Horror awards honor Robot Monster, Godzilla, What We Do in the Shadows, George Pal bio, more

A record-breaking number of voters for the 22nd Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards backed GODZILLA MINUS ONE as the best genre film of 2023.

Named after an obscure B-movie villain of the 1940s, The Rondo Awards honor the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation.

The past few weeks we’ve been talking a lot about remembering the 1950s alien horror MST3K-ified movie Robot Monster—and now the movie is being honored by The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. The 70th Anniversary 3-D edition of Robot Monster restored by Bob Furmanek and 3-D Film Archive was named for BEST BLU-RAY and BEST RESTORATION OR UPGRADE. Robot Monster also got an honorable mention for FAVORITE COMMENTATOR OF 2023 (for Greg Moffett, Mike Ballew, Eric Kurland, and Lawrence Kaufman), and was a runner-up for BEST EVENT (for “A Deeper Look 3-D Robot Monster in NYC”).

More about the movie and the reissue here:

• Is ROBOT MONSTER the weirdest looking sci-fi movie ever?

• Film archivist Bob Furmanek on getting ROBOT MONSTER more attention

• Find Robot Monster: 70th Anniversary DVD and Blu-ray at Amazon

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About the awards

The Rondo Awards are named after horror actor Rondo Hatton (1894-1946) who was a journalist that found a career as an actor because of his unique facial features. Featured by Universal Studios in a number of horror movies, he became a cult icon.

The Rondo Awards honor the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation. This year’s e-mail vote was conducted by online community the Classic Horror Film Board. A Rondo Awards Ceremony will be held June 1 at the WonderFest Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

In addition to the awards for Robot Monster, other awards this year include:

• BEST FILM OF 2023: Godzilla: Minus One (directed by Takashi Yakazami)

• BEST TV PRESENTATION: What We Do in the Shadows

• BOOK OF THE YEAR: George Pal, Man of Tomorrow (written by Justin Humphreys)

• BEST CLASSIC MONSTER FICTION: The Book of Renfield: Revised Edition (written by Tim Lucas)

• BEST DOCUMENTARY: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective (directed by Dan Fowler)

• FAVORITE COMMENTATOR OF 2023: David J. Skal (Freaks)

• BEST EVENT: Blobfest “Run-Out” at Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, PA

• BEST BLU-RAY EXTRAS: The Giant Gila Monster / Killer Shrews (Film Masters): Ray Kellogg documentary (by Daniel Griffith’s Ballyhoo Films)

• BEST INDEPENDENT FILM: When Evil Lurks (directed by Demian Rugna)

• BEST MAGAZINE (modern): Fangoria

• BEST MAGAZINE (classic): Classic Monsters of the Movies

• BEST COLUMN: Kim Newman’s Dungeon (The Dark Side)

• BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OR COLLECTION: The Art of the Zombie Movie (by Lisa Morton)

See the whole official list here: Here are the winners of the (Gasp!) 22nd Annual Rondo Hatton Awards

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