That’s a wrap on the 2025 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards, folks! Choosing the best in horror in a year that was filled to the brim with incredible horror movies was no easy feat, but you answered the call and made your voices heard. We placed the fate of horror favorites in your hands, and you ensured Ryan Coogler’s Sinners was the big winner of the evening, and reclaimed well-deserved awards season glory for Demi Moore’s performance in The Substance. Vampires ruled the night, but who won the coveted write-in category for Best Kill? Our cosmically cool hosts, Barbara Crampton and Josh Ruben, led us through a whirlwind year of our horror favorites.
Here is a complete list of our 2025 Chainsaw Awards winners, taking home the prized statue. Thank you for voting and for tuning in to join us in space; we’ll see you next year! (Next year for the awards show, but hopefully daily right here on the FANGORIA site, and quarterly in your mailboxes and newsstand shelves!) Missed the live show? Don’t worry, you can still catch the 2025 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards on Shudder.
BEST WIDE RELEASE: Sinners – Sev Ohanian & Ryan Coogler
2025 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards Best Wide Release Sinners
28 Years Later
Bring Her Back
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Heretic
Longlegs
Nosferatu
Sinners
Strange Darling
The Substance
The Ugly Stepsister
BEST LIMITED RELEASE MOVIE: Azrael – E.L. Katz
Azrael
Frankie Freako
Freaky Tales
Get Away
Little Bites
BEST NON-FICTION TV SERIES OR MINISERIES: The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs – Joe Bob Briggs
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula
Horror’s Greatest
The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs
Svengoolie
BEST INTERNATIONAL MOVIE: Oddity – Damian McCarthy
Cuckoo
Dangerous Animals
Oddity
Red Rooms
The Ugly Stepsister
BEST FIRST FEATURE: The Ugly Stepsister – Emilie Blichfeldt
Best Wishes to All
Blink Twice
Cannibal Mukbang
Mr. Crocket
The Ugly Stepsister
BEST SERIES: The Last of Us
The Creep Tapes
From
The Last of Us
Squid Game
Yellowjackets
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE: Demi Moore – The Substance
Lily-Rose Depp, Nosferatu
Willa Fitzgerald, Strange Darling
Sally Hawkins, Bring Her Back
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Maika Monroe, Longlegs
Demi Moore, The Substance
Lea Myren, The Ugly Stepsister
Hunter Schafer, Cuckoo
Naomi Scott, Smile 2
Sophie Thatcher, Companion
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE Nicolas Cage – Longlegs
Nicolas Cage, Longlegs
Miles Caton, Sinners
Ralph Fiennes, 28 Years Later
Hugh Grant, Heretic
David Jonsson, Alien: Romulus
Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
Jack O’Connell, Sinners
Margaret Qualley, The Substance
Bill Skarsgård, Nosferatu
Dan Stevens, Cuckoo
BEST DIRECTOR: Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Danny Boyle, 28 Years Later
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Robert Eggers, Nosferatu
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Osgood Perkins, Longlegs
BEST SCREENPLAY: Ryan Coogler – Sinners
Scott Beck & Bryan Woods, Heretic
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Bill Hinzman & Danny Philippou, Bring Her Back
J.T. Mollner, Strange Darling
BEST SCORE: Ludwig Göransson – Sinners
Robin Carolan, Nosferatu
Ludwig Göransson, Sinners
Raffertie, The Substance
Young Fathers, 28 Years Later
Zilgi, Longlegs
BEST MAKEUP FX: Pierre Olivier Persin & Stéphanie Guillon – The Substance
Felix Fox, Harlow MacFarlane, Werner Pretorius, Longlegs
Christien Tinsley, Terrifier 3
John Nolan, 28 Years Later
Pierre Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, The Substance
David White, Traci Loader, Nosferatu
BEST CREATURE FX: Pierre Olivier Persin – The Substance
Paul McDonnell, Oddity
Jeremy Selenfriend / Studio Gillis, Smile 2
Pierre Olivier Persin, The Substance
Studio Gillis, Werewolves
Legacy Effects / Studio Gillis / Wētā Workshop, Alien: Romulus
BEST STREAMING PREMIERE: Mr. Crocket – Brandon Espy
Best Wishes to All
Cannibal Mukbang
Gazer
Mr. Crocket
There’s A Zombie Outside
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
Andres Arochi, Longlegs
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
Benjamin Kracun, The Substance
Anthony Dod Mantle, 28 Years Later
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Linda Muir – Nosferatu
Ruth E. Carter, Sinners
Mari-An Ceo, MaXXXine
Linda Muir, Nosferatu
Manon Rasmussen, The Ugly Stepsister
Emmanuelle Youchnovski, The Substance
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: George A. Romero’s Resident Evil – Brandon Salisbury
Doc of Chucky
George A. Romero’s Resident Evil
In Search of Darkness: 1990 – 1994
The J-Horror Virus
Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic