Heroes and villains from the worlds of horror, fantasy and science-fiction shared the stage at Spike TVs annual Scream Awards.
Saturday night's show was as much about how the awards were presented as who got them, but for starters, the top honorees were Harry Potter, Darth Vader, Nicolas Cage, Pee Wee Herman and Robert Downey Jr.
The show literally began with a scream, opening with a giant crane carrying a woman across the sky, then dropping her into a fiery lake. Blasts of fire and various stunts continued throughout the programme.
Potter took the night's top prize. The eight-part film franchise was named the Ultimate Scream, which awards presenter Chloe Grace Moretz described as "the most awesome, most rocking thing that the universe has ever seen".
Daniel Radcliffe accepted the prize by video from New York. Co-star Ralph Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort, also appeared by video to accept an award for favourite villain.
Vader, though, won the Ultimate Villain award. Star Wars creator George Lucas presented the Sith Lord with his prize.
Vader, who accepted the award personally, said he's found it difficult to concentrate on his work recently because he's constantly "living in fear of how George Lucas is going to digitally enhance you for the next DVD".
Meanwhile, Lucas announced that the first Star Wars film converted to 3D will open in February.
Herman, also known as actor-comedian Paul Reubens, rode his shiny red bicycle across the lake (on floaties) to accept the Visionary award. He thanked his fans and "the academy of Spike TV".
When Cage received the Maverick award from director Quentin Tarantino, a motorcycle appeared on stage and the lake blasted with fire, a reference to his film Ghost Rider.
Colin Farrell introduced Downey by saying, "No one plays the hero with more swagger than this man."
"Thank you. It's a great honour," Downey said accepting the Hero award. "As your hero, I want you to know I would never, ever, consider using this moment to crassly promote an upcoming movie. Will you please enjoy this very special world premiere of the new trailer for Sherlock Holmes?"
Downey wasn't the only winner who unveiled his latest trailer. Cage showed Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Radcliffe introduced The Woman in Black. Trailers were also shown for Piranha 3DD and Paranormal 3.
The most anticipated movie was The Dark Knight Rises, the Batman franchise sequel. Its stars Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt took the stage to thank fans for the honour. Bradley Cooper accepted an award for Limitless and director J.J. Abrams was on hand to take a science-fiction prize for Super 8.
When Darren Aronofsky accepted the best director award, a massive black swan floated by in the lake behind him.
