Saturn Awards Nominees Announced

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films has announced the nominations for the 34th Annual Saturn Awards. Leading the nominations this year is the groundbreaking film, “300” with 10 nominations. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” follows close behind with 9 nominations and Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is represented with 8 nominations.

A trio of fantastic adventures: “The Golden Compass”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”, and “Spider-Man 3” received 4 nominations each, while “The Bourne Ultimatum”, “Eastern Promises”, “Enchanted”, “Grindhouse”, “The Mist”, “No Country For Old Men”, “Stardust”, and “There Will Be Blood” each received 3 nominations.

Warner Bros. leads the nominations this year with a total of 23. Paramount follows closely behind with 22 nominations (combining the releases of Paramount, DreamWorks/Paramount, and Paramount Vantage). Buena Vista received a total of 10 nominations, with Sony Pictures capturing 9 nominations. New Line Cinema received 6 nominations. Dimension Films / MGM is represented with 5 nominations.

In television, “Lost” dominated with 7 nominations. Showtime’s “Dexter” carved an impressive 5 nominations and “Heroes” soared with 4 nominations.The organization also announced two special awards to be given this year: Guillermo del Toro will receive the coveted George Pal Memorial Award. Author Tim Lucas has been singled out to receive a Special Achievement Award for his 2007 book: Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark. This critical study of the film work of Director Mario Bava is a life long project and labor of love from author Lucas who spent over 20 years seeing the completion and eventual publication of the book, ably supported by his wife, Donna Lucas.

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is a non-profit organization devoted to honoring, recognizing and promoting genre entertainment. The organization was founded in 1972 by film historian Dr. Donald A. Reed. It is currently headed by film enthusiast Robert Holguin. This year’s show will take place on Tuesday, June 24, in Universal City, California.

Noctem Aeternus Gives Away Horror

From Sci-Fi Wire:

Michael Knost, editor and publisher of the new online horror magazine Noctem Aeternus, told SCI FI Wire that the magazine will be published on a quarterly basis and will be given away for free via e-mail.

"I wanted to make this project something to help readers introduce fiction reading to children and teens; therefore, I wanted to make it available to all fiction readers at no cost," Knost said in an interview.

After working in broadcasting and marketing for more than 20 years, Knost said that he was confident advertising would pay for the venture if he could build a large enough circulation. "Since there are no huge postage and printing costs, we look at paying the contributors a good wage," he said.

The first issue features fiction by and an interview with award-winning author Ramsey Campbell, as well as fiction by rising stars such as Cherie Priest and Charles Coleman Finlay. "Charles Coleman Finlay hammers our senses with a story of a father struggling to do what he knows is right while protecting his sons after an alien event causes infected humans to become breeding vessels of a horrific nature," Knost said. "However, the real horror is realized with the decisions the father is forced to make when he realizes his sons have become infected."

Knost said that he's looking for stories that pull him away from the words he's reading and draw him directly into the tale. "Fiction is a theater-of-the-mind medium," he said. "No visual media can generate the images or emotion the human mind can produce. ... We're not interested in blood and guts for the sake of having blood and guts. We want horror. We look more for a cerebral story where the characters are painstakingly developed to the point [that] subtle horror grows with the reader."

Issue number one of Noctem Aeternus is available now by signing up for a free subscription at the magazine's Web site.

Hasbro Cloverfield Movie Monster

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Romero talks about Diary of the Dead

From Sci-Fi Wire:

Diary of the Dead writer/director George A. Romero acknowledged to SCI FI Wire that some longtime Dead fans were not pleased initially when word spread that Romero planned to shoot the latest installment in his zombie oeuvre in the manner of The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield.

Diary of the Dead follows student filmmakers who, after the dead start walking the Earth and terrorizing the living, drop their mummy movie and document--by filming and blogging--the horrors occurring around them.

"I think they thought maybe it was going to be Blair Witch," Romero said about the fans in an interview. "Maybe they thought it was going to be a bad idea. Maybe it is. I thought we were the first guys. I didn't think Blair Witch was really the same kind of thing at all. Everyone still brings up Blair Witch because of the subjective camera stuff and all that."

Romero added that he was shooting his film before Cloverfield and Redacted, both of which make heavy use of subjective first-person hand-held camera shooting.

"All of a sudden, I think, it's that the whole world has become a camera," Romero said. "And maybe it's that reality TV has become reality movies."

Fortunately, Romero said, the doubters are starting to come around. "I'm not sure exactly why people were disappointed to hear what we were doing, but I'm happy that, at least now, since the film has been shown to some audiences, everyone's saying, 'Oh, I get it now,'" Romero said. "It's still quite theatrical. There's a story there. And it ain't Blair Witch. Anyway, we thought we were going to be the first guys doing it, and now about all I can say is I'm part of a trend." Diary of the Dead opens on Feb. 15.

- The Monster

Piranha 3-D Gets 2009 Release Date!

Alexandre Aja's next horror film, a remake of Joe Dante's Piranha, is going to be presented in 3-D! Dimension Films has set a release date of July 24, 2009 - which positions it smack-dab in the middle of the summer movie season. It will be directed by Aja and co-penned by Josh Stolberg.

A tremor causes Arizona's Lake Havasu floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas.

- The Monster

Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex

From STYD:

What is Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex?

Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex. It's a title that recently made a legit production listing that floated our way and it's got a release date of August 28, 2009.

But what is it? We're trying to figure that out now.

It can't be a title change for his animated flick The Haunted World of El Superbeasto... We presume it's the moniker for his next feature set up at Dimension Films (he has a two-pic deal with the Weinsteins). The digging for more info begins now - we'll hit up the man himself for more details.

- The Monster

Hellraiser Remake Date Anounced

From Bloody-Disgusting:

After deciding to rewrite the screenplay, Dimension Films has announced a new date for their remake of Hellraiser, which will be helmed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury. Pinhead will once again grace the big screens on January 9, 2009.

An unfaithful wife encounters the zombie of her dead lover, who's being chased by demons after he escaped from their sado-masochistic Hell.

- The Monster

Midnight Movie Site Goes Live

You can now head on over to the official Midnight Movie website. There you will find all kinds of cool things about the movie. Trailers, wallpapers, cast bios, news and more. They are only 5 weeks from total completion of the film. They are just putting the finishing touches on the sound design at the Bigfoot Entertainment facilities in Cebu, Philippines as well as working with Los Angeles based Pixel Magic (300, Fantastic Four, SWAT) on the visual effects.

Midnight Movie is about a midnight showing of an early 1970's horror movie turns to chaos when the Killer from the movie comes out of the film to attack those in the theater.

Enjoy the horror...

- The Monster

Joe Johnston to Direct The Wolf Man Remake

From AICN:
I get a call from a source inside Universal Studios that laid on me... The director is long THE WOLF MAN is long time genre film lover - JOE JOHNSTON. Art director on Empire Strikes Back, Raider of the lost Ark and Return of the Jedi. And the director of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Jurassic Park III and Hidalgo.

- The Monster