“Obsession” carved out the biggest haul at this year’s Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, collecting five prizes during the fan-voted celebration of horror across film, television and gaming.
The movie won Best Wide Release, while Curry Barker claimed both Best Director and Best Screenplay. Inde Navarrette received Best Lead Performance, and the film’s “Brick Kill” was recognized as Best Kill.
The awards ceremony premiered Sunday on Shudder, with Devon Sawa, known for “Final Destination” and “Chucky,” serving as host.
“Backrooms” Scores Three Wins
“Backrooms” finished the night with the second-largest total, earning three Chainsaw Awards. It was named Best First Feature, Jeremy Cox won Best Cinematography, and Kane Parsons and Edo Van Breemen took Best Score.
Elsewhere in the film categories, “Dust Bunny” won Best Limited Release Movie, “V/H/S/Halloween” was selected as Best Streaming Premiere and “Exit 8” received Best International Movie.
Amy Madigan’s work in “Weapons” earned Best Supporting Performance. “Frankenstein” collected two craft prizes: Best Costume Design for Kate Hawley and Best Makeup FX for Mike Hill.
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop won Best Creature FX for “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” while “In Search of Darkness: 1995-1999” was named Best Documentary Feature.
The television and gaming winners included “Widow’s Bay” for Best Series, “The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs” for Best Non-Fiction TV Series or Miniseries and “Resident Evil: Requiem” for Best Video Game.
A Ceremony Built for Horror Fans
“Insidious” star Lin Shaye presented the evening’s final award, which went to “Obsession.” In another of the ceremony’s signature moments, “Cujo” star Dee Wallace presented the Chainsaw Award for Goodest Boy to Indy, the Nova Scotia retriever at the center of “Good Boy.”
Michael Varrati, who wrote and directed the ceremony, said the awards’ format reflects the expectations of the genre’s audience.
“Like the genre it honors, the true fun of the Chainsaw Awards is that we have the audience’s permission to push the envelope,” Varrati said. “Horror fans not only want to celebrate the films and individuals who kept them watching, but they want to do it in a manner befitting the thing they love.”
Varrati pointed to the special award for a fan-favorite dog and a segment that sent Sawa into a corn maze to face what was hiding behind the rows as examples of that approach.
The ceremony also presented two Editor’s Eyeball Awards. Joe Bird, whose credits include “Talk to Me” and “Leviticus,” was honored in recognition of his rising horror career. James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca were also recognized for creating the horror YouTube channel “Dead Meat.”
Armen Aghaeian, Tara Ansley and Abhi Goel executive produced the ceremony. Amanda Grace Collins served as lead producer, with Phil Nobile Jr. and Varrati serving as producers.
Complete List of Winners
- Best Wide Release: “Obsession”
- Best Limited Release Movie: “Dust Bunny”
- Best Streaming Premiere: “V/H/S/Halloween”
- Best International Movie: “Exit 8”
- Best First Feature: “Backrooms”
- Best Lead Performance: Inde Navarrette, “Obsession”
- Best Supporting Performance: Amy Madigan, “Weapons”
- Best Director: Curry Barker, “Obsession”
- Best Screenplay: Curry Barker, “Obsession”
- Best Cinematography: Jeremy Cox, “Backrooms”
- Best Score: Kane Parsons and Edo Van Breemen, “Backrooms”
- Best Costume Design: Kate Hawley, “Frankenstein”
- Best Makeup FX: Mike Hill, “Frankenstein”
- Best Creature FX: Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”
- Best Documentary Feature: “In Search of Darkness: 1995-1999”
- Best Non-Fiction TV Series or Miniseries: “The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs”
- Best Series: “Widow’s Bay”
- Best Video Game: “Resident Evil: Requiem”
- Best Kill: “Obsession,” Brick Kill
- Editor’s Eyeball Awards: Joe Bird; James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca for “Dead Meat”
- Chainsaw Award for Goodest Boy: Indy, “Good Boy”
ShowBiz Take
“Obsession” did more than win the wide-release category. Its five-award sweep extended across directing, writing, acting and the kind of memorably gruesome moment that the Chainsaw Awards specifically celebrate. That breadth makes it the clear centerpiece of the results.
At the same time, the three wins for “Backrooms” show that voters also responded strongly to a first feature’s visual and musical craftsmanship. Together, the two leading titles accounted for eight awards while the wider winners list spread recognition across movies, series, nonfiction programming, gaming and horror’s creature-making crafts.