Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

The Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony focused on horror and thriller films run by Fangoria, an American horror film fan magazine. Beginning in 1992, the awards were expanded and an annual ceremony was inaugurated to give out the awards. As of 2015, Fangoria also delivers awards to television series.

Categories

Film

• Best Wide Release Film - since 1992
• Best Limited Release Film - since 1992
• Best Streaming Premiere Film - since 2019
• Best International Film - since 2019
• Best Documentary Film - since 2022
• Best First Film - since 2019
• Best Director - since 2019
• Best Lead Performance - since 2021
• Best Supporting Performance - since 2021
• Best Screenplay - since 1992
• Best Score - since 1992
• Best Cinematography - since 2023
• Best Makeup FX - since 1992
• Best Creature FX - since 2019
• Best Costume Design - since 2022
• Best Documentary Feature
• Best Kill - since 2019

Television

• Best TV Series
• Best Nonfiction Series or Miniseries

Other

• Best Video Game
• Best Public Domain Resurrection
• Fangoria Horror Hall of Fame
• Fangoria Lifetime Achievement Award
• The Editor's Eyeball Award

Discontinued awards

• Worst Film - 1992 - 2017
• Best Actor - 1992 - 2020
• Best Actress - 1992 - 2020
• Best Supporting Actor - 1992 - 2020
• Best Supporting Actress - 1992 - 2020
• Best TV Actor
• Best TV Actress
• Best TV Supporting Actor
• Best TV Supporting Actress
• Best TV SFX

Ceremonies

• 1992 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1993 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1994 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1995 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1996 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1997 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1998 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 1999 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2001 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2002 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2015 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2017 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2018 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2019 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2020 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2021 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2022 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2023 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2024 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 2025 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

Winners and nominees

2025

• List of winners: TBA
• List of nominees:
• Announced on: July 9, 2025
• Presented on: October 19, 2025

2024

• Best Wide Release: Godzilla Minus One
• Best Limited Release: I Saw the TV Glow
• Best Streaming Premiere: V/H/S/85
• Best Foreign Film: When Evil Lurks
• Best First Feature: Skinamarink
• Best Director: Lee Cronin − Evil Dead Rise
• Best Lead Performance: David Dastmalchian − Late Night with the Devil as Jack Delroy
• Best Supporting Performance: Alyssa Sutherland − Evil Dead Rise as Ellie
• Best Screenplay: Late Night with the Devil − Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
• Best Cinematography: Poor Things − Robbie Ryan
• Best Score: Godzilla Minus One − Naoki Satō
• Best Makeup FX: Evil Dead Rise − Luke Polti
• Best Creature FX: Evil Dead Rise − Adam Johansen and Damian Martin/Odd Studio
• Best Costume Design: Poor Things − Holly Waddington
• Best Series: The Last of Us
• Best Documentary Feature: The Legacy of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Best Non-Fiction Series or Miniseries: The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs
• Best Video Games: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Best Kill (write-in category): The Yoga Kill — In a Violent Nature
• Editor's Eyeball on the Future Award:
• Dewayne Perkins − The Blackening
• Dusty Gannon, Vision Video

• List of winners:
• List of nominees:
• Announced on: July 8, 2024
• Presented on: October 13, 2024

2023

• Best Wide Release: The Black Phone
• Best Limited Release: Terrifier 2
• Best Streaming Premiere: Prey
• Best Foreign Film: Speak No Evil
• Best First Feature: Watcher
• Best Director: Jordan Peele − Nope
• Best Lead Performance: Mia Goth − Pearl as Pearl
• Best Supporting Performance: Madeleine McGraw − The Black Phone as Gwen
• Best Screenplay: The Black Phone − C. Robert Cargill and Scott Derrickson
• Best Cinematography: Nope − Hoyte Van Hoytema
• Best Score: Halloween Ends − John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies
• Best Makeup FX: Terrifier 2 − Damien Leone
• Best Creature FX: Prey − Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.
• Best Costume Design: Prey − Stephanie Porter
• Best Series: Stranger Things
• Best Documentary: Pennywise: The Story of IT
• Best Non-Fiction Series or Miniseries: 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time
• Best Short: Close Your Eyes
• Best Kill (write-in category): Killing Allie — Terrifier 2
• Editor's Eyeball on the Future Award:
• Lauren Lavera as Sienna − Terrifier 2
• Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks − Alone with You
• Mason Thames as Finney − The Black Phone

