Special Report on the First-Annual Scream Awards

"F*ck The Oscars!" That's what vanguard filmmaker Robert Rodriguez said onstage at the taping of the Spike TV Scream Awards, at The Pantages Theater in Hollywood, CA. He and his Grind House co-director, Quentin Tarantino, were the recipients of the Scream Mastermind Award for their as-yet unfinished movie. As we reporters watched the event from the press tent on a monitor (between afterglow interviews with the winners), we heard an awful lot of f-bombs. Only appropriate, considering the sources, but one wonders how much will need to be edited when the show airs on Spike TV on Tuesday night (October 10).

It really was the anti-Oscars, but there was one hilarious homage to the Academy Awards: An "R.I.P." memorial clip reel, showing those who've died over the past year. Those who died in horror movies, that is! As the sentimental music plays, we get to say goodbye to Wendy Banjo's bloody remains, Keith Jennings' flying noggin, etc. That was quite cleaver... er, clever. A special preview of the movie was shown to the audience, as well as a quite gory sequence of deaths from the upcoming Saw III. These will be aired during the show.

The red carpet event was surreal — my head was practically spinning as I watched Linda Blair on my right talking to reporters about her dog rescue organization, while Marilyn Manson stood in front of me talking about his fear of seeing his ex (Rose McGowan, a presenter and star of Grind House) for the first time in 7 years.

Actually, I misspoke. The carpet was black. They had a nice set up, but we press were given spots so jammed together we all became very close, intimate friends, very fast! As is usually the case with these events, the heavy-hitters all arrived late (it's the whole supply-and-demand principle, I guess) so anyone who wasn't Access Hollywood or E! missed out on interviewing Tarantino, Rodriguez, and the Zombies. I guess they're not very attentive to their online, genre fan-base. We did feel honored, though, to speak with two of The Devil's Rejects, Sid Haig and Leslie Easterbrook. Sid looked dapper indeed, with his formal fear wear and of course his lovely fiancée Susie on his arm. Leslie is always a doll — it's nice to talk with someone who's so enthusiastic about their work.

The same can definitely be said for Jennifer Carpenter, who won Best Breakout Performance for her work in The Exorcism of Emily Rose. We talked to her about that, of course, but I was mostly interested in learning more about her role in Dexter, the best new series on TV. She supplied me with some good details (look for the video to be posted here soon). We also talked to so many actors from Grind House, I think I lost count of them all. But it's a great cast, and especially after seeing the trailer I am eager for the film.

We also talked to Frank Miller, but by this time the carpet was so crowded and so much was going on, I could barely hear his answers to my questions. I'm sure they were brilliant. He was already guaranteed an award as the Comic-Con Icon, but he was also nominated for Best Comic Book Writer (which he later won).

It was also fun to talk to Diora Baird (again!) and to hear her talking about going to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning with an audience. David Arquette was there, talking about his directorial debut, The Tripper, which he wrote and also stars in. Thomas Jane is in the movie too (he's married to David's sister Patricia) but he didn't walk the press line. Too bad… we wanted to find out about his role in The Tripper, and the upcoming Punisher II.

Once the carpet closed, we back into the press room to wait for the winners to come back and tell us about how great it was to win, and dish on upcoming projects. In between interviewees, the live award show was playing on the monitor, complete with graphics, satellite interviews, live performances from Korn and My Chemical Romance, and a special tribute to the Prince of F-ing Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. They honored all kinds of movies from all years in some categories, then in others it was only movies from 2005/2006. It doesn't make any sense, but any excuse to celebrate the horror genre is OK by Horror.com!

I was most happy to see one of my favorite films, The Devil's Rejects, honored with two Spike Awards (Most Vile Villains for the Firefly Family, and Best Horror Movie). With the exception of Bill Moseley, all of the Rejects were on hand for interviews and photo ops. There were a few disappointments as well (personally I liked King Kong, but was rooting for The Hills Have Eyes or The Omen as best remake), but overall it was a terrific night at the Awards and the after-party, which took place at the historic, and reputedly haunted, Roosevelt Hotel.

As we walked inside the dark, smoky ballroom, we were smacked on the ass by scantily-clad women wielding leather riding crops… and the rest is history.

Be sure and tune in to Spike TV on Tuesday, October 10 for the telecast.

= = =

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson