Roll out the red carpet! Break out your best Versace and Vera Wang outfits. It’s time, at last, to hand out some Thingy hardware. The best in horror movies from 2021! It may have taken us a while to get here, but we’ve got some winners to announce!
A big thank you to all who helped contribute to the Thingy Award voting once again. We had a number of very close races and even had a few ties amongst our categories this year. But enough waiting, let’s make some announcements. If you want to listen to the podcast and not spoil your enjoyment of the episode, either hop off this site (for now) and onto a streaming platform, or zoom down to the bottom of the page to the audio link to our Podcast. (And ignore the photos!)
I think I hear Liz approaching the podium. So let’s get ready to open the proverbial envelopes… and now, for our first category:
Best Actress in a leading horror movie role:
- Morfydd Clark as Maud in Saint Maud
- Rebecca Hall as Beth in The Night House
- Keri Russell as Julia Meadows in Antlers
- Natasha Demetriou as Nadja in What We do in the Shadows
- Misha Reeves as Valefar, in Val
- Thomasin McKenzie as Eloise in Last Night in Soho
- Najarra Townsend as Claire in The Stylist
- Barbara Crampton as Anne Fedder in Jakob’s Wife
WINNER: Rebecca Hall in The Night House
Best Actor in a Leading Horror Role:
Nominees:
- Yahya Abul-Mateen II as Anthony McCoy in Candyman
- Kayvan Novak as Nandor in What we do in the Shadows
- Dave Davis as Yakov Ronen in The Vigil
- Lee Jung Jae as Seong Gi-Hun in Squid Game
- German Palacios as Aguirre in Vurdalak Blood
- Sam Richardson as Finn Wheeler in Werewolves Within
- Jeroen Spitzenberger as Hans in Tailgate
- Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in The Conjuring II
WINNER: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in Candyman
Best Actress in a Supporting Horror Role:
Nominees:
- Nell Tiger Free as Leanne Grayson in Servant.
- Gracie Gillam as Rebecca in Superhost
- Kim Joo-Ryung as Han Mi-Nyeo in Squid Game
- Teynah Parris as Brianna Cartwright in Candyman
- Nia Roberts as Glenda in The Feast
- Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott in A Quiet Place Part II
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Sandie in Last Night in Soho
WINNER: Anya Taylor-Joy as Sandie in Last Night in Soho
Best Actor in a Supporting Horror Role:
Nominees:
- Coleman Domingo as William Burke in Candyman.
- Larry Fessenden as Jakob in Jakob’s Wife
- Rupert Grint as Julian Pearse in Servant
- Matthew Modin as Scott Shaw in Wrong Turn
- Cillian Murphy as Emmet in A Quiet Place Part II
- Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson in What We do in the Shadows
- Anupam Tripathi as Ali Abdul in Squid Game
- Oh Yeong-Su as Oh Il-Nam in Squid Game
WINNER: Larry Fessenden as Jakob in Jakob’s Wife
The Fay Wray Award: Breakout Rising Star
Nominees:
- Devin Dass as Sonny, in Keeping Company
- Emma Fitzpatrick as Jane, in Take Back the Night
- Gracie Gillam in Superhost
- Greer Phillips in The Turn of the Screw
- Hoyeon Jung as Kang Sae-Byeok in Squid Game
- Misha Reeves as Valefar in Val
- Sam Richardson as Finn Wheeler in Werewolves Within
- Jeremy T. Thomas as Lucas Weaver in Antlers
WINNER: Sam Richardson as Finn Wheeler in Werewolves Within
The Gateway Award: Best Horror Film for Young and/or New Horror Fans
Nominees:
- A Quiet Place Part II
- Crabs!
- Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
- Ghostbusters Afterlife
- Godzilla vs. Kong
- Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania
- Nightbooks
- Werewolves Within
WINNER: Werewolves Within
The Abbott and Costello Award: Best Use of Humor in a Horror Film
- An Ideal Host
- Crabs!
- Keeping Company
- Psycho Goreman
- Slaxx
- Val
- Werewolves Within
- What we do in the Shadows
WINNER: What We do in the Shadows
Best Horror Movie Poster of the Year
Nominees:
- Jakob’s Wife
- Titane
- Wrong Turn
- Slaxx
- Werewolves Within
- Malignant
- The Last Matinee
- Val
WINNER: Malignant
Best Looking Horror Movie (Cinematography)
Nominees:
- Candyman
- Come True
- The Feast
- Gaia
- In the Earth
- Last Night in Soho
- Mareld
- Titane
WINNER: Last Night in Soho
The Harryhausen Award: The Best VFX of 2021
Nominees:
- Army of the Dead
- Candyman
- Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
- Godzilla vs. Kong
- Halloween Kills
- The Night House
- A Quiet Place Part II
- Shadow in the Clouds
WINNER: Godzilla vs. Kong
Best Sounding Movie (Including SFX, mixing, soundtrack)
Nominees:
- Army of the Dead
- Candyman
- The Feast
- Godzilla vs. Kong
- Last Night in Soho
- The Night House
- A Quiet Place Part II
- Titane
WINNER: Last Night in Soho
Best International Horror Film
Nominees:
- The Barcelona Vampiress (Spain)
- The Feast (Wales)
- Gaia (South Africa)
- The Last Matinee (Uruguay)
- Squid Game (South Korea)
- Tailgate (The Netherlands)
- Turn of the Screw (New Zealand)
- Vurdalak Blood (Argentina)
WINNER: The Feast
The Depends Award: What Movie crapped its pants and disappointed the most in 2021?
