The Scariest Things 2019 Thingy Award Nominations

The Thing Headspider anatomical illustration by Mike Ploog. If we had a statuette to hand out, it would look like this lovely critter.

The year’s best from the horror genre, The Scariest Things present to you the inaugural 2019 Thingy Awards!

I am tired of seeing horror movies get the snub come Oscar season. Except for the Actress in a Leading Role, genre films almost always get bypassed for drama films, which is ironic, since most horror movies are incredibly dramatic! I have already made my wishlist predictions for 2019, but it wouldn’t surprise me if, despite the wonderful slate of features we got last year, the genre gets shut out.

So, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? Or perhaps beat them until there isn’t much left to the corpse. That would work too. The Thingies have been created to reward the best achievements in the horror genre over the past year. TST has selected the nominees, but the winners have been chosen by our Scariest Jury of experts and fans. If you would like to get a ballot, please join our Patreon campaign! For the inagural launch, join us at the zombie package tier, and you’ll receive a ballot, by e-mail. Ballots are due back by January 22, when the Oscar nominations are announced!

Best Studio Feature Horror Film

These are the movies that received a wide theatrical release. This is the home of the bigger box office draws. And, as you can see, it was a fantastic year from the studios. Your Nominees:

Hereditary, Directed by Ari Aster
Halloween, Directed by David Gordon Green
Suspiria, Directed by Luca Guadagnino
A Quiet Place, Directed by John Krasinski
Annihilation, Directed by Alex Garland
Mandy, Directed by Panos Cosmatos
Upgrade, Directed by Leigh Whannell
Overlord, Directed by Julius Avery

Best Independent Feature Horror Film

Here is the home of the festival darling films, that didn’t get out into your multiplex theaters. There are some requirements that the films needed to be available for streaming download. These movies all cost less than $2 million to make, and they made the most of it! Your nominees:

What Keeps You Alive, Directed by Colin Minehan
St. Agatha, Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Incident in a Ghostland, Directed by Pascal Laugier
The Ritual, Directed by David Bruckner
Anna and the Apocalypse, Directed by John McPhail
Summer of ’84, Directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell
Ghost Stories, Directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman
Unsane, Directed by Stephen Soderber
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, Directed by Sonny Laguna and Tomy Wikl

Best Actor in a Leading Role

I will admit, it was a tricky year for the leading lads. The women dominated the genre acting landscape this year, but there were certainly a few gems to see. And we get a double Cage match! Your nominees:

Nicolas Cage, Mandy
John Krasinski, A Quiet Place
Logan Marshall-Green, Upgrade
Sohum Shah, Tumbbad
Rafe Spall, The Ritual
Tommy Lennon, Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich
Nicolas Cage, Mom and Dad

Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Oscars have had a reputation for elevating the actress in the Horror movie. Kathy Bates. Jodie Foster. Sigourney Weaver. Linda Blair. Audrey Hepburn. Sissy Spacek. Now those names are household, and horror helped put them there. That said, many of these ladies already have sterling acting credentials, and this would be a bit more frosting to their already formidable thespian cakes:

Natalie Portman, Annihilation
Toni Collette, Hereditary
Claire Foy, Unsane
Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Revenge
Brittany Allen, What Keeps You Alive
Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween
Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

In 2018, many of the best supporting acting roles were from the indie features. All hail the underdogs! Small budget movies, big time acting roles, and all were memorable. Your contenders:

Richard Sommer, Summer of ’84
Alex Wolff, Hereditary
Todd A. Robinson, Big Legend
Àlex Maruny, Framed
Oscar Isaac, Annihilation
David Sakurai, Housewife
Jeremy Holm, The Ranger

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Wow, what a year for the women in horror! In addition to a great slate of leading ladies, the supporting roles are a stacked deck as well. We have wily screen veterans, and young fresh talent as well!

Milly Shapiro, Hereditary
Millicent Simmonds, A Quiet Place
Tilda Swinton, Suspiria
Taylor Hickson, Incident in a Ghost Land
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Annihilation
Laurie Holden, Pyewacket
Carolyn Hennesy, St. Agatha

The Best Foreign Language Horror Film

The proud tradition of foreign language films lives on! Particularly in the festival film circuit, these movies give us the scares from a different world view. Note that Revenge is partly in French, mostly in English, but it is a French production. Our excellent nominees:

Tigers are Not Afraid, Mexico
Tumbbad, India
Terrified, Argentina
One Cut of the Dead, Japan
May The Devil Take You, Indonesia
Framed, Spain
Revenge, France

Best Looking Horror Movie

Whether it’s the cinematography, the special effects, the art direction, or the production design, these movies were visually superior to their peers. Your nominees are:

Mandy
The Endless
Annihilation
Suspiria
The Ritual
Tumbbad
Housewife

Best Sounding Horror Movie

Maybe it’s the music. Maybe it’s the sound effects. Maybe it’s the acoustic environment that the movie brought to the table. These movies brought something sonicaly special to 2018.

Anna and the Apocalypse
Suspiria
A Quiet Place
Hereditary
Halloween
Overlord
Annihilation

Best Horror Short

As a newfound huge proponent of the horror short form, I also have to realize that it is difficult for many to see these shorts if you’re not attending the film festival circuit. However, we will be posting these as often as we can on The Scariest Things blog, as we absolutely love the condensed and focused Horror takes that these offer for fans.

Zygote, Directed by Neil Blomkamp
We Summoned a Demon, Directed by Chris McInroy
The Dollmaker, Directed by Al Loughler
The Bloody Ballad of Squirt Reynolds, Directed by Anthony Cousins
The House of Seven Gables, Directed by Ben Wickey
Blood Flows Down, Directed by Zandashe Brown
Folk Tales, Directed by Pawel Lukomski
Heavy Flow, Directed by Thom Harp
Claw, Directed by Christopher Litten

The Gateway Award

This is the port of entry for new horror fans. A large reason why we wanted to start this blog and podcast was because we wanted to recommend a good starting place for those getting into the genre. Maybe you are a young viewer and aren’t allowed to see the Hard R rated movies. Maybe you are a little squeamish about the scary stuff, but are still curious! (I know I’ve made at least two converted fans!) Your nominees for the Gateway to 2018 are:

The House with a Clock in its Walls
The Meg
Anna and the Apocalypse
I Kill Giants
Overlord
A Quiet Place
Mom and Dad

The Bloodbath Award

Do you like your horror extended to the limits of good taste? We have to award the bloodiest, sleaziest, most gory push-the-envelope movie of the year. Not necessarily the BEST movies, but these may be movies to make you reach for a barf bag. Here are your nominees:

The Farm
Victor Crowley
Framed
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich
The House that Jack Built
Revenge
Terrifier

The Depends Award

As in, whoops, I crapped my pants! Adult diaper award for the most disappointing horror movie of the year. C’mon, you could have done better than this!

Winchester
The Nun
Slenderman
Insidious: The Last Key
Truth or Dare
Terrifier
The Posession of Hannah Grace

The Best Horror Moment of the Year

We’ve mentioned it here before in The Scariest Things, but horror movies are built off of MOMENTS. These moments get seared into your brain. The chest-burster scene from Alien. Ben, shot at the end of Night of the Living Dead. The Norris transformation in The Thing. Regan’s head turning 360 degrees. These are the moments that last. In 2018, our nominees are: