The Total Film FrightFest 2019 Awards

(Image credit: FrightFest)

Celebrating its 20th birthday in style, Arrow Video FrightFest again proved to be the UK’s number one horror festival with a bullet (and a knife, a crossbow, an axe, etc.). Rounding up 78 – yes, 78 – nightmare movies from all corners of the globe, Arrow Video FrightFest treated genre fans to five glorious days of non-stop scare fare. And judging from the consistently high standard, the dark heart of horror is, right now, pumping stronger than ever.

Total Film here awards the best of the fest…

Best film

And the nominations are…

Bliss (Joe Begos)

Daniel Isn’t Real (Adam Egypt Mortimer)

The Deeper You Dig (Toby Poser and John Adams)

Depraved (Larry Fessenden)

Fingers (Juan Ortiz)

Girl On The Third Floor (Travis Stevens)

Here Comes Hell (Jack McHenry)

I Trapped The Devil (Josh Lobo)

Knives And Skin (Jennifer Reeder)

Why Don’t You Just Die! (Kirill Sokolov)

The Wind (Emma Tammi)

And the winner is…

Bliss (Joe Begos)

Best director

And the nominations are…

Joe Begos (Bliss)

Adam Egypt Mortimer (Daniel Isn’t Real)

Jennifer Reeder (Knives And Skin)

Travis Stevens (Girl On The Third Floor)

Emma Tammi (The Wind)

And the winner is…

Jennifer Reeder (Knives And Skin)

Best actress

And the nominations are…

 Lauryn Canny (Darlin’)

Lexi Kolker (Freaks)

Dora Madison (Bliss)

Caitlin Stasey (Kindred Spirits)

Brittany Teo (Extracurricular)

Samara Weaving (Ready Or Not)

And the winner is…

Dora Madison (Bliss)

Best actor

And the nominations are…

Macon Blair (Kindred Spirits)

Jeremy Gardner (Sadistic Intentions)

Eddie Marsan (Feedback)

Adrian Glynn McMorran (Volition)

Elijah Wood (Come To Daddy)

And the winners is…

Jeremy Gardner (Sadistic Intentions)

Best scare

And the nominations are…

“Help me… help me…” (Extracurricular)

Lighting a match (Mary)

Alligator snap out of trapdoor (Crawl)

Head out of water (The Deeper You Dig)

Aunt Helene in bedroom (Ready Or Not)

Murder silhouetted in window (Driven)

Ali in the headlights (Witches In The Woods)

And the winner is…

Alligator snap out of trapdoor (Crawl)

Best death

And the nominations are…

Single stab in neck (Extracurricular)

Shotgun blast in back of head (Extracurricular)

Courtesy flush (The Drone)

Aunt Helene (Ready Or Not)

Face sliced off with axe (The Furies)

Arterial spray (Why Don’t You Just Die!)

Throat cut (Harpoon)

Pulled apart by multiple alligators (Crawl)

And the winner is…

Face sliced off with axe (The Furies)

Best monster

And the nominations are…

Alligators (Crawl)

Bloody Mary (Ghost Killers Vs. Bloody Mary)

Daniel (Daniel Isn’t Real)

Rat-hand (Mutant Blast)

Pig-men (Bullets Of Justice)

And the winner is…

Rat-hand (Mutant Blast)

Best gore

And the nominations are…

Blood-vomiting phone (Ghost Killer Vs. Bloody Mary)

Vampire-on-vampire head-eating (Bliss)

School dinner frenzy (Eat Brains Love)

Constant head trauma (Mutant Blast)

Cutting out the black string (The Black String)

Stepping in corpse’s chest (I Am Toxic)

And the winner is…

Blood-vomiting phone (Ghost Killer Vs. Bloody Mary)

Best big effect

And the nominations are…

Pulling back from Earth through space (Dark Encounter)

The abyss (Daniel Isn’t Real)

Telekinetic pulses (Freaks)

And the winner is…

Pulling back from Earth through space (Dark Encounter)

The Lucio Fulci award for eyeball trauma

And the nominations are…

Talon in eye (Ghost killers Vs. Bloody Mary)

Crossbow bullseye (Eat Brains Love)

Stabs eye and sucks out blood (Bliss)

Removing eyeball with spoon (The Furies)

And the winner is…

Removing eyeball with spoon (The Furies)

Best genital trauma

Multiple stabs to crotch (Come To Daddy)

Eating a man’s penis and testicles (Eat Brains Love)

Trying to put the mutilated testicles back together again (Porno)

And the winner is…

Trying to put the mutilated testicles back together again (Porno)

Most ubiquitous actor

Jeremy Gardner (Fingers, Bliss, Sadistic Intentions, Gutter)

Most savage haircut

Elijah Wood (Come To Daddy)

Best worst makeover

Johnny Vegas as Lost Boys Kiefer Sutherland (Tales From The Lodge)

Best guests

The Soska Sisters (Rabid) – watching movies and hanging out for the entire festival

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. 

Latest in Movies
Jack Reynor in Midsommar
Midsommar star cast in new Mummy movie, but still no word from the original stars
She-Hulk on Disney Plus
Tatiana Maslany canceled a Comic Con appearance due to "filming commitments", and it could mean She-Hulk is in the next Avengers movie
Rachel Zegler in Disney's Snow White
Snow White popcorn buckets are here, but they’re pretty tame compared to Nosferatu and Deadpool
Ne Zha 2
After dethroning The Force Awakens, the surprise animated hit taking the box office by storm could claim a record from James Cameron next
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 Features
Asssassin's Creed Shadows kusarigama
My favorite weapon in Assassin's Creed Shadows is also the most misunderstood
Imai Sokyu leads the tea ceremony in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows' tea ceremony quest is one of the game's best moments, but I wish Ubisoft would give us even higher stakes
Bloodborne
10 years on, Bloodborne remains an unmatchable feat of atmosphere thanks to the mind-boggling oppressive scale of Yharnam
Cropped key art for Revenge of the Savage Planet showing two player characters running away from lots of green goo, flanked by various googly-eyed wildlife
Revenge of the Savage Planet is a refreshingly colorful and light-hearted co-op throwback to the carefree action platformers of the noughties
Yasuke looks at a shrine in the water in Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar
"We don't want to force one terabyte of data on the players": Assassin's Creed Shadows' tech director on the clever tricks Ubisoft uses to "go beyond" current-gen
Kill Team: Blood and Zeal box on a wooden surface
Kill Team: Blood and Zeal pre-orders just went live, and I wish other Warhammer games were this weird