Yes it's that time of year again were we spend days counting and recounting all your votes submitted in recognition for the best and the worst in the DVD scene for the year. So without any delay let's check out the winners (and losers) in...

The SGM DVD Awards 2001

The Awards are split into two main categories - first up we look at the discs them selves and the folk that produce them. Next we look at the e-tailers that you're spending your hard-earned money on buying your beloved discs. Let's begin...

Well, to be honest there was no real surprise here for the gang here or our readers with many confidently predicting the winner some time back. The votes are in and more than 80% of you wasted no time voting for Anchor Bay's 'Suspiria' Limited Edition three disc set as your favourite US DVD of the year! Congratulations to Anchor Bay!

Mention must also be made though to Barrel Entertainment who grabbed the bulk of the remaining votes for their 'Schramm' (2nd place) and 'Nekromantik' (3rd place) releases, which certainly bodes well for their future ventures!

Similarly to the Top US DVD there really was only one clear winner amongst folk with the lions share of the votes going to the very tasty 'Witchfinder General' DVD from Metrodome/Salvation - a classic British horror film on a great British DVD! Congratulations to all involved in the discs production!

Interestingly the remainder of the votes where in the main snapped up by Anchor Bay UK for their mirror 'Halloween' release (2nd place) and new company Cryptkeeper for their (3rd place) 'The Dead Next Door' Special Edition!

The voting for Best European release was the most varied for horror fans with a large spectrum of opinion and the voting was never tighter or closer in any of the other contended votes than here! So after checking and double-checking the votes here's what you decided...

Third place was nabbed by Dutch Filmworks for their double disc set of the zombie classic 'Dawn of the Dead' (3rd). The second place position votes were shared by EC Entertainment for their 'Stage Fright' release (joint 2nd) and the recently released debut from VIP 'Jack the Ripper' (joint 2nd) But it will be the folk at Italian/Japan Shock who will be thrilled to know that they released the two most popular Euro releases in the form of 'New York Ripper' (joint 1st) and 'Nightmare City' (joint 1st) - both equally popular amongst the Euro DVD buying public! Congratulations!

In the main, this is an interesting category even just to see how varied opinion can be amongst DVD collectors with such widely varying views on what good and what's not about your DVD purchasing! But this year there where two hotly contended thorns in folks sides...firstly Anchor Bay's 'Opera' release was slated not for the presentation itself but the delivery of the faulty first pressing and the replacement headaches for those purchasers - many of which (mainly non US residents) are still months later trying to rectify!

But the biggest bee in horror fans bonnets this year looks to have been the collective output by UK producers 'Vipco' with many readers responding to the nomination for 'Worst DVD Release' with simply "anything by Vipco!"

Once again there will likely be no surprise here with the winner of this category with (surprise surprise) 'Anchor Bay' snapping up more than 80% of the votes for Top US Producer! Anchor Bay's strength in the US market is vastly dominant and sets a very high standard for all the other producers out there in the field.

The remainder of the votes are being wrestled over by the folk at 'Barrel Entertainment' (2nd), 'Synapse Films' (3rd) and 'Fantoma' (4th). Congratulations to them all we look forward to seeing these new Independent companies grow into the major forces they will in time be!

This category was another closely fought battle with votes being spread across the board for the majority of the key players in the UK DVD market. Biting each others heels in a three way third position where mainstays 'Pagan Films' (joint 3rd) and 'Salvation Films' (joint 3rd) along with new company 'Cryptkeeper' (joint 3rd).

Second place not surprisingly though went to 'Momentum' (2nd) for their sterling work on their genre line during 2001. But with a head in front to snap up first place was 'Tartan' (1st), who have pleased fans with their varied catalogue of not only mainstream but Asian and art house genre viewing! Congratulations to all the winners!

Similarly to the Best Euro Release this category was a pretty close fought battle with the three main Euro players vying for the top spot...

Third place went to the folk at 'EC Entertainment' (3rd) with second place going to the team at 'Dragon Films' (2nd). But the winners should be no surprise with the Top Euro DVD in mind with the winning share of the votes going to 'Japan Shock' (1st) - the Euro fans favourites and deservedly so! Well done to all!

Now the Producers can breathe easy and as we look at what our readership have been saying about the folk that they buy their discs from as we move onto the DVD Suppliers:

The votes for Best US DVD Supplier was quite varied which showed that as buyers folk really do like to shop around! Mention should be made to both 'Luminous Film & Video Wurks' and 'Movietyme' who both just missed out in the Top Three positions but the results for the top three US suppliers looked like this...

In third place was the specialist horror supplier 'Shocking Images' (3rd), which is great news for independent suppliers everywhere! In second place was Canadian supplier 'DVD Box Office' (2nd, well it's near the US eh folks?!) with their competitive pricing but there'll be no surprise whatsoever with first place going once again to 'Amazon' (1st), who while we're here also snapped up (yet again) the votes for Top DVD Supplier 2001 also! Well done to all!

Third place in the UK Suppliers this year is being shared with both 'DC-Dvd' (3rd) and 'Future Entertainment' (3rd) sharing equal ranking in the votes, but there was a shift in opinion this year with the voting for Top UK Supplier with last years winner 'Blackstar' (2nd) slipping from top position to a still respectable second place. This year though saw you vote in a new No.1 in the form of 'Play 247' (1st) with many commenting on the fast service and good multiregion buying value!

Embarrassingly there were a lot of votes in this category for SGM, but we had to disallow these in case anyone had a shot at us trumpeting our own hard work - thanks anyway folks!

Third place for Top Euro Supplier goes welcomingly to the folk at Spanish site 'DVD Go' (3rd). Interestingly, although they still come under a lot of fire (see the Worst Supplier Award) 'Sazuma' have snuck in there for 2nd place! But the pole position is being shared this year with both 'Chainsaw Video' (joint 1st) and 'Absurd Online' (joint 1st) taking the most plaudits from Euro DVD collectors! Congratulations to all!

Whoops! We almost blew it here! Many of you where quick to use the comments options to 'write in' votes for one specific category that we forgot to include...Top Asian DVD Supplier. Obviously feelings where strong amongst DVD purchasers for the large number to write in that they would like to nominate the following company for their great work! Yes you guessed it, 'DDD House' have a large following of satisfied customers who feel they deserve recognition for their hard work and who are we to deny them that.

Oh dear, once again the award goes to 'Sazuma'. Although they managed to garner enough votes from readers to get 2nd place in the Top Euro Suppliers section they (for the second year in a row) managed to pick the Worst DVD Supplier award also. Sazuma did after last years awards promise to expand their staffing to improve customer service but obviously you consumers don't feel enough has been done. Sazuma take note!

SGM would like to thank all who voted in this years DVD Awards - your input is very much valued not only by us here at the site but also by all the many DVD Producers and Suppliers who appreciate the feedback your participation brings.