The 2024 Thingy Awards! It is time for the Mid-Year Scariest Things grand celebration: Once again, we surveyed and received votes from our favorite fans and industry contacts to determine the best horror movies of last year. If there were a couple of themes from last year: Possession and Australia. We got a lot of both in 2023, and it was GOOD. It was one of the best years for horror in the past ten years!
Welcome to another celebration of the movies from the previous year! Are we late on this? We say resoundingly NO! Many of the best horror movies get launched at film festivals during the summer. Still, they aren’t made readily available for viewing until they get streaming releases, usually early in the following year. A prime example of this for 2023 is Late Night With the Devil, which tore through the festival circuit but didn’t get broad distribution until 2024, to much acclaim.
The 2024 Thingy Awards themes from 2023:
I’m not sure what was in the water in 2023, but we landed a full pupu platter of possession films, many of them quite good. Both the big studios and the indie producers tried their hand at devilry in 2023. Evil Dead Rise, Talk To Me, When Evil Lurks, The Pope’s Exorcist, Hermana Muerte, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism, Late Night With the Devil, Suitable Flesh, It Lives Inside, Onyx The Fortuitous and the Talisman of Evil, and of course, Exorcist: Believer all took their takes on the possession theme.
Interestingly, four of those films were also from the Land Down Under. Talk To Me, Evil Dead Rise, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism, and Late Night With the Devil were all going through the film festival circuit simultaneously, all from Australia. Stylistically, they were all quite different, and all of them were quite good. In addition to those films, you can include Monolith, and You’ll Never Find Me as terrific horror entries from Oz. From discussions with the producers, it helps that Australia’s film industry provides a helping hand for independent filmmakers, and they don’t shy away from horror as a genre. Bravo!
Also, in 2023, there were a lot of terrific performances from children in the genre. Tellingly, in an era where the old rule that you couldn’t kill kids is almost entirely off the table, horror films are now able to shock audiences with awful things happening to good kids. The past decade has been moving us down this path with films like It, Hereditary, and A Quiet Place using pivotal scenes involving child death. 2023 put the stake in that heart. The best part of this trend is that it ups the ante for casting good child actors to make a more significant emotional impact.
The 2024 Thingies:
Warning! If you don’t want to be spoiled and have fun finding out about the winners, listen to our podcast and then come back to review the winners.
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Once, as an open invitation, we had a number of our favorite contacts voting on the ballot, including a number of the nominees. We thank Ted Geoghegan (dir. Brooklyn 45), Nick Kozakis (dir. Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism), Dennis Paoli (writer, Suitable Flesh, Re-Animator, From Beyond), Michael Lovan (Murder, Bury, Win), Chris McInroy (dir., Guts, We Summoned a Demon, We Forgot About the Zombies), Anthony Cousins (dir. Frogman), and Scott Allie (editor, Hellboy) for joining us this year as distinguished jurors.
A big thank you to our fans, who also showed up strong in the voting this year. Your participation made these awards more substantial!