• List of winners:
• List of nominees:
• Announced on: January 27, 2023
• Presented on: May 21, 2023

2022

• Best Wide Release: Malignant
• Best Limited Release: '
• Best Streaming Premiere: '
• Best Foreign Film: Titane
• Best First Feature: Saint Maud
• Best Director: Edgar Wright − Last Night in Soho
• Best Lead Performance: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II − Candyman as Anthony McCoy
• Best Supporting Performance: Millicent Simmonds − A Quiet Place Part II as Regan Abbott
• Best Screenplay: The Night House − Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski
• Best Score: Halloween Kills − John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies
• Best Makeup FX: Halloween Kills − Christopher Nelson
• Best Creature FX: ' − Steven Kostanski/MastersFX
• Best Costume Design: Last Night in Soho − Odile Dicks-Mireaux
• Best Series: Midnight Mass
• Achievement in Non-Fiction: The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs
• Best Kill (write-in category): The Bread Slicer – '

List of winners:

2021

• Best Wide Release: The Invisible Man
• Best Limited Release: Color Out of Space
• Best Streaming Premiere: Host
• Best Foreign Film: La Llorona
• Best First Feature: Come to Daddy
• Best Director: Leigh Whannell, The Invisible Man
• Best Lead Performance: Elisabeth Moss, The Invisible Man as Cecilia Kass
• Best Supporting Performance: Clancy Brown, The Mortuary Collection as Montgomery Dark
• Best Screenplay: Leigh Whannell, The Invisible Man
• Best Score: Jim Williams, Possessor
• Best Makeup FX: Dan Martin, Possessor
• Best Creature FX: Dan Martin, Color Out of Space
• Best Series: What We Do in the Shadows
• Achievement in Non-Fiction: The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs
• Best Kill (write-in category): Emily's Death, The Invisible Man

List of winners:

2020

• Best Wide Release: Midsommar
• Best Limited Release: The Lighthouse
• Best Streaming Premiere: The Perfection
• Best Foreign Film: Tigers Are Not Afraid
• Best First Feature: Girl on the Third Floor
• Best Director: Ari Aster, Midsommar
• Best Actor: Robert Pattinson, The Lighthouse as Ephraim Winslow
• Best Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, Us as Adelaide Wilson / Red
• Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse as Thomas Wake
• Best Supporting Actress: Rebecca Ferguson, Doctor Sleep as Rose the Hat
• Best Screenplay: Ari Aster, Midsommar
• Best Score: Haxan Cloak, Midsommar
• Best Makeup FX: Mike Marino, The Dead Don't Die
• Best Creature FX: Spectral Motion, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
• Best Series: Stranger Things
• Best Kill (write-in category): "Christian and the Bear Suit on Fire" - Midsommar

List of winners:

2019

• Best Wide Release: Hereditary
• Best Limited Release: Mandy
• Best Streaming Premiere: Bird Box
• Best Foreign Film: Terrified
• Best First Feature: Ghost Stories
• Best Director: Ari Aster, Hereditary
• Best Actor: Nicolas Cage, Mandy as Red Miller
• Best Actress: Toni Collette, Hereditary
• Best Supporting Actor: Alex Wolff, Hereditary as Peter Graham
• Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Suspiria as Madame Blanc/Mother Helena Markos/Dr. Josef Klemperer
• Best Screenplay: Ari Aster, Hereditary
• Best Score: Jóhann Jóhannsson, Mandy
• Best Makeup FX: Mark Coulier, Suspiria
• Best Creature FX: Josh Russell and Sierra Russell, The Ritual
• Best Series: The Haunting of Hill House
• Best Kill (write-in category): "Charlie Meets Telephone Pole" — Hereditary

2018

The Fangoria Chainsaw Awards were not held in 2018.

