BROWN: The Halloween Awards

Vampire That Doesn’t Suck Award: Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandridge in “Fright Night” (1985 original). We live in an era of vampires all over the silver and big screens, but these days, vampires just don’t cut it when it comes to horror. Chris Sarandon plays the seductive vampire Edward Cullen wishes he could be. Sarandon’s performance tributes the styles of Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, which is what I love most about his character Jerry Dandridge.

Best Horror Icon: For character, I’d have to say Norman Bates from “Psycho” because almost instantly people recognize the iconic shower scene. For actor, it’s Robert Englund. Englund has been on the horror movie scene since his fame as Freddy Krueger and he will continue to be the picture of modern horror for years to come.

Best “You Should Have Listened to the Audience” Moment: There is always that one scene in horror movies where the audience screams at the hero to “not look behind you” or “don’t go upstairs,” but the movie “When a Stranger Calls” (2006) takes the cake. The whole movie leaves the audience with cracked voices from screaming at the oblivious babysitter. It got to the point where the audience wanted her to get killed because she was so stupid.

Best Fight Sequence: “Zombi 2” by Lucio Fulci for the underwater zombie versus tigershark. Back in 1979 before all the safety regulations, you could have a real actor and a real tigershark fighting underwater. Now you can’t, so this is a remarkable moment in any genre of cinema (except maybe documentary).

The “Best” Explanation of Zombies: Bela Lugosi’s 1932 film “White Zombie” when he explains “These are my... zombies.” Ok, so no further explanation is needed for the main characters? Alright, they are your zombies. I’ll take your word for it.

Why Didn’t They Kill You Off?! Award: In any decent horror movie, you always have at least one character you just know is going to get it, but occasionally they slip through the cracks. The award for this goes to “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” I get it, you get a lot of semi-big names to be in your movie and you want a sequel. I understand, but none of the characters were likable. I’m still puzzled as to why some lived.

And last but not least the Best Villain Award: This award was very difficult to pick because there have been some very good villains. Although “Silence of the Lambs” isn’t a traditional horror film (more drama/psychological) I’d have to say Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter is the ultimate villain. On the outside he seems to be a model, sophisticated citizen but watch out, he’ll eat your liver with some fava beans!

Jessica Brown is a photographer and columnist for the Barrow Journal. You can email her at jessica@barrowjournal.com