Nominees:
- Blood Pageant
- Demonic
- Halloween Kills
- The History of Metal and Horror
- Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin
- The Scary of Sixty-First
- SPiral: From the Book of Saw
- Things Heard and Seen
WINNER (LOSER): Halloween Kills
The Bloodbath Award: The Best Use of Exploitation or Gore in a Horror Movie in 2021.
Nominees:
- Halloween Kills – Phil and Sondra encounter Michael at their house.
- Malignant – The Prison rampage
- Spiral from the Book of Saw – The subway trap and body explosion.
- Antlers: Wendigo Frank’s face falls off
- Superdeep: Olga turns into a pile of fungus mush
- Psycho Goreman: Frozen thief falls, shatters, and keeps twitching
- The Last Matinee: Double-headed shishkabob kiss kill
- Wrong Turn: Gary gets crushed by a rolling log
WINNER: Malignant Prison Rampage
The Best Screenplay in 2021 Horror
Nominees:
- Antlers
- Candyman
- The Feast
- Lamb
- The Night House
- Saint Maud
- Val
- Wrong Turn
WINNER: Candyman
Best Monster of 2021
Nominees:
- The Horseshoe crabs in Crabs!
- The silo fungus monsters in Superdeep
- The Wendigo in Antlers
- Gabriel in Malignant
- Mecha Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Kong
- Psycho Goreman
- The bat monsters in Shadow in the Clouds
- The zombie tiger in Army of the Dead
WINNER: Psycho Goreman
The Elvira Award: Best Horror TV Series
Nominees:
- Chucky – Syfy
- Creepshow – Shudder
- Evil, Season 2 – Paramount +
- Fear Street – Netflix
- Hellbound – Netflix
- Servant – Apple +
- Squid Game – Netflix
- What We do in the Shadows – FX
- Yellowjackets – Showtime
WINNER: What We do in the Shadows
Best Horror Short
- The 1st of November (USA)
- The Altruist (USA)
- Hello? (USA)
- Incarnation (JPN)
- … And then the Darkness (USA)
- The Relic (USA)
- Solution for Sadness (ESP)
- Tinder Tango (USA)
WINNER: Hello?
Best Horror Moment
Nominees:
- The opening exorcism in The Conjuring III: The Devil Made me do It
- Michael vs. firefighters at Laurie’s burning home in Halloween Kills.
- Emily and Gabriel are twins! in Malignant
- Competitive marbles in Squid Game
- Invisible killing spree in the gallery in Candyman
- The town encounters the death angels for the first time in A Quiet Place Part II.
- The showdown with the wendigo at the climax of Antlers.
- Alexia deforms herself in the train station in Titane.
WINNER: Invisible Killing Spree in the Gallery in Candyman
The Best Horror Director of 2021
Nominees:
- David Bruckner, The Night House
- Scott Cooper, Antlers
- Nia DaCosta, Candyman
- Rose Glass, Saint Maud
- Lee Haven Jones, The Feast
- John Krasinski, A Quiet Place Part II
- Travis Stevens, Jakob’s Wife
- Edgar Wright, Last Night in Soho
WINNER: Rose Glass, Saint Maud
Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: Best Horror Adjacent Movie
Nominees:
- The Amusement Park (Public Service Announcement)
- Gaia (Science Fiction)
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Action/Comedy)
- Last Night in Soho (Thriller)
- Squid Game (Action)
- Titane (Thriller)
- Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (Documentary)
- Lamb (Fantasy)
WINNER: Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (Documentary)
Best Horror Feature – Independent/Limited Release
Nominees:
- Censor
- The Feast
- Jakob’s Wife
- Keeping Company
- The Stylist
- Superhost
- Val
- The Vigil
WINNER: The Feast
Best Horror Feature: Wide Studio Release
Nominees:
- Antlers
- Candyman
- The Conjuring III: The Devil Made Me do It
- The Night House
- A Quiet Place Part II
- Saint Maud
- Werewolves Within
- Wrong Turn
WINNER: Candyman
OK, that’s a wrap for 2022! A great year in horror cinema, once again. A particularly good year for horror television! Thank you once again to all those of you who sent in ballots. This is one of our ways to stay engaged with our readers and fans, and we quite literally could not have done this awards event without all of you!
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