And so we begin…(after the flip, that is.)

*  “The Lady Vanishes“ turned out to be Alfred Hitchcock‘s penultimate English film before launching his Hollywood blockbuster career with “Rebecca.” Since it came out within a few years of the somewhat better known “The Man Who Knew Too Much” in 1934 and “The 39 Steps” the following year, this 1938 box office smash sometimes tends to get lost in the shuffle. That’s a crime because “The Lady Vanishes” is one of Hitch’s jolliest and most entertaining films, even if Hitch himself might have played it down because of all the justified attention the writing team of Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder received for their classic screenplay.

Like the master’s self-homaging “North by Northwest,” “The Lady Vanishes” is set largely aboard a train and features an in-the-dark protagonist suddenly embroiled in dangerous espionage shenanigans. The innocent who gets in over her head this time is a mostly charming but also somewhat entitled young lady of means (Margaret Lockwood) who has already had a run-in with a rude but chivalrous musicologist (Michael Redgrave). When she befriends a lovably hobbitish Englishwoman (Dame May Whitty) who disappears not only from the train but, apparently, from the memory of everyone she has encountered, something is very obviously up. Chills, suspense, comedy and romance definitely ensue, with an accent on comedy and romance.

Contemporary audiences might be a bit thrown off by the fact that the film opens as a light comedy with only the barest hint of a thriller element until a genuinely shocking murder about half an hour in. They might also be thrown by the use of very obvious miniatures for the establishing shots of a small Balkan village that open the film. Go with it — once the thriller elements kick in, it’s one tense little ride.

Also those miniatures, necessitated by a lowish budget — even Hitchcock, no stickler for realism, worried about them — are a fun reminder than this is a movie, not real life, and the lengthy intro is a pretty delightful comedy set-up which, among other treats, features one of the English screen’s most popular classic era comedy teams. Though they teamed up for the first time on “The Lady Vanishes,” actors Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne would come to be at least as tied to cricket-obsessed travelers Charters and Calidicott as John Cho and Kal Penn are seemingly forever wed to cannabis-loving journeyers Harold and Kumar.

Radford and Wayne would reprise their roles, sometimes under different character names and sometimes not, in a number of films. Their films ranged from a segment of the 1945 anthology horror classic “Dead of Night” to low budget vehicles like “Crooks Tour,” which is featured on this typically chock-full-of-greatness Criterion disc, a Blu-Ray update of a 2007 release. You can also see them in “Night Train to Munich”, a worthy World War II-era follow-up from writers Gilliat and Launder directed by Carol Reed (“The Third Man“) that is very nearly as much fun as “The Lady Vanishes.”

* While we’re on the topic of great thrillers set aboard trains, if you were one of the masses left perhaps a bit less than overwhelmed by 2009’s “The Taking of Pelham 123,” taking a look back at the nifty though special-feature free Blu-Ray edition of the crackling 1974 “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three“ may reveal something about the way violent action thrillers should actually be made, or at least the way I think they should be made.

Grumpy-not-yet-old-man Walter Matthau stars as a hang-dog head of the New York subway police who suddenly finds himself confronted by a group of murderous hijackers. Led by a wiley, utterly ruthless ex-mercenary played by the equally superb Robert Shaw (“Jaws“), the gang requests a cool million in return for the lives of a group of luckless passengers.

With a screenplay by one of the wittiest scenarists of his day, Peter Stone (“Charade,” “1776”), this adaptation of a novel by John Godey blends R-rated suspense with plenty of black comedy and satire. It’s main target is the brutality of contemporary urban life. “Screw the goddamn passengers! What the hell did they expect for their lousy 35 cents – to live forever?” asks the world’s most callous dispatcher who seems to be angling for a position in the hardline Giuliani administration two decades early. Few movies not made by Sidney Lumet or Spike Lee capture the contentious  humor of the people of New York with this much accuracy and aplomb.

The top-notch supporting cast includes Hector Elizondo, Woody Allen pal Tony Roberts at his absolute best as an ultra-blunt deputy mayor, and Jerry Stiller — best known today as both Ben and George Costanza’s dad — as a lackadasical deputy. “Reservoir Dogs” fans will take note of the color coded names of the hijackers, Ringo Lam’s 1987 Hong Kong crime flick, “City on Fire,” was not the only movie Quentin Tarantino was borrowing from.

* We’re incredibly late for Valentine’s Day (and even later if you know when the Blu-Ray dropped) but, even among French films, there are few productions as purely romantic as 1934’s “L’Atalante.” The most famous of the two features included on Criterion’s “The Complete Jean Vigo,” it’s a moving, evocatively filmed, and extremely simple fable about a the highs and lows of love as experienced by the captain of a small canal barge (Jean Dasté) and his lovely bride (Dita Parlo). Delicate but also fierce in its gritty depiction of down-at-the-heels pre-World War II France, it also features a great comic performance by the legendary comic Michel Simon as a lovable old sea salt whose blood would probably test out at 40 proof.

Since writer-director Jean Vigo died at 29 the same year as his best known film was released, he has attained a sort of John Keats-like status among cinephiles enchanted by his romantic, melancholy surrealism. As sad as Vigo’s early passing remains, it at least means that it’s not hard to put the great cineaste’s complete works on a single disc and you can watch them all in a single long afternoon. These include the anarchy laden boarding school drama, “Zero de Conduit” (“Zero for Conduct”), and some frequently arresting experimental silent shorts.

* Is there a stranger, more interesting, confounding, and compelling 1990s movie than Todd Haynes’ seductive and mostly very entertaining 1998 ode to 1970s glam-rock, “Velvet Goldmine“? Somewhat hampered by the refusal of David Bowie to allow any of his songs to be used, Haynes nevertheless takes advantage of a treasure trove of iconic pop from such stalwarts as Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, and, of course, T-Rex, as well as such contemporary (14 years ago) bands as Pulp and Grant Lee Buffalo.

Although I once felt like a pretty lonely fan of this odd amalgam of rock and roll musical and off-kilter “Citizen Kane” rip-off by way of Phillip Dick and George Orwell, I’m glad to see the young folks have recognized it’s problematic brilliance. The new Blu-Ray, naturally looks superb, sounds amazing, and is a great vehicle for Haynes’ appropriately stylized vision. The commentary by Haynes and producer Christine Vachon is also a must for anyone who’s interested in the film and its many antecedents.

* It’s a thrill to finally see 1958’s “The Big Country“ in high definition 1080p on a big screen TV, but it would be even greater to see it in 35mm on an actual movie screen. Still, the home version ain’t bad for this big, big epic in which the characters themselves are obsessed with just how very, very large their little piece of the American West happens to be. Directed by William Wyler (“The Best Years of Our Lives,” “Roman Holiday“) and co-produced by liberal-minded star Gregory Peck, this very unusual epic western plays today as something of an enjoyably longwinded rebuttal to the those in public life for whom every problem may be solved by a war.

As with “The Lady Vanishes,” I could easily spend days writing about this film — and I’d link to a blog post about it on my old web site right now if I hadn’t been hacked — but all you need to know is that it’s much more than a message picture. There’s some really stirring action pieces, in particular an epic final three-way confrontation and a lengthy fight featuring Peck and his unbending romantic rival, played by Charlton Heston, who was cajoled by Wyler into taking a gig between playing Moses in “The Ten Commandments” and taking on the part of Judah Ben Hur in Wyler’s follow-up epic. It’s definitely one of my two or three favorite Heston performances.

“The Big Country” is also chock of sexy late-fifties romance, sexiness largely supplied by its two outstanding female leads, Carroll Baker (“Baby Doll”) and Jean Simmons (from “Guys & Dolls,” “Elmer Gantry” — not Kiss!). It’s a perfect movie for a long Sunday afternoon. I don’t like to say “they don’t make ’em like this anymore,” but I really do wish this kind of grand “something for everyone” mass entertainment still existed at the movies.

* There was a time when featuring a television star in a movie was pretty much considered the box office kiss of death. Since it starred two stars of a hugely successful TV series and did, in fact, bomb miserably, 1972’s “Hickey and Boggs“ might have been Exhibit A for that viewpoint. The real marketing problem, however, was that the stars were Bill Cosby and the late Robert Culp of “I Spy,” a lighthearted globetrotting buddy spy show that no one would have considered edgy or groundbreaking in any way if it weren’t for the fact that Cosby was the first African-American star of a U.S. TV show. The movie is anything but lighthearted.

Cosby and Culp had become buddies in real life and both were men of some real artistic ambition. Clearly, Culp — a cartoonist in his youth — wanted to be a serious filmmaker and he went all-in on this very dark tale post-noir about two down on their luck Los Angeles PIs. Though beset with a somewhat shambling and overly complicated screenplay by a young Walter Hill, it was clear that Culp had a strong sense of style and an eye for striking and stylish visuals. This really good looking transfer on a on-demand DVD is the first time the film has been available for a decent home video viewing in some time. (A previous DVD is, by all accounts, horribly inferior so be sure you’re getting the new MGM edition.)

* It’s fortunate for everyone that, unlike Jean Vigo, the very skilled director Alan Rudolph has enjoyed a good long life and a lengthy career, because if his filmmaking had ended with 1976’s “Welcome to L.A.,“ I wonder if anyone would remember him. This is a tough film to sit through and not in a good way, despite the requisite first-rate cast.

Presented by Rudolph’s mentor, Robert Altman, clearly the idea is to present something of a West coast follow-up to Altman’s heartland masterpiece, “Nashville.” Set largely in the Los Angeles music business, the results are mostly kind of unwelcome, as are the musical stylings of singer-songwriter Richard Baskin whose work, along with stars Keith Carradine and Geraldine Chaplin, had also been featured in “Nashville.” Baskin’s songs, like the movie, are morose without being engaging in any particular way.

Also featuring a young Harvey Keitel, Sissy Spacek, and Sally Kellerman (the original Hotlips from Altman’s film version of  “M*A*S*H”), this is a movie that only a young man could have made. It sports the special bitterness of those who have recently figured that life is not always what your parents said it would be. On the plus side, Angelenos might get some fun out of spotting old L.A. locations now long gone or transformed. On the other hand, there’s more of that stuff in Altman’s great “The Long Goodbye” and,  yes, “Hickey and Boggs.” Watch those instead.

* THR’s Borys Kit has the shortlist of actors being considered for the new Marc Webb “Spiderman” and, not surprisingly given Webb’s good taste in actors, they’re a pretty strong bunch, with the biggest name being the one-time “Billy Elliot” and the Tintin to be, Jamie Bell.

* Much as I am not a fan (I’m not sure who is, exactly), it was once tempting to think that maybe Michael Bay was perhaps showing good judgment by letting Megan Fox go from the next “Transformers” flick. If Jeff Schneider at the Wrap has his facts right, however, it might just be another reason to think even less of him and also, maybe, to worry about her. And is it really possible that the earlier reports were part of a bluff, which Fox has now called? Oy. H/t The Playlist.

* More from Borys Kit. I’ve written about Carl Erik Rinsch a couple of times here. He’s a very interesting commercial director who’s a protegee of Ridley Scott and who has an arresting visual style of his own. Now, it appears possible that his first feature film could be that new version of “Logan’s Run,” which maybe someone other than me remembers was actually based on a book — way better than the lame seventies movie, if my teenage opinions can be trusted — written in 1967 by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Rinsch definitely has a feel for science-fiction, I think.

* The Frairs Club’s next roastee will be one Quentin Tarantino. Expect cursing, but perhaps better written than usual. Lots of geek and pot-smoking jokes too, no doubt.

* If  you’re a killer, but forget you’re a killer, are you still a killer? And if you remember, can you start over and drop your bad habit? Those are the questions that appear to be the topic of “Jack,” which John Cusack has just signed on to. No word on who’ll be playing his no doubt brilliant and beautiful, yet vulnerable, doctor.

* Steve Carrell playing the big-in-the-Philippines songwriter of “We Built This City”? Works for me.

* Speaking of signing on, the new editorial director of THR aka The Hollywood Reporter is the former editor-in-chief of Us Weekly. Anne Thompson wonders just how complete a shift to celebrity journalism this might mean for the venerable trade pub, which may not really be a trade for very much longer if her pessimistic/realistic guess is right.

* Ever wondered why the residents of Skull Island bothered to put a Kong-sized door in that giant wall meant to keep the big ape out? Greg Ferrera has a theory.

* I didn’t even know this was happening, but the John Williams Blogathon is under-way at Edward Copeland’s place, celebrating easily the most famous film composer of our era. Yes, his work on “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” etc. is pretty great, but there’s he’s got more musical quivers in his bow than you might think.

There was a time in this world when young people were frequently slightly ashamed of being bigger than average fans of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and especially comic books. I, personally, wasn’t embarrassed …and I paid a price. Those days may be over. In any case, the capacity crowd that showed up for Spike TV’s Scream awards, largely in costume and largely dramatically over- or under-dressed for a nighttime outdoor show after a very warm day, seemed more like club kids and less like the kind of uber geeks who become entertainment bloggers and film critics and stuff like that.

The Scream Awards are, in their fun/silly way, a big deal. Big enough to attract a good number of stars and even a few superstars like Tobey Maguire, Jessica Alba, Morgan Freeman, Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp and his living legend “Pirates of the Caribbean” muse, Rolling Stone Keith Richard.

I, however, am not such a big deal and was reminded of that fact when, prior to the show I found myself with the less fashionable members of the not-quite paparazzi on the “red carpet” (actually a checkered walkway) with my little digital camera and even smaller digital recorder device, wondering whether I’d really get a chance to ask a question of one of the super-famed folks, knowing that the only question I could think of at the time would be something in the nature of “What’s it like be the most notorious rock and roll star in the world, having your blood changed, and snorting your late father’s ashes?” That probably would have been inappropriate, especially if I asked it of Jessica Alba.

What actually seems to happen at events like this is that, if you’re a small-timer especially, most of the big stars either go through another entrance or walk right by you at warp speed. Meanwhile, folks who are a bit more anxious to meet the press find their way to you with the help of PR types. As an example, for about half a second, I was almost able to talk with actor Karl Urban, who did such a great job homaging DeForest Kelly while putting his own hilarious stamp on “Bones” McCoy in “Star Trek.” However, within a nanosecond he remembered he was in a big hurry and politely scurried off.

After a few odd reality show people I didn’t recognize, and the pretty young actress who assays the part of “Female Addict” in “Saw VI,” our first actual notable was statuesque model turned actress Tricia Helfer. Helfer is, make no mistake, a true superstar to TV sci-fi fans and is best known as Number Six, aka “the hot blonde cylon” on “Battlestar Galactica.” The actress appeared with her significant other, the owner of a British accent and a Giaus Baltar-style beard, but I’m sure that’s a total coincidence. I had a not terribly consequential discussion with her — lost because I apparently forgot to press the “on” button on my digital recorder. One would expect no less an effect from Number Six. UPDATE: Yeesh! As pointed out by my PH compatriot John Paulsen, the actress was actually Kate Vernon, who played the lady-MacBeth-like Ellen Tigh. It is true, all statueseque blonde women in shiny dresses look alike to me! My apologies to all concerned or unconcerned.

The lovely Ms. Helfer Vernon was followed by the somewhat less lovely David Paymer. A first-rate character actor who is also directing television these days, Paymer is still best known for his roles in “City Slickers” and his very justly Oscar nominated turn opposite Billy Crystal in “Mr. Saturday Night.” He responded to my brilliant question, about whether he’s gotten any negative feedback from bankers for his memorably oily portrayal in Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell,” with all the seriousness it deserved.

“No one’s complained but they should realize that if they evict poor people from their homes then they’re gonna get dragged to hell!” he said with a grin that would make Paymer a great old-school TV horror movie host, if they still had those.

Paymer was followed by another terrific supporting player from Raimi’s cult not-yet-hit, Dileep Rao. Rao was not only previously interviewed by PH Editor Will Harris, but when I mentioned it, he proudly described Harris as “a bud of mine — I knew him back in the day.” (Harris and Rao bonded primarily online as fans of the Trashcan Sinatras, a Scottish pop band.)

The sad truth was that, after sincerely complimenting him on his on-the-money turn in the film, I had nothing interesting to ask the actor. So, I resorted to the the eternal fall back: “What are you doing next?” His answer was a new production he’s very excited but was allowed to say absolutely nothing about. That led to a discussion of another little upcoming movie he will be in, James Cameron‘s much ballyhooed, yet also still mostly top-secret 3-D sfx/CGI extravaganza, “Avatar.” Naturally, there’s not much he can say about that.  “I think they do that so the story stays intact.” Hard to disagree, but a bit limiting.

Another reporter asked him if anything spooky happened on the set of “Drag Me,” and Rao gamely came up with an anecdote about an ill-tempered goat, which doesn’t quite add up to a supernatural occurrence, but that’s probably because supernatural occurrences are, you know, fictional. Anyhow, it was time for Mr. Rao to get going. Fortunately, the interview with Will has plenty of good stuff. If only I’d remembered he was a “Jeopardy” winner I could have at least asked him what question finally sent him off the show. Nice guy, though.

Soon, we watched Quentin Tarantino and Keith Richard stroll by us at warp speed and it was time to retire to my blogger’s station where I got to watch the show…on a big screen TV in a tent a few hundred feet away from the actual festivities. Oh, the glamorous life of the entertainment press.

****

Now, the consensus on the Scream awards is that it’s a loose, fun evening. And that’s largely true if you ignore some pretty strange or artistically indefensible award choices by the fans. (A terrific cover of Bob Dylan‘s masterpiece, “Desolation Row,” by My Chemical Romance from “Watchmen” defeated by some Linkin Park ditty from the second “Transformers” movie? Ouch. ) Another interesting quirk of the evening that was a small problem for me, but most fans will doubtless dig, is that Spike TV’s standards and practices folks seemingly have no issue at all with gore. It wasn’t only during the “Best Mutiliation” award that this gore-phobe had to turn away from the television set.

The first award of the night was typically offbeat in that it went to a movie that isn’t even finished yet. The “most anticipated fantasy film” award went to Tim Burton‘s upcoming version of “Alice in Wonderland.” That proved to be a pretty good excuse to make that film’s Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp, appear on stage for the first of two times that evening.

And that led to one of the better quips in the evening when the next presenter turned out to be comic actor Justin “I’m a Mac” Long, representing his straight-man gig in “Drag Me to Hell.” Long confessed his feelings of inadequacy in comparison to Depp. “I feel like Richard Greico,” he said, risking a “21 Jump Street” gag. Moving to the award for “Best Science Fiction Actress” Long admitted that his “first boner” could either be attributed to Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia or “the triple-boobed Martian in ‘Total Recall.'” The award itself seemed to have been based more on pulchritude than on acting skill as it went to…wait for it…Megan Fox for that notorious piece of Oscar-bait, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

The actress who, as described by yours truly, got into some hot water a while back for comparing thud-and-blunder specialist director Michael Bay to Hitler (Holy Godwin’s Law, Batman!) tried hard to sound a sincere note and she certainly gave her attempt a unique ring. I’ll resist my tendency to mock and simply present the moment as is.

An entertaining combination of unintentional and intentional amusement occurred a bit later when 6’4″ Alexander Skarsgard of “True Blood” accepted his “Best Villain” award at a mike that had apparently been set up for the much shorter Kate Bosworth. Gamely leaning down, Skarsgard said that he was proud to be named the “most evil man in Hollywood” and dedicated his award to his fifth grade wood shop teacher in Sweden. “He was a very evil man and he inspires me.”

Eventually, there was the first award that went to something I’d both seen and respected. “Watchmen” — a flawed but accomplished film — won for “Best Comic Book Movie.” (If Frank Miller’s soulless travesty of “The Spirit” which, unbelievably enough, was also nominated, had won I believe the very earth would have opened up and swallowed us whole.) Accepting the award was the film’s perfectly scary Rorschach, Jackie Earle Haley, who responded with appropriate enthusiasm. “This rocks out loud!” He then wondered what director Zack Snyder would say if here there: “This is awesome!” That actually does sound like Snyder.

Then, for me, a highlight — a new trailer for Martin Scorsese‘s upcoming version of Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. It looks like Paramount is going for the full horror treatment in marketing the film, with this trailer at least. It’ll be interesting to see just how scary, or not, the new film is. One thing I’d bet on, however, about the movie: If Marty wants us to be scared, we’ll be scared.

Then, Johnny Depp comes back and I start to get annoyed. Not by Depp, but by the youngish guy next to me whose tweeting obsessively while having an argument with either his girlfriend, sister, or coworker, I couldn’t quite tell. (Let’s hope she isn’t all three.) Was he even watching? And, two rows back I’m being treated to a live commentary one older guy’s inside-dope on what’s going on behind the scenes that makes absolutely no sense. Fortunately, for you, however, the Spike TV people did provide a short video clip of the evening’s most historic moment.

Nice to see Keith looking about as hale and healthy as you can expect the guy to be, and in fine verbal form as well. His quotable line for the evening referred to a 1989 lifetime achievement award. “I liked the ‘living legend,’ that was all right, but immortal is even better.”

The next presenter was Jennifer Carpenter who was announced as the winner for “Best Supporting Actress” for her work as the title’s character’s endearingly emotional, foul-mouthed younger sister and homicide detective coworker on “Dexter.” I’m a fan of the show and I was happy to see her get the award. Like the rest of the show’s supporting cast other than Julie Benz, she’s taken some hits for her acting, especially as compared to the virtuosic efforts of star and her now real-life husband, Michael C. Hall. Her work on the show has always been solid in my opinion and she’s made what could have been a grating character into a sympathetic and integral part of the show.

Delivering some rather dumb lines that had been written for her with aplomb, it fell to Carpenter to present the award for “Best Horror Movie” which turned out to be “Drag Me to Hell.” Apart from lead Alison Lohman, who was not there, the entire main cast appeared on stage alongside cowriter/director Sam Raimi. After Raimi thanked the cast and his wife, the actors had their turn. Lorna Raver, who really did deserve an award of some sort for her role as the exceedingly unpleasant Mrs. Ganush, was very much in the spirit of the evening, despite looking shockingly normal, returning her director’s compliments and proclaiming “Raimi rocks!”

Next, it was the cast of “The Big Bang Theory” presenting a special farewell award to the multiply awarded “Battlestar Galactica.” Writer/producer David Eick made a comment about how a few years ago, the mere mention of BSG would elicit laughs (for good reason, I’d add) and thanked the fans for transforming that perception. Actress Grace Park made a gag about members of the audience getting “Oprah” style gifts of memorabilia.

The show’s Admiral Adama, Edward James Olmos, was in his usual philosophical frame of mind and still enjoying his role as a leader of sorts while recalling a past example of first rate science fiction in which he appeared. “‘Blade Runner’ got accepted more on its 30th birthday than it did when it was born,” Olmos said. “Battlestar Galactica” will do the same. We love you fans more than you love it. So say we all! So say we all!” The crowd seemed to like that.

Steven Moyer of “True Blood,” accepting the “Best Horror Actor” award from Liv Tyler was more in vein of a stiff upper lip. He acknowledged his real-life British accent as part of a growing number of English actors playing Americans on U.S. television. “If you think this is some sort of vampiric affectation, I’m channeling Hugh Laurie.”

Then came the most important award of the evening for the cinephile and movie geek set. Quentin Tarantino, dressed like a character from the proposed “Kill Bill” sequel in a polka dotted suit suit with perhaps one button too many fashionably undone (have we learned no fashion lessons from the seventies?) came on like a horror evangelist, hurling praise at the recipient of the “Scream Mastermind Award,” the man who basically invented the flesh-eating zombie in the original 1968 “Night of the Living Dead, 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead” and so on, George A. Romero. Though I quite literally have to get myself drunk to see his best known movies, that’s at least partially testimony to the Pittsburgh-based film-maker’s absolute command of his craft, and it was easily the most deserved award of the evening. Romero was characteristically good-natured and relatively low key, recalling his first job on that early horror classic, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” He also worked in a plug for the newly renamed next installment in his career-spanning zombie epic, “Survival of the Dead.”

After Anna Paquin accepted her “Best Horror Actress” award for “True Blood,” Harrison Ford presented the best director award to J.J. Abrams for “Star Trek,” who thanked Leonard Nimoy “for spreading the magic and Gene Roddenbery for doing all the hard work.” The audience was then told to “set your phasers on stud” for the appearance of Trek co-stars John Cho and Karl Urban, who presented a deleted scene from the film involving bad-guy Eric Bana and some violent action.

The next big award was for “Best TV Show” and, not surprising given the vampiric/romantic trend of the night, that award went to “True Blood.” Creator Alan Ball followed the trend of night by complimenting the audience for being “crazy!” and happily proclaimed Scream the “most fucked up award show I’ve ever been to in my life, and therefore the best.”

The pro-vampire-love-story trend also continued with Elijah Wood presenting the “Best Fantasy Film” award to, no surprise, “Twilight,” which won in a number of categories. Wolf-boy hunk Tyler Lautner accepted the award for the movie, quickly followed by the now justly derided clip from the upcoming sequel.

Actress Rhona Mitra then presented the “Break Out” film award to “Zombieland.” Accepting the award, a surprisingly wholesome looking Woody Harrelson appeared, looking like a balding version of Woody Boyd, the “Cheers” bartender. His speech, on the other hand, went in a more traditional Harrelson direction. “A little confession, I hate scary movies because they scare me, honestly. They the shit out of me. I couldn’t watch TV after ‘Poltergeist.’ I gave up surfing after ‘Jaws.’ I can’t go near a kitchen ever since ‘Julie and Julia.’ You know, nightmares.”

That was followed by the appearance of  real-life science fiction fan Morgan Freeman, along with some spiffy camera work, who presented the award for “the Ultimate Scream” to J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek.” In a fit of absolute brilliance by the Spike TV folks it was accepted by…well, I could tell you, or I could show you.

Really, this clip doesn’t begin to do justice to the brilliance of having the infamously non-featured Trekker William Shatner appear. Say would you will about the original James Tiberius Kirk, the man knows how to suck up attention. Sheer brilliance.

Still, the Scream organizers cleverly avoided too much of an anticlimax with the next and final presentation. The Comicon Icon Award was presented by an extra-personable Tobey Maguire at his most Peter Parkerish, to the most famed creator in comic book history, Stan Lee. Accepting the award, Lee was his usual theatrical and avuncular self. He was also clearly a bit overwhelmed, but not with gratitude and humility. He was brought on to the stage by a “Spiderman” themed device that USA Today called “a flying sled,” but which reminded me of a theatrical “god in the machine” kind of devices. Anyhow, poor Stan the Man thought the machine wasn’t entirely stable and was apparently scared witless. Nevertheless, he dealt with it in typical good humor, praised Sam Raimi and Maguire, and closed with a hearty “Excelsior!”

The clip I’m going to close with leaves out the best part of the moment, but it will give you a general sense of the evening’s somewhat calculated zaniness. Whatever else is true of “Scream,” it’s not stodgy.

For more on the Scream Awards including, as of this writing, a complete list of nominees but not the winners, check out Spike TV’s site here.

With Halloween just around the corner, TV networks will be airing a non-stop selection of horror movies throughout the week. So which ones should you watch? Well, you can always revisit Bullz-Eye’s list of the 15 Best Horror Movies to help you decide. It not only includes scary classics like “The Exorcist” and “Halloween,” but more nontraditional picks like “The Shining,” “Alien” and “Jaws.” After all, it doesn’t have to include bogeymen in October to scare the living daylights out of you.

Curiously, although horror movies are cranked out faster than a burger and fries at McDonalds these days, there haven’t been too many new entries in the genre that would truly deserve a place on the list. There are certainly a few that would be up for consideration, including the original “Saw,” Neil Marshall’s cave-diving thriller “The Descent,” and the Spanish horror film “[REC],” but it would be difficult to knock anything off. Less likely suggestions might include the horror comedy “Slither,” Eli Roth’s hate-it-or-love-it “Hostel,” and the Swedish vampire film “Let the Right One In.” Of course, you could always get out of the house and see “Paranormal Activity” instead, because if our own horror-shy Bob Westal loved it (not to mention millions of other moviegoers), then chances are you will too.