2017

• Best Film: The Witch
• Best Limited Release Film: The Autopsy of Jane Doe
• Best Foreign Language Film: Train to Busan
• Best Makeup & SFX: Wayne Eaton Green Room
• Best Actor: John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane as Howard Stambler
• Best Actress: Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch as Thomasin
• Best Supporting Actor: Stephen Lang, Don't Breathe as Norman Nordstrom
• Best Supporting Actress: Jena Malone, The Neon Demon as Ruby
• Best Screenplay: Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, The Invitation
• Best Score: Cliff Martinez, The Neon Demon
• Best TV Series: Stranger Things
• Best TV SFX: Roger Murray, Ash vs Evil Dead
• Best TV Actor: Bruce Campbell, Ash vs Evil Dead as Ashley "Ash" Williams
• Best TV Actress: Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things as Eleven
• Best TV Supporting Actor: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, The Walking Dead as Negan
• Best TV Supporting Actress: Winona Ryder, Stranger Things as Joyce Byers
• Fangoria Hall of Fame: Barbara Steele
• Fangoria Lifetime Achievement Award: Boris Karloff, Tony Todd, Gale Ann Hurd
• Worst Film (write-in category): The Forest

List of winners:

2016

List of winners:

2015

Best Wide-Release Film

• Oculus – Mike Flanagan
• As Above, So Below – John Erick Dowdle
• Dracula Untold – Gary Shore
• Godzilla – Gareth Edwards
• The Quiet Ones – John Pogue

Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film

• The Babadook – Jennifer Kent
• The Battery – Jeremy Gardner
• Housebound – Gerard Johnstone
• The Sacrament – Ti West
• Under the Skin – Jonathan Glazer

Best Foreign-Language Film

• Big Bad Wolves – Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado
• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night – Ana Lily Amirpour
• The House at the End of Time – Alejandro Hidalgo
• The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears – Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
• Witching & Bitching – Álex de la Iglesia

Best Actor

• Daniel Radcliffe – Horns
• Lior Ashkenazi – Big Bad Wolves
• Nick Damici – Late Phases
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Enemy
• Jared Harris – The Quiet Ones

Best Actress

• Essie Davis – The Babadook
• Alexandra Essoe – Starry Eyes
• Scarlett Johansson – Under the Skin
• Marta Milans – Devoured
• Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive

Best Supporting Actor

• Noah Wiseman – The Babadook
• David Asavanond – Countdown
• Tzahi Grad – Big Bad Wolves
• Gene Jones – The Sacrament
• Michael Parks – Tusk

Best Supporting Actress

• Katee Sackhoff – Oculus
• Olivia Cooke – The Quiet Ones
• Anne Ramsay – The Taking of Deborah Logan
• Rima Te Wiata – Housebound
• Mia Wasikowska – Only Lovers Left Alive

Best Screenplay

• The Babadook – Jennifer Kent
• Housebound – Gerard Johnstone
• Life After Beth – Jeff Baena
• Oculus – Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard
• Proxy – Zack Parker and Kevin Donner

Best Score

• Under the Skin – Mica Levi
• Big Bad Wolves – Frank Ilfman
• Oculus – The Newton Brothers
• Only Lovers Left Alive – Jozef van Wissem and SQÜRL
• Starry Eyes – Jonathan Snipes

Best Makeup/Creature FX

• Horns – Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger
• Afflicted – Tamar Ouziel
• ' – Steinaar Karstein and Mike Elizalde
• Late Phases – Robert Kurtzman and Brian Spears
• Starry Eyes – Hugo Villasenor, SOTA FX

Worst Film

• Ouija – Stiles White
• Annabelle – John R. Leonetti
• ' – Zach Lipovsky
• Oculus – Mike Flanagan
• Tusk – Kevin Smith

Best TV Series

• The Walking Dead
• '
• Hannibal
• Penny Dreadful
• True Detective

Best TV Actor

• Matthew McConaughey – True Detective
• Hugh Dancy – Hannibal
• Josh Hartnett – Penny Dreadful
• Andrew Lincoln – The Walking Dead
• Mads Mikkelsen – Hannibal

Best TV Actress

• Sarah Paulson – '
• Nicole Beharie – Sleepy Hollow
• Eva Green – Penny Dreadful
• Janet Montgomery – Salem
• Anna Paquin – True Blood

Best TV Supporting Actor

• Norman Reedus – The Walking Dead
• David Bradley – The Strain
• Zane Holtz – '
• Rory Kinnear – Penny Dreadful
• Finn Wittrock – '

Best TV Supporting Actress

• Gillian Anderson – Hannibal
• Madeleine Martin – Hemlock Grove
• Melissa McBride – The Walking Dead
• Billie Piper – Penny Dreadful
• Deborah Ann Woll – True Blood

Best TV Makeup/Creature FX

• The Walking Dead – Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger
• Hannibal – François Dagenais
• Penny Dreadful – Nick Dudman
• The Strain – Steve Newburn, Sean Samson
• True Blood – Todd Masters and Dan Rebert

