Yes it's that time of year again...we've spent days counting and recounting all your votes submitted in recognition of the best and the worst in the genre scene throughout 2003. So without any delay let's check out the winners (and losers) in...

The SGM Awards 2003

Best US DVD Release 2003
Best US DVD 2003

As ever horror fans have had high expectations from the American DVD producers and last years winners 'Barrel Entertainment' have made it into the top three yet again with their special edition release of 'Nekromantik 2' sliding in at 3rd place. Missing from last years top releases but back with a bang this year is 'Anchor Bay' with their Divimax release of Romero's 'Day Of The Dead' (2nd place). But the winner of the Best US DVD release for 2003 goes hands down to the ever-wondrous 'Blue Underground' for their simply mind-blowing 'Mondo Cane Collection' box set (1st place). Congratulations!

Best UK DVD Release 2003

Best UK DVD 2003After hitting the top three with their debut release (Alucarda) last year the team at 'Mondo Macabro' are back yet again snapping up the third place position for Best UK DVD release for 2003 with the seriously cool retro 'The Vampire' (aka 'El Vampiro'). But it is the turn of 'Anchor Bay UK' to rightfully rub their hands in glee this year having rocketed into the top two positions with two very impressive releases…in second place we have the near perfect 'Last House On The Left'special edition (with kudos also to the team at Blue Underground for their work on the release) but even though it's only been available a short time the top place for Best UK DVD Release of 2003 goes to the 'Amicus Collection' box set. Congratulations to all at Anchor Bay UK!

Best European DVD Release 2003

Best European DVD 2003There's always a very fine selection of European DVD releases appearing and 2003 has not let folk down with readers swooning at such delights as the new remastered German special edition of Mario Bava's 'Blood and Black Lace' (released under the title of 'Blutige Seide') which slides in at 3rd place. But it is the team at Worldwide Cinema who can be rightly pleased that they have taken 2nd place with their mightily impressive special edition release of 'Ichi The Killer' but the winner of the Best Euro DVD Release for 2003 was a landslide in votes with EC Entertainment winning top prize with their Ultrabit release of fan favourite 'Cannibal Holocaust'. Congratulations!

Best Asian DVD Release 2003

Best Asian DVD 2003The East has seems to deliver an endless line of delicious genre movies and whilst we would expect readers to vote for their current release favourites this years votes have indeed sprung some surprises! The 3rd place position for Best Asian DVD Release this year goes to a welcome blast from the past with the remastered Shaw Brothers/Celestial release of 'Human Skin Lanterns'. In second place folk have been getting the heebie-jeebies indulging in recent shocker 'Ju-On The Grudge' but most surprisingly the award for Best Asian DVD Release for 2003 goes to a film that was shot in the USA!! Yes, the winner is the lovely MGM HK release of Sam Raimi's 'Army Of Darkness'!! Deadites go seek this out now!

Worst DVD Release of 2003

Disapointing!There obviously wasn't much for genre fans to grumble about this year on the DVD front with the votes for Worst DVD Release of 2003 going to two main culprits…firstly fans seemed mightily upset at the Anchor Bay UK release of 'Dawn Of The Mummy' (a small quirk in a generally impressive collection) but perhaps not surprisingly yet again the lions share of votes from readers all screamed the same thing "Anything from VIPCO!!" (with even their budget priced Screamtime Collection coming under fire) for the lack of effort put into their release presentation. Keep trying VIPCO!!

Top US DVD Producer 2003

Top DVD ProducersSo now onto the people behind those wonderful DVD releases…the voting seemed to follow suit with the nominations for Best US DVD release with the fine folk at 'Barrel Entertainment' grabbing a deserved 3rd place for Best US DVD Producer for their sporadic but impressive line. In second place the team at 'Anchor Bay' continue to please genre fans but the votes for 1st place truly were a landslide with readers overwhelmingly voting 'Blue Underground' as the Best US DVD Producers for 2003! Congratulations to Bill Lustig and all the hard working team at Blue Underground!

Top UK DVD Producer 2003

Top UK DVD ProducersThe votes showed a slight change of pace this year for the Best UK DVD Producer for 2003 with the welcome entry for the ever-industrious 'Hard Gore' (Screen Entertainment) debuting in the Awards in 3rd place. This year also sees a step up for Pete Tombs and Andy Starke's hard work earning them a deserved 2nd place position for their 'Mondo Macabro' line but it is the team at 'Anchor Bay UK' who retain their crown as the Best UK DVD Producers for 2003! Congratulations to all and we can all look forward to more excellent releases in the year ahead!