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Unlike many years ago, there is no clear front-runner for best actress in a leading horror role. It’s a wide-open race this year, with a wide range of experience among the nominees. Here are your best actress candidates for the 2024 Thingy Awards:
- Laya DeLeon Hayes as Vicaria in The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
- Kaitlyn Dever as Brynn in No One Will Save You
- Dominique Fishback as Dre in Swarm
- Heather Graham as Dr. Elizabeth Derby in Suitable Flesh
- Carla Gugino as Verna in The Fall of the House of Usher
- Kathleen Kenny as Charlie in
- Bella Ramsay as Ellie Williams in The Last of Us
- Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie in Evil Dead Rise
- Sophie Wilde as Mia in Talk To Me
- Jordan Cowan as The Visitor in You’ll Never Find Me
Best Actor in a Leading Horror Movie Role:
These actors anchored their films in 2023. This was a good year for famous actors in horror cinema, which meant it was also a good year for Big Studio horror features. Foreign films also produced fantastic performances in movies that proved to be both critically and commercially successful. Your nominees for the 2024 Thingy Award for Best Actor are:
- Dave Bautista as Leonard in Knock at the Cabin
- Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula in Renfield
- Russell Crowe as Father Gabriel Amorth in The Pope’s Exorcist
- David Dastmalchian as Jack DelRoy in Late Night With the Devil
- Ryunsuke Kamiki as Koichi Shikishima in Godzilla Minus One
- Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller in The Last of Us
- Ezequiel Rodriguez as Pedro in When Evil Lurks
- Jamie Vadell as El Conde (Augustine Pinochet) in El Conde
- Brendan Rock as Patrick in You’ll Never Find Me
Best Actress in a Supporting Horror Movie Role:
The supporting actresses often get some of the best roles. Roles where the actress can unleash her inner method. Villains and colorful companions are usually the domain of the supporting actresses, and we have some great ones this year. The nominees for Best Supporting Actress in a Horror Movie are:
- Awkwafina as Rebecca in Renfield
- Barbara Crampton as Dr. Daniella Upton in Suitable Flesh
- Kristen Cui as Wen in Knock at the Cabin
- Amie Donald as Meagan in M3gan
- Nell Fisher as Kassie in Evil Dead Rise
- Minami Hamabe as Noriko Oishi in Godzilla Minus One
- Margo Martindale as Ranger Liz in Cocaine Bear
- Ingrid Torelli as Lili in Late Night With the Devil
Best Actor in a Supporting Horror Role:
Are you looking for comic relief? Your antagonist? Your foil? The best friend who tells it like it is? Look no further than the best supporting actor. These often scene-chewing performances may leave a lasting impression long after the film is done, even if the character is not the film’s central figure. Unlike our supporting actresses, this year’s best-supporting actors are largely veteran performers. These guys flesh out the movie and are the extra flavor needed to make the story work. The nominees for the Best Supporting Actor for the 2024 Thingy Awards:
- Liam Cunningham as Captain Eliot in The Last Voyage of the Demeter
- Nick Offerman as Bill in The Last of Us
- Tim Poco*ck as Pastor Daniel in Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism
- Judah Lewis as Asa White in Suitable Flesh
- Larry Fessenden as Lt. Col. Clive Hockstatter in Brooklyn 45
- David Dastmalchian as Lester Billings in The Boogeyman
- Carl Lumbly as August Dupin in The Fall of the House of Usher
- Mark Hamill as Arthur Pym in The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fay Wray Award: The Breakout Rising Star
You don’t have to be a youngster to be a breakout rising star, but it helps. Many of these performers are in their first dramatic roles in an independent feature film. In 2023, we had many kids emerging, some with their first feature film appearances. These are actors who deserve to reap the rewards of bigger and better jobs due to their extraordinary performances in 2023 Horror:
- Christina Cui in Knock at the Cabin
- Amie Donald as Meagan in M3gan
- Laya DeLeon Hayes as Vicaria in The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
- Sophie WIlde as Mia in Talk To Me
- Woody Norman as Peter in Cobweb, and Toby in The Last Voyage of the Demeter
- Kathleen Kenny as Charlie in Sorry, Charlie
- Nell Fisher as Kassie in Evil Dead Rise
- Dominique Fishback as Dre in Swarm
The Gateway Award: Best Horror Film for young and/or new horror fans
We all have to start somewhere, and these nominees for the 2024 Thingy Award for the Fay Gateway Award are your on-ramp to the horror genre. Not as gory or viscerally as intense as much horror, these movies still bring some scares but often bring a lot of fun to the proceedings. These films would be (mostly) kid-friendly but also apply to the scaredy cat adults who need a fun entry point when picking a horror film. Honestly, this year, there was not a lot of kid’s fare. But there were a bunch of films that would have a “low impact” on horror newbies, and as usual, it’s essentially the big studios providing the more accessible fare.
- M3gan
- Godzilla Minus One
- It Lives Inside
- Renfield
- The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
- A Haunting in Venice
- The Boogeyman
- The Last of Us
The Abbott and Costello Award: Best Use of Humor in a Horror Film
Horror and Comedy. These complement each other and try to quickly draw the two great and powerful emotions out of you. However, pulling this off is not as easy as you might think. Humor and glee, with dread and terror. When it doesn’t work, it’s almost palpably painful. But when it works: pure gold! Our favorites in horror comedies for the 2024 Thingy Awards are:
- Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Evil
- Renfield
- Hundreds of Beavers
- Cocaine Bear
- Totally Killer
- The Blackening
- El Conde
Best Horror Movie Poster of the Year
We love our posters here at The Scariest Things. Horror films have always had some of the best of the movie posters. In an era where movie marketers want to pitch headshots of the big stars in their movies, horror movies rely upon the story and feel of the films to draw you to them. Horror movies make an emotional pitch, and we are down with that! The nominees for 2024 include:
Best Looking Horror Movie (Cinematography)
Often known for cheap production values, the genre can show off the beauty of the scary. When horror brings quality cinematography to the table, the experience becomes much more powerful. This year, there is an Oscar nominee in the mix, with the stark beauty of El Conde making a rare Horror Appearance at the Academy Awards. Still, plenty of good challengers want to get a chunk of that gold. These 2023 films showed the beauty of juxtaposing or heightening the sense of terror and dread in their movies. The 2024 Thingies Award nominees for best cinematography are:
- Brooklyn 45
- The Last Voyage of the Demeter
- El Conde
- Evil Dead Rise
- Exorcist Believer
- A Haunting in Venice
- Knock at the Cabin
- No One Will Save You
The Harryhausen: The Best VFX in a Horror Movie
The Visual effects where it’s the cinema magic being celebrated sometimes is a makeup celebration for horror films. Digital wizardry is at the forefront for this year. We have an Oscar WINNER in the mix for the 2024 Thingy! Now, Godzilla Minus One may be the favorite, but don’t let that dissuade you from selecting one of the other stellar FX powerhouse horror films from 2023! From the crazy puppetry of Onyx The Fortuitous to the believable cocaine bear to the wonderfully re-mixed Universal blend of Renfield over Dracula, there is some variety in this year’s offerings.
- Cocaine Bear
- Godzilla Minus One
- The Last Voyage of the Demeter
- M3gan
- The Meg 2
- Minore
- Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Evil
- Renfield
The Best Sounding Horror Movie
Sound plays such an important role in horror movies. From the snap of a branch to the snap of a neck, the right audio clue at the right moment makes all the difference in the world. Sometimes, you are looking for the jump scare; at other times, you are setting up the ominous build-up, and you need the correct audio score to hammer this home. This category also recognizes movies with strong original soundtrack ties or a great original score. This year’s nominees for the Best Sounding Horror Movie of 2023 are:
- Cobweb
- El Conde
- Evil Dead Rise
- Godzilla Minus One
- The Last Voyage of the Demeter
- Minore
- Renfield
- When Evil Lurks
The Best International (Non-English Language) Horror Film
Get to know other cultures by what scares them the most! It’s the most fun you can have learning about another culture and getting your socks scared off. Foreign films are also envelope pushers. Horror films pushed to the extremes, and this year is no exception. The nominees for this year’s best International Film are:
- El Conde (Chile)
- Freaks vs. The Reich (Italy)
- Godzilla Minus One (Japan)
- Hermana Muerte (Sister Death) (Spain)
- The Life of Mariko in Kaubkicho (Japan)
- Love Will Tear Us Apart (Japan)
- Minore (Greece)
- When Evil Lurks (Argentina)
The Depends Award: The Worst Horror Movie of 2023
We are careful to point out that this isn’t the WORST movie of 2023, but the most DISAPPOINTING movie of 2023. You have to have the semblance of expectations to begin with to make this list. Some of these movies initially sounded like they were going to be entertaining but ended up being a letdown. That’s not to say that some of these moments don’t have some good moments (See below), but as a whole, they are not what we wanted from them. Then again, a couple of these movies do suck, and we’re here to point this out. With apologies to one of our esteemed insider jurors, who felt that the Worst Film nominee was a bit cruel (He opted not to vote on this “award”)… Your nominees for the 2024 Depends Award are:
- Children of the Corn (12% Rotten Tomatoes)
- Exorcist Believer (22% RT)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s (32% RT)
- The Meg 2: The Trench (27% RT)
- Nefarious (33% RT)
- Pet Semetary: Bloodlines (22% RT)
- Pig Killer (No RT)
- Winnie The Pooh Blood and Honey (3% RT)
The Bloodbath Award: The Best Use of Exploitation or Gore
Truthfully, 2023 wasn’t a particularly gory year in horror. That’s not to say that it wasn’t filled with intense scenes, but there just wasn’t as much blood and guts, except for two movies: Evil Dead Rise and When Evil Lurks, which had enough hyper-violence to make up for everyone else.Your nominees for the 2024 Bloodbath award are:
- Cocaine Bear – The Bear climbs up a tree to tear Peter apart
- Evil Dead Rise – Possessed Bridget swallows shards of broken glass
- Exorcist Believer – Chris McNeill gets her eyes gouged out
- Infinity Pool – The first execution
- Saw X – Mateo’s Brain Surgery Trap
- Talk to Me – Duckett’s demise in the opening scene
- Thanksgiving – Yulia lands on the table saw
- When Evil Lurks – Jimena is possessed and kills herself with an axe to the face
The Best Horror Screenplay of 2023
Over the past decade, an encouraging trend in horror movies is the emphasis on strong storytelling and dialogue. A great script and story can be the difference in helping you remember a film or dismissing it as a fluff piece. Horror can be smart. Horror is better when it’s smartly written. Just don’t call quality horror scripting elevated horror! We are righting (writing?) a wrong by acknowledging the screenwriters in the category this year, an award that is new to the Thingies. This year’s nominees are:
- Alexander Angliss-Wilson for Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism
- Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes for Late Night With the Devil
- Mike Flanagan, Justina Ireland, Kiele Sanchez, and E.A. Poe for The Fall of the House of Usher
- Ted Geoghegan for Brooklyn 45
- Ishiro Honda, Takeo Murata, and Takashi Yamazaki for Godzilla Minus One
- Dennis Paoli for Suitable Flesh
- Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman, and Daley Pearson for Talk to Me
- Bomani J. Story for The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
The Best Monster of 2023
There’s something about a grand, inhuman monster. It brings out the little kid in you as the monsters from your dreams come alive on screen. A rule of thumb: no speaking roles for the monsters! (If they did, they would get nominated for acting roles… like Meagan) Big and stompy or twisted and mutated, these beasties touched our imagination in 2023:
- The Boogeyman
- co*kie the Bear from Cocaine Bear
- Count Dracula in The Last Voyage of the Demeter
- The Frogman of Loveland, Ohio in Frogman
- Godzilla in Godzilla Minus One
- John Carver from Thanksgiving
- The Pistach from It Lives Inside
- The Tentacled Eye Monsters from Minore
- Valek from The Nun 2
The Elvira Award: The Best Horror TV Series
The Elvira Award: Best Horror TV Series
The trend of great Horror TV content continued in 2023, as long-format storytelling and horror make for great bedfellows. A few new groundbreaking shows have entered the competition this year, further establishing the promise of long-form horror storytelling. We want more Horror on TV! Your nominees for the 2024 Elvira Award are:
- American Horror Story: Delicate (Part 1), FX
- The Changeling, Apple +
- The Fall of the House of Usher, Netflix
- The Horror of Dolores Roach, Amazon
- The Last of Us, Max
- Servant, Season 4, Apple +
- Swarm, Amazon
- Yellowjackets, Showtime
The Best Horror Moment of the Year
You might recognize something here. You don’t have to be a great FILM to have a great horror MOMENT. However, most of the best horror movies from 2023 also feature an excellent horror moment. Each moment leaves an indelible stamp on your memory of the film in your brain. These are the proverbial “HOLY sh*t!” events that will have you talking about it to your friends later. The 2024 Thingy Awards best horror moments are:
- Cocaine Bear – co*kie the Bear chases the Ambulance.
- Evil Dead Rise – The kids figure out that there’s something wrong with mom (Ellie)
- The Fall of the House of Usher – Rederick recites the Raven.
- Godzilla Minus One – Godzilla chases the Boat
- Late Night with the Devil – The Exorcism gets real.
- The Last of Us – The final days of Frank and Bill
- Talk to Me – Riley gets Possessed.
- Thanksgiving – The Black Friday sale riot and massacre.
- When Evil Lurks – The mastiff takes Vicki.
The Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Award: The Best Horror Adjacent Film
One of The Scariest Thing’s favorite topics is “Horror movie… or not?” We embrace horror-adjacent films and want to find a way to include them in our celebration of scary films. Many of these films were part of the film festival circuit. If you haven’t been paying attention, you should participate in the genre film festivals as there are so many great films, particularly films that are almost, but not quite, horror movies. Our nominees from 2023:
- Accused (Thriller)
- Cocaine Bear (Comedy)
- A Haunting in Venice (Mystery)
- Hundreds of Beavers (Absurdist Comedy)
- Life of Mariko in Kabukicho (Science Fiction/Mystery)
- Monolith (Science Fiction)
- Smoking Causes Coughing (Absurdist Comedy)
- Skinamarink (Experimental Art)
Best Horror Short
After a year’s absence from the Thingy Awards, the short film is back with a vengeance! This year, a concentrated effort was made to attend more festivals and watch more short films. We have TEN shorts for you to pick from, and this year, you canwatch all of the nominated horror shortsthrough our website. As usual, there are the “I haven’t seen enough of the films” options, but we strongly encourage you to watch these wonderful little films. Here are your nominees for best Horror Short from 2023:
- 665
- Evil F-ing Clowns
- Fascies
- Getaway
- In the Shadow of God
- The Internet Remains Undefeated
- The Jessica Cabin
- Survivers
- We Forgot About the Zombies
- We Got a Dog
The Best Horror Director of 2023
This year’s slate of nominated directors are all first-time Thingy Award candidates. Chalk up a win for Global diversity this year. Only two Americans are on this list; of those two, one is a woman, and one is African American. There are also two pairs of brothers in this year’s nominees. Three cheers for fresh new faces! Now, it’s up to you to decide who deserves to win. Your nominees for the Best Horror Movie Director of 2023 are:
- Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear
- Cameron and Colin Cairnes, Late Night with the Devil
- Lee Cronin, Evil Dead Rise
- Pablo Larrain, El Conde
- Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk To Me
- Demien Rugna, WHen Evil Lurks
- Bomani J. Story, The ANgry Black Girl and Her Monster
- Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One
Best Horror Feature – Independent / Limited Release
The 2024 Thingy Awards: Best Horror Feature – Independent/Limited Release
The new golden era of horror cinema has been built upon the back of independent horror films and the latest streaming distribution models through platforms like Shudder, Amazon, and Tubi. The fantastic film festivals also bolster their events through the success and power of these limited-release features. Your 2023 nominees are:
- The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
- Cobweb
- Frogman
- Late Night With the Devil
- Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls
- Skinamarink
- Suitable Flesh
- Totally Killer
- When Evil Lurks
- You’ll Never Find Me
The 2024 Thingy Awards: Best Horror Feature – Wide Studio Release
The big studios are still players in the horror market, and some have borrowed storytelling lessons from their independent brethren. Movies here get national releases for multiple weeks in the cineplex and are often the beneficiaries of budgets from $5 million and up. We consider A24 and Blumhouse to be mid-major studios competing with big studios in the market. Your nominees for the best 2024 wide studio release horror feature are:
- Cocaine Bear
- Evil Dead Rise
- Godzilla Minus One
- Knock at the Cabin
- M3gan
- Renfield
- Talk To Me
- Thanksgiving
The 2024 Thingy Awards: It’s a Wrap!
Thanks to everyone who assisted on the jury this year. Thank you to everyone who reads and appreciates this Award. This is one of the most time-consuming efforts annually for the Scariest Things, but what it does for us is date-stamp each year to remind us of the evolution of horror movies and the genre.
Congratulations to all the winners! This will go down as a landmark year in horror. Talk To Me, Godzilla Minus One, Late Night With the Devil, Evil Dead Rise, and When Evil Lurks (Despite not winning any Thingy Awards) all promise to be horror movies that will be remembered for a long time. These are ★★★★★ movies, and it has been a while since we have seen so many instant classics released in one year. It may be a while before we see this level of quality, so enjoy this crop!
If you want more information about these movies, please check out our reviews on the site. And, if you would like to be part of next year’s jury, please let us know, or join our Patreon contributors, and we’ll be sure to include you for next year’s ballot!
