FM, Rondo Hatton, and me!

“To a new world of gods and monsters!”

—Dr. Pretorious toasting the accomplishments of Dr. Frankenstein and himself in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Yes, here’s to a new world! Same as the old world.

And as scary Martha Stewart* would say, “That’s a GOOD thing.”

I was all ready with a column about “reality tv” and horror, but the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards were announced the other night and that piece was knocked into a cooked hat** by the news.

The Rondo Awards celebrate  “classic” (read superannuated but enduring) and classic-style horror, and to a lesser extent, fantasy.  So anything that comes out with Dracula and Frankenstein or a mummy in it (be it a magazine article, a film, art or a dvd release) is likely to be on the ballot.  What is recognized has been defined most often by the sponsor of the Rondos, the Classic Horror Film Board, as  “the best in monster research, creativity and film preservation.” Sometimes it’s described as honoring the best in “classic horror” research. And at the Facebook page for the Rondos, the awards are described as “dedicated to preserving the undying spirit of monsters past.” The awards dependably do this year after year.

Yet every year the voters define for themselves what is meant by “classic.”

The old and new are both respected, Whether it’s choosing Black Swan over The Wolfman as “Best Film” (this year) or The Dark Knight over Let the Right One In (two years ago), the eerie electorate who determine the winners do not always make their choices based on some strict and narrow definition, leading to the occasional surprise. (The award for the Halloween remake by classic horror fan Rob Zombie was hotly argued over.) The fact that people of every age suggest nominees and then vote ensures a wide understanding of what contains that “undying spirit.”

As a Supreme Court justice said of pornography, the voters can’t define classic horror, but they know it when they see it.

It helps to have a monster of the supernatural, or of science fiction, but it’s not necessary. Smart or creative passion every year seems to matter even more than clever nostalgia. It’s the best of the old and the new, not just the best variations of  old tropes.

Certainly true this go around! This year the blog Frankensteinia, and the multi-site online  event “Women in Horror Month” won the Rondo*** in their respective categories, and their wins are creating a lot of buzz among web-surfing horror fans. They share Rondo recognition with the 1927 film Metropolis, honored both as “Best Classic DVD” and “Best Restoration.” These wins had me stoked as much as any other–they seemed a sign that the Rondos–and classic horror fandom– are in good shape and likely to be around for a long time.

Which is why The Drunken Severed Head is now a blog HERE at the  website of the longest-living name  in horror film appreciation: Famous Monsters of Filmland.

This wide time-range in creepy cinephilia was always a part of the original Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine,  which was an important mummy-rag in my growing up. And it’s a part of the current incarnation now. So when publisher Phil Kim called me to ask me to move my blog to the FM website, I happily said “YES!”

So thanks to every reader from my Blogger blog who followed me over here, and “Hello!” to new readers! Welcome to TDSH@FM! Hope you like the new digs for my ponderings and nitwitty wanderings. Drinking is permitted, but no expectorating or fighting, please!

* Don’t you find Martha frightening?  I do–I’m convinced she’s an android designed to weaken the average human being by lowering their self-esteem.

** The phrase is “cocked hat,” I know. But no one uses the phrase anymore, anyway, and I like the Dali-esque imagery of a cooked hat!  And “cocked hat” would just invite low-brow comments about a different image that I am not allowed to make in Photoshop and post here, as it might prick some sensibilities…

*** Tough year–the play about classic horror stars Karloff and Lugosi, TOO MANY CREEPS, was performed and was well-regarded!

Text copyright 2011 Max Cheney.