Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ and Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ Lead Fangoria’s 2025 Chainsaw Awards Nominations

The Academy Awards may not celebrate the horror genre all that often, but that’s why horror has its own awards celebrations. The biggest and best are the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and the nominees for this year’s ceremony have been announced this morning. As always, the legendary horror magazine is putting the power in YOUR hands, with voting OPEN NOW!

The Fangoria Chainsaw Awards 2025 will recognize standout achievements in horror across film, television, and gaming, and voting is open now through July 20 at fangoria.com/vote!

via: Variety

“Sinners” and “The Substance” lead the nominations for Fangoria’s 2025 Chainsaw Awards, which recognizes standout achievements in horror across film, television and gaming.

“This year we continue the new tradition of pitting the second half of last year with the first half of this year in a cage match of cinematic carnage,” Phil Nobile Jr., Fangoria EIC, said in a statement. “Like the Grammys, but gorier. It’s made for a rather chaotic list of nominees, and we expect the voting to be vicious and voluminous.”

“Sinners” and “The Substance” each earned 10 nominations, competing in the same categories for best wide release, best cinematography, best score, best director, best screenplay, best costume design, and best lead and supporting performances. Nominations also include “Strange Darling,” Cuckoo,” “The Ugly Stepsister,” 28 Years Later” and “Longlegs.” Other categories include best streaming premiere, best kill and best creature FX.

Nominees were chosen by a body of more than 150 industry tastemakers, creators and professionals who selected from releases between July 2024 and June 2025. Founded in 1992, the Chainsaw Awards honor projects and artists frequently overlooked by traditional awards. Past winners include Alyssa Sutherland, David Dastmalchian, Wes Craven, Lupita Nyong’o, Anthony Hopkins and others.

“One of the most exciting aspects of putting this show together each year is knowing that it all comes down to the fans. Until the votes are cast, there’s always an element of the unknown,” said Michael Varrati, writer and director of the Chainsaw Awards. “This year’s nominees represent a wide and diverse range of stories and artistry from across the genre. I encourage horror fans to vote, because their voice, their love of a film, could be the thing that makes all the difference.”

The winners will be revealed during the Chainsaw Awards broadcast, which will air on Shudder in October.

The complete list of nominees is below.

BEST WIDE RELEASE

● 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

● Frankie Freako

● Freaky Tales

● Get Away

● Little Bites

BEST STREAMING PREMIERE

● Best Wishes to All

● Blink Twice

● Cannibal Mukbang

● Gazer

● Mr. Crocket

BEST INTERNATIONAL MOVIE

● Cuckoo

● Dangerous Animals

● Oddity

● Red Rooms

● The Ugly Stepsister

BEST FIRST FEATURE

● Best Wishes to All

● Blink Twice

● Cannibal Mukbang

● Mr. Crocket

● The Ugly Stepsister

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

● 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

● 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 LIMITED RELEASE MOVIE

● Azrael

● Frankie Freako

● Freaky Tales

● Get Away

● Little Bites

BEST STREAMING PREMIERE

● Best Wishes to All

● Blink Twice

● Cannibal Mukbang

● Gazer

● Mr. Crocket

BEST INTERNATIONAL MOVIE

● Cuckoo

● Dangerous Animals

● Oddity

● Red Rooms

● The Ugly Stepsister

BEST FIRST FEATURE

● Best Wishes to All

● Blink Twice

● Cannibal Mukbang

● Mr. Crocket

● The Ugly Stepsister

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

● 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

● 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

● Danny Boyle, 28 Years Later

● Ryan Coogler, Sinners

● Robert Eggers, Nosferatu

● Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

● Osgood Perkins, Longlegs

BEST SCREENPLAY

● 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 CINEMATOGRAPHY

● Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners

● Andres Arochi, Longlegs

● Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

● Benjamin Kracun, The Substance

● Anthony Dod Mantle, 28 Years Later

BEST SCORE

● Robin Carolan, Nosferatu

● Ludwig Göransson, Sinners

● Raffertie, The Substance

● Young Fathers, 28 Years Later

● Zilgi, Longlegs

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

● Ruth E. Carter, Sinners

● Linda Muir, Nosferatu

● Manon Rasmussen, The Ugly Stepsister

● Eliot Rockett, MaXXXine

● Emmanuelle Youchnovski, The Substance

BEST MAKEUP FX

● Felix Fox, Harlow MacFarlane, Werner Pretorius, Longlegs

● Damien Leone, Terrifier 3

● John Nolan, 28 Years Later

● Pierre Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, The Substance

● David White, Traci Loader, Nosferatu

BEST CREATURE FX

● Paul McDonnell, Oddity

● Millennium FX / Morphology / Studio Gillis, Smile 2

● Pierre Olivier Persin, The Substance

● Studio Gillis, Werewolves

● Legacy Effects / Studio Gillis / Wētā Workshop, Alien: Romulus

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

● Doc of Chucky

● Generation Terror

● George A. Romero’s Resident Evil

● In Search of Darkness: 1990 – 1994

● Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic

BEST NON-FICTION TV SERIES OR MINISERIES

● The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula

● Horror’s Greatest

● The Last Drive-In

● Svengoolie

BEST SERIES

● The Creep Tapes

● From

● The Last of Us

● Squid Game

● Yellowjackets

BEST VIDEO GAME

● Death Stranding 2

● Mouthwashing

● Silent Hill 2 Remake

● Slitterhead

● Sorry We’re Closed

BEST PUBLIC DOMAIN RESURRECTION

● Popeye’s Revenge

● The Mouse Trap

● Popeye the Slayer Man

● Screamboat

● Shiver Me Timbers

● Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare