The Total Film FrightFest Awards 2023

cobweb horror
(Image credit: Lionsgate)

There was blood. There always is. But this year’s FrightFest proved again just how much more there is to the horror genre than hosing hemoglobin.

Rounding up 72 movies from around the globe and packing them all into five days of magical mayhem, the UK’s leading genre festival gave us everything from serial killers, ghosts, and zombies to ghastly mythical creatures, soul-chilling visions of eternal damnation, and realities that splintered before our saucered eyes. There was even a severed tongue infected with herpes, should you wish to ogle such a thing.

But enough of the babbling. It’s time to get down to business. So, let us, as ever, celebrate the best of the fest. Yep, it’s that time of year again – the time for the Total Film FrightFest Awards…

Best Film

Where the Devil Roams

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Black Mold (John Pata)

Cold Meat (Sébastian Drouin)

Monolith (Matt Vesely)

The Moor (Chris Cronin)

New Life (John Rosman)

Pandemonium (Quarxx)

River (Junta Yamaguchi)

Where the Devil Roams (John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser)

And the winner is…

Where the Devil Roams (John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser)

Best Director

John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser (Where the Devil Roams)

Chris Cronin (The Moor)

Sébastian Drouin (Cold Meat)

Quarxx (Pandemonium)

Junta Yamaguchi (River)

And the winners are…

John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser (Where the Devil Roams)

Best Actress

Monolith

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Riko Fujitani (River)

Jenna Kanell (Faceless After Dark)

Toby Poser (Where the Devil Roams)

Lily Sullivan (Monolith)

Sonya Walger – (New Life)

 

And the winner is…

Lily Sullivan (Monolith)

Best Actor

Cobweb

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Andrew Bailes (Black Mold)

Allen Leech (Cold Meat)

Woody Norman (Cobweb)

Ted Raimi (Failure)

Nick Stahl (What You Wish For)

 

And the winner is… 

Woody Norman (Cobweb)

Best Scare

The Moor

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Figure in the road (To Fire You Come at Last)

‘Five… five… five…’ (The Moor)

Thudding coffin (Black Mold)

Creeping around the basement (Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives)

Hiding in backseat (Cold Meat)

 

And the winner is…

‘Five… five… five…’ (The Moor)

Best Death

Pandemonium

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Toy boy (Pandemonium)

Face ripped off by squid monster (Minore)

Car carnage (Here for Blood)

Elevator carnage (Farang)

Body split in two (How to Kill Monsters)

 

And the winner is…

Toy boy (Pandemonium)

Best Monster

Pandemonium

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Billy (Pandemonium)

Mother squid (Minore)

Poundcake (Poundcake)

Scarecrows (Black Mold)

First pus-faced zombie (Herd)

 

And the winner is…

Billy (Pandemonium)

Best Gross Out

What you wish for

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Severed herpes tongue (What You Wish For)

Tooth Chisel (Where the Devil Roams)

Throat Slit (My Mother’s Eyes)

Burnt Face (Here for Blood)

Gut slit (Eight Eyes)

Leg break (Herd)

Hand chopped off (Trim Season)

And the winner is…

Severed herpes tongue (What You Wish For)

Best WTF?! Ending

frightfest

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Sewn up (Where The Devil Roams)

A dog’s life (Good Boy)

Eternity (Pandemonium)

And the winner is…

Sewn up (Where The Devil Roams)


That's it from this year's FrightFest! For more scares, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time.

Editor-at-Large, Total Film

Jamie Graham is the Editor-at-Large of Total Film magazine. You'll likely find them around these parts reviewing the biggest films on the planet and speaking to some of the biggest stars in the business – that's just what Jamie does. Jamie has also written for outlets like SFX and the Sunday Times Culture, and appeared on podcasts exploring the wondrous worlds of occult and horror. 

Read more
Cillian Murphy in 28 Days Later
The 25 best zombie movies of all time
Best Amazon Prime horror movies: Kiernan Shipka as Jamie Hughes holding a bat and a wrench during the movie Totally Killer.
The 10 best Amazon Prime horror movies to watch right now
Sinners
The most exciting upcoming horror movies coming in 2025 and beyond
Fear Street on Netflix
The 25 best Netflix horror movies to watch right now
Red Rooms
One of 2024's best horror movies is now available to watch on streaming, and it has an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes score
Emily Blunt as FBI agent Kate Macer in Sicario.
The 25 best movies on Netflix to watch right now
Latest in Horror Movies
Dan Stevens in supernatural horror The Ritual
The Godfather and Godzilla x Kong stars' new exorcism horror The Ritual gets a creepy first trailer
Saw X
Billy the Puppet gives Saw fans some hope on the future of the horror franchise by updating his LinkedIn profile to "employed"
Final Destination Bloodlines
Final Destination: Bloodlines drops new trailer with a first look at the return of the late Tony Todd to the horror franchise
Jack Reynor in Midsommar
Midsommar star cast in new Mummy movie, but still no word from the original stars
Kurt Russell in The Thing holding a stick of dynamite.
43 years later, John Carpenter has hinted at who turns into The Thing in the horror movie and one eagle-eyed fan has worked it out
Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried in Jennifer's Body
Star of cult hit Jennifer's Body says marketing "ruined" the horror movie's chances, but they may get another shot with a sequel 16 years later
Latest in News
Ezra Bridger in Ahsoka
A Star Wars actor just quietly confirmed that filming has begun on Ahsoka season 2
Mario
A surprise bonus Nintendo Direct is coming a week early: "There will be no updates about Nintendo Switch 2 during this presentation"
God of War
20 years later, God of War's original monster art has been revealed: behold this army of stick figures slapped on a whiteboard, no clue Kratos is coming for them
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe facing off against samurai warrior on red bridge
An Assassin's Creed Shadows fan is showing off some of the RPG's most impressive little details, and it's done more to get me interested than Ubisoft ever did
A woman chasing a shining butterfly with a leaping cat on her shoulder in InZOI
InZoi has a long way to go before it can actually rival The Sims as its director says EA's "spent decades perfecting" the formula
Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail
Final Fantasy 14 patch makes an effort to combat mods that can enable harassment, but players report it's "very easy" to reverse newly hidden account IDs