he was the underwater sequences director. He was also the co-creator of the Flipper media franchise.
Daniel Mayer Cherkoss, known by his pen name Dan Curtis, was an American television and film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was best known as the creator of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–71), and for directing the epic World War II miniseries The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988).
John Irving Bloom, known by the stage name Joe Bob Briggs, is an American syndicated film critic, writer, actor, comic performer, and horror host. He is known for having hosted Joe Bob's Drive-in Theater on The Movie Channel from 1986 to 1996, the TNT television series MonsterVision from 1996 to 2000, and The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder beginning in 2018. In 2019, he was named the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid of the Year, and in 2023 was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.
Timothy Ray Lucas is an American film critic, biographer, novelist, screenwriter and blogger, best known for publishing and editing the video review magazine Video Watchdog.
Veronica Carlson was a British actress and model who was known for her roles in Hammer horror films. In 2019, she was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.
Jonathan Rigby is an English actor and film historian who has written several books. Video Watchdog magazine described him as occupying "a proud place in the advance guard of film researchers, writers and critics," and in 2020 he was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards Hall of Fame.
Castle of Frankenstein is an American horror, science fiction and fantasy film magazine first published between 1962 and 1975 by Calvin Thomas Beck's Gothic Castle Publishing Company, distributed by Kable News. Larry Ivie—who also was cover artist for several early issues—and Ken Beale edited the first three issues. Writer-artist Bhob Stewart edited the magazine from 1963 into the early 1970s. Although promoted and sold as a "monster magazine," readers were aware that Castle of Frankenstein, at the time, was the only nationally distributed magazine devoted to a legitimate and serious coverage of B movies. In addition to its central focus on classic and current horror films, Castle of Frankenstein also devoted pages to amateur filmmakers and fanzines. Its advertising pages sold full-length silent feature films such as The Lost World and The Golem: How He Came into the World.
Martine Beswick is a Jamaican-born British actress and model perhaps best known for her roles in two James Bond films, From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965), who went on to appear in several other notable films in the 1960s. In 2019, she was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.
The Phantom of the Movies' Videoscope is an American movie magazine devoted to cult cinema and genre movies and exploitation films that was released four times a year through end its end with issue #115, after the death of its primary founder and editor, Joe Kane. Sometimes, though not on the cover, the last word in the magazine's title is spelled VideoScope.
The Horror Hall of Fame was an annual Oscars-style award show hosted by Robert Englund which honored the best horror films, television series, actors, producers and special-effects designers. It ran for three years during October from 1990 to 1992 and was shown in syndication. At the end of Horror Hall of Fame III, the host promised a Horror Hall of Fame IV, but it never happened. All 3 shows was held at Universal Studios Hollywood.
The Son of Ghoul is a horror host played by Keven Scarpino, appearing on The Son of Ghoul Show based in Akron, Ohio, where a B movie is presented along with comedy sketches. In 2020, he was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.
Cameron McCasland is an American filmmaker.
David Del Valle is a journalist, columnist, film historian, and radio and television commentator on horror, science-fiction, cult and fantasy films. Described by Entertainment Weekly as "Something of a cult celebrity himself," he was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame in 2016.
American Scary is a 2006 American documentary film about the history and legacy of classic television horror hosts, written and directed by American independent filmmakers John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark.
Penny Dreadful XIII is a television horror host based in New England. She is portrayed by actress, writer, and comedian Danielle Gelehrter.
John Walsh is an English filmmaker and author. He is the founder of the film company Walsh Bros. Ltd. His film work on subjects such as social mobility and social justice has received two BAFTA nominations.
Preston Fassel is an American author, journalist, film critic, and producer primarily known for his work in the horror, science fiction, and crime genres. His work has appeared in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Screem magazine, Dread Central, The Daily Grindhouse, and Cinedump.com. He is the author of Remembering Vanessa, the first biography of actress Vanessa Howard, published in the Spring 2014 issue of Screem. From 2017 to 2020, he was a staff writer for Fangoria; in 2018, the magazine published his debut novel, Our Lady of the Inferno, as the first entry in their "FANGORIA Presents" imprint. The book received an overwhelmingly positive critical response, and was named one of the ten best horror books of 2018 by Bloody Disgusting. Since the book's publication he has been described as a cult author.
WonderFest is an American fan convention focusing on science fiction and horror, held annually since 1992 after two years as a predecessor event. "One of the biggest hobby events in the country," it takes place in Louisville, Kentucky, and is the site of the annual presentation of the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) "The movie [The Raven (2012)] was nominated for 5 awards [including the] Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards...." (Downloadable PDF)