2014

Best Wide-Release Film

• Evil Dead – Fede Álvarez
• You're Next – Adam Wingard
• Mama – Andrés Muschietti
• ' – James Wan

Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film

• V/H/S/2 – Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sánchez, Gregg Hale, Gareth Huw Evans and Jason Eisener
• Stoker – Park Chan-wook
• We Are What We Are – Jim Mickle
• Byzantium – Neil Jordan
• Berberian Sound Studio – Peter Strickland

Best Foreign-Language Film

• Here Comes the Devil – Adrián García Bogliano
• The Condemned – Roberto Busó-García
• Tormented (2011 film) – Takashi Shimizu
• Wither – Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund
• Horror Stories – Min Kyu-dong, Im Dae-woong, Jung Bum-sik, Hong Ji-young, Kim Gok, Kim Sun

Best Actor

• Elijah Wood – Maniac
• Patrick Wilson – '
• Toby Jones – Berberian Sound Studio
• Francisco Barreiro – Here Comes the Devil
• Bill Sage – We Are What We Are

Best Actress

• Katharine Isabelle – American Mary
• Sharni Vinson – You're Next
• Mia Wasikowska – Stoker
• Saoirse Ronan – Byzantium
• Juno Temple – Magic Magic

Best Supporting Actor

• Matthew Goode – Stoker
• Lou Taylor Pucci – Evil Dead
• Joe Swanberg – You're Next
• Michael Parks – We Are What We Are
• Stephen McHattie – Haunter

Best Supporting Actress

• Lili Taylor – The Conjuring
• Tristan Risk – American Mary
• Julianne Moore – Carrie
• Julia Garner – We Are What We Are
• Ambyr Childers – We Are What We Are

Best Screenplay

• You're Next – Simon Barrett
• Stoker – Wentworth Miller
• We Are What We Are – Nick Damici and Jim Mickle
• Grabbers – Kevin Lehane
• Haunter – Brian King

Best Score

• Maniac – Rob
• You're Next – Jasper Justice Lee, Kyle Mckinnon, Mads Heldtberg and Adam Wingard
• Berberian Sound Studio – Broadcast
• Byzantium – Javier Navarrete
• We Are What We Are – Philip Mossman, Darren Morris and Jeff Grace

Best Makeup/Creature FX

• Evil Dead – Roger Murray and Jane O’Kane
• Frankenstein's Army – Rogier Samuels
• Bad Milo! – Justin Raleigh
• ' – Mike Elizalde, Tamar Aviv and Jörn Seifert
• Grabbers – Paddy Eason and Shaune Harrison

2006

2002

The 11th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards:

Best Wide-Release Film

• Jeepers Creepers
• The Others

Best Limited-Release Film/Direct-to-Video Film

• Ginger Snaps
• The Convent

Best Actor

• Anthony Hopkins - Hannibal
• Johnny Depp - From Hell

Best Actress

• Nicole Kidman - The Others
• Emily Perkins - Ginger Snaps

Best Supporting Actor

• Jonathan Breck - Jeepers Creepers
• Ian Holm - From Hell

Best Supporting Actress

• Adrienne Barbeau - The Convent
• Mimi Rogers - Ginger Snaps

Best Screenplay

• Karen Walton - Ginger Snaps
• Steven Zaillian and David Mamet - Hannibal

Best Score

• Hans Zimmer - Hannibal
• Trevor Jones - From Hell

Best Makeup/Creature FX

• KNB EFX - Thirteen Ghosts
• Brian Penikas - Jeepers Creepers

Worst Film

• Valentine
• (tie) Hannibal, The Mummy Returns, Thirteen Ghosts

Fangoria Hall of Fame

• Mario Bava (inducted)
• Guillermo del Toro (inducted)

Films with multiple wins

Films with 4 and more wins.

Best Wide Release Film

Winners and nominees

Multiple wins

• James Wan-3
• Wes Craven-2
• Ari Aster-2
• Sam Raimi-2
• Alex Proyas-2

Best Limited Release Film

Winners and nominees

Multiple wins

• Brian Yuzna — 2

Best International Film

Winners and nominees

Best Streaming Premier Film

Winners and nominees

Best First Film

Winners and nominees

Best Documentary Film

Winners and nominees

Best Director

Winners and nominees

Best Screenplay

Winners and nominees

Worst Film

Winners and nominees

References