Top European DVD Producer 2003

Top Euro DVD ProducersThere's a new entry in the category for Best European DVD Producer this year with the debut appearance of newcomers 'X Rated' in 3rd place but there's a change in the top two nominations (the votes were close too) with this year 'Dragon Films' sliding to 2nd place with the top position being snapped up by the team at 'EC Entertainment' who are the Best European DVD Producers for 2003! Congratulations to EC!

Books & Magazines

This year brings SGM's first awards for the best in genre books and magazines and the results make for interesting reading indeed...

Best Genre magazine 2003:

Best Genre MagazineThere's nothing better than curling up in front of a burning torso with a fine genre read and with the massive amount of votes received our readers obviously agree also. Amazingly though it's same again this year with your choice of favourite bed time reading…yes in 3rd place for Best Genre Magazine yet again the long running US magazine 'Fangoria' is as ever popular and in 2nd place the team at 'Is It...Uncut?' keep us all salivating with their entertainingly thorough review coverage but marginally ahead with your votes (it was close this year) the most popular genre magazine was not surprisingly (once again) the ever wonderful 'The Dark Side' - more than 100 issues on and still the most popular genre read on the market, congratulations once again to Allan Bryce and the Dark Side team!

Best Genre book 2003:

Best Genre BookThe voting for the Best Genre Book for 2003 should not have surprised us in the least, following last years domination by Harvey Fenton's 'FAB Press' line it will come as no surprise to see FAB Press have done it again! Before there's an investigation by the Monopolies Commission we are very pleased to announce that in third place Tom Mes impressive 'Agitator The Cinema Of Takashi Miike' has impressed Miike's multitude of fans. The 2nd place position has been taken by the weird and wonderful 'Eyeball' tome but most deservedly no doubt is the news that the 1st prize for Best Genre Book for 2003 goes to the massively impressive (and mouth watering) 'Flesh and Blood Compendium'. Hearty congratulations to Harvey Fenton and everyone involved at Flesh and Blood Publishing - you should be very proud!

Best UK DVD Supplier & Top DVD Supplier 2003

Top UK SupplierThe voting for Best UK DVD Supplier comes with a note of sadness with the 3rd place going somewhat posthumously to the team at 'Nowhere DVD' as though massively popular with readers the tyrannical powers that be condemned this impressive suppler to an untimely closure, gone but obviously not forgotten. In second place the more mainstream 'Blackstar' has shifted up into 2nd place but it is the team at 'Play 247' (1st) who can be proud that they have not only retained the top position as the Best UK DVD Supplier yet again but again this year also scoop the overall award for 'The No.1 DVD Supplier' for their great value and excellent customer service. Very well done indeed!

Top European DVD Supplier 2003

Top European SupplierStatus quo (no not the dubious band) seems to be the order of the day with voting for Best Euro DVD Supplier with the oft discussed 'Sazuma' holding the 3rd place, the friendly hard working folk at 'Chainsaw Video' likewise hold onto the 2nd place position but for an amazing third year running (and still grabbing the bulk of the votes) the Best European DVD Supplier award goes to the ever popular 'Absurd Online' (1st) - congratulations to Ken and the Absurd team!

Best US DVD Supplier 2003

No.1 DVD SupplierIt's all change in the voting for the Best US DVD Supplier this year with last years winner 'Amazon' slipping into 3rd place and there is a newcomer in 2nd place with the growingly popular 'DVD Pacific' entering the voting fray. But it is a very deserved leap into the pole position for the hard working team at 'Diabolik DVD' who we are very pleased to announce are the Best US DVD Suppliers for 2003 - congratulations to all at 'Diabolik DVD'.

Top Asian DVD Supplier 2003

Top Asian SupplierReaders are obviously steadfast in their Asian DVD shopping with no change in the top three nominations for Best Asian DVD Supplier for 2003! In third pace it is US supplier 'Poker Industries' (3rd) who proved the most popular purveyor Stateside, in second place 'CD Japan' (2nd) showed that the high price of Japanese DVD's doesn't make them any less popular but not surprisingly 'DDD House' were by far your favourite supplier of DVD's from the East offering both great value for money and excellent customer service.

Worst DVD Supplier 2003

The team at 'Sazuma' can breathe easy this year as they will be somewhat pleased to know that they are no longer rated as the Worst DVD Supplier, this year that unfortunate accolade goes to the UK Supplier that has led many readers to great frustration with long waits for orders and poor customer service…yes this year the award fro Worst DVD Supplier goes to the team at Splash DVD. Time for a customer service strategy meeting at Splash we think!

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

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