The only real awards event for horror comes every October thanks to Spike TV and their annual SCREAM awards ceremony. Taping on Saturday, October 17 at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, CA, “SCREAM 2009” celebrates the hottest films, tv shows, comics, actors, creators, icons and pioneers who have influenced and shaped the industry. The two-hour extravaganza will premiere on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27 (10:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT). While voting is now open for you guys (click here), we decided to go through and highlight some of the big nominations for you and make some early predictions.

THE ULTIMATE SCREAM
-“Drag Me to Hell”
-“Let the Right One In”
-“Star Trek”
-“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
-“Up”

When looking at “The Ultimate Scream”, I envision it as the best “time” one had in a theater. While Up is a wonderful film, I wouldn’t say I had a screaming good time. Transformers is hands down one of the worst movies ever made. Star Trek is a fun film, but far from perfection. Let the Right One In is probably the best film in this litter, but again, it’s not much of a ride. Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell on the other hand is not only a great film, but a remarkable ride. It has everything that a summer film should and deserves the honor of “The Ultimate Scream”. Who will win? I’d still put my money on Star Trek based on popularity.

BEST HORROR MOVIE
-“Dead Snow”
-“Drag Me to Hell”
-“Friday the 13th”
-“Let the Right One In”
-“My Bloody Valentine 3D”
-“Splinter”

Assuming all of the voters actually watch foreign films, Let the Right One In should win it all, but we all know Sam Raimi’s popularity is going to overshadow this realistic vampire flick. I expect Drag Me to Hell to take the cake. The only film that doesn’t even deserve a mention is the lackluster Dead Snow, which isn’t fun, funny or even that gory. Splinter deserves an honorable mention, and if you haven’t seen it yet, go pick it up ASAP.

BEST ACTOR IN A HORROR MOVIE OR TV SHOW
-Bruce Campbell; “My Name is Bruce”
-Michael C. Hall; “Dexter”
-Kåre Hedebrant; “Let the Right One In”
-Justin Long; “Drag Me to Hell”
-Ryan Kwanten; “True Blood”
-Stephen Moyer; “True Blood”

Right off the bat I’d scratch Justin Long’s name off the list, especially since his character is a throwaway piece to Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell puzzle. Bruce Campbell probably won’t win, but I think he deserves a little credit. In JCVD Van Damme is incredibly unapologetic in his whining and complaining, while Campbell embraces exactly who he is with My Name is Bruce. There’s nothing fake about him in this direct-to-disc movie, Campbell is exactly what you see and I commend him for that. He gets my vote. As for the rest of the lot, I could easily make a case for ANY of them – although I expect Michael C. Hall to take the cake for his supreme performance in “Dexter”.

BEST ACTRESS IN A HORROR MOVIE OR TV SHOW
– Jennifer Carpenter; “Quarantine”
– Jaime King; “My Bloody Valentine 3D”
-Lina Leandersson; “Let the Right One In”
-Alison Lohman; “Drag Me to Hell”
-Anna Paquin; “True Blood”
-Monica Potter; “The Last House on the Left”

The general public seem to hate Jennifer Carpenter in Quarantine, so that removes her from any award possibilities. Jamie King, as good as she was, is overshadowed by Anna Paquin’s popularity in “True Blood” (she does get naked) and Lina Leandersson in Let the Right One In. Again, the general public never watches foreign films, so I expect Paquin to win this award. Although, thumbs up to Monica Potter and Alison Lohman’s performances this year, both top notch.

BEST DIRECTOR
-J.J. Abrams; “Star Trek”
-Tomas Alfredson; “Let the Right One In”
-Michael Bay; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
-Duncan Jones; “Moon”
-Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson; “Up”
-Sam Raimi; “Drag Me to Hell”

Quite possibly the most difficult list is the “Best Director” category. Look at all of these wonderful films (sans Michael Bay’s horrid Transformers 2). Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell is a film that should be shown to any horror film student as it gives lessons in all aspects of a horror movie. It was scary, funny, gory, silly and outright fun. The perfect horror movie if you will. Up is a beautiful, beautiful film, but has no right even being considered in an award ceremony called “Scream.” Let the Right One In probably deserves to win this award, although a huge portion of the success of the project is based around the stunning cinematography. My vote went to Duncan Jones for Moon, who delivered an 80’s homage that was an actually homage straight down to the miniatures. It’s rare when an homage is as authentic as the time period it’s trying to emulate; Jones nailed it. But in the end, as much as it pains me, we all know J.J. Abrams is going to win for Star Trek.

THE HOLY SHIT! SCENE OF THE YEAR
-The Death Eaters Attack London; “Harry Potter and thr Half-Blood Prince”
-The Destruction of Manhattan; “Watchmen”
-Space Dive onto Orbital Drill; “Star Trek”
-The Séance; “Drag Me to Hell”
-The Subway Crash; “Knowing”
-The Swimming Pool Scene; “Let the Right One In”

Immediately scratch off the scene from Harry Potter as that moment was just as much of a snoozer as the movie. Those who haven’t read Watchmen might have screamed “Holy Shit!” at the end of the movie, but for the rest of us, it wasn’t shocking in the least. The space dive to the drill in Star Trek was a fascinating and pretty moment in the sci-fi blockbuster, but a “Holy Shit!” moment? Nope. I’m kind of shocked the subway crash moment from Knowing was nominated and not the airplane crash, which was far more of a jump out of your seat and scream sequence in Alex Proyas’ apocalyptic thriller. In my humble opinion, the séance sequence in Drag Me to Hell was one of the weakest portions of the film; I would have rather voted for when the Gypsy smashes her face into the dashboard during a car crash at the beginning of the film. Based on my choices below, Let the Right One In deserves to win this, hands down, and if you haven’t see it yet it’s time to go rent it and then vote! Who will win? Your guess is as good as mine.

MOST MEMORABLE MUTILATION
-The Arm Removal Surgery; “Splinter”
-Arms Cut Off by Rotary Saw; “Watchmen”
-The Eyeball Cake; “Drag Me to Hell”
-Head Ripped Apart by Nazi Zombies; “Dead Snow”
-The Pendulum; “Saw V”
-The Swimming Pool Scene; “Let the Right One In”

The only two scenes listed above that made me cringe were the arm removal surgery in Splinter and the head being ripped in half gag in Dead Snow. Every other moment listed above shouldn’t even be listed. There were sooooo many other gross-out mutilation moments that deserve to be on here. Who will win? Based on popularity, probably the Pendulum sequence.

Horror fans, you need to vote, and you can do so by clicking here. SCREAM will premiere on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27 (10:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT).