'Obsession' wins five Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for Friday the 13th

A scary Friday the 13th! I asked "Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, anyone?" No one said anything, so I'm following through with the press release.

Barker's Obsession led the 2026 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards with five wins, including Best Wide Release Movie, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The film also earned Best Lead Performance for Inde Navarrette and the coveted write-in category for Best Kill. Backrooms followed with three wins, including Best First Feature, Best Cinematography for Jeremy Cox, and Best Score for Kane Parsons and Edo Van Breemen. But there was plenty of room to honor plenty of other titles that contributed to this year's achievements in horror film, television, and gaming.

Follow over the jump for a comparison of my votes and PVD Horror's with the winners like I did for the Saturn Awards.


Best Wide Release Movie: My vote Weapons, winner Obsession. After watching PVD Horror pick Obsession, I realized it would win, writing "I think Obsession is more likely to win Best Wide-Release Movie at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards." I didn't completely blow this category.

Best Limited Release: My vote Dust Bunny, winner Dust Bunny. I called this, but PVD Horror missed it, preferring Queens of the Dead and The Serpent's Skin.

Best Streaming Premiere: My vote Reflection in a Dead Diamond, winner V/H/S/Halloween PVD Horror picked Mother of Flies, so they missed it, too.

Best International Movie: My vote Reflection in a Dead Diamond, winner Exit 8. On the other hand, PVD Horror chose Exit 8, so they called it.

Best First Feature: My vote Backrooms, winner Backrooms. PVD Horror also picked Backrooms, so we all called this category.

Best Lead Performance: My vote Chiwetel Ejiofor, Backrooms, winner Inde Navarrette, Obsession. PVD Horror split their votes between Navarrette and Ralph Fiennes, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. As I wrote in July, tough category.

Best Supporting Performance: My vote Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein, winner Amy Madigan, Weapons. PVD Horror split their votes between David Jonsson, The Long Walk, and Amy Madigan, Weapons. Again, another tough category.

Best Director: My vote Zach Cregger, Weapons, winner Curry Barker, Obsession, who PVD Horror voted for as well. Kudos to them.

Best Screenplay: My vote Zach Cregger, Weapons, winner Currey Barker, Obsession. PVD Horror split their votes between Hokum and Weapons, so all of us missed this one.

Best Cinematography: My vote Jeremy Cox, Backrooms, winner Jeremy Cox, Backrooms. PVD Horror split their votes between Backrooms and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, so I called it and PVD Horror partially did, too.

Best Score: My vote Alexandre Desplat, Frankenstein, winner Kane Parsons and Edo Van Breemen, Backrooms. PVD Horror called this one, while I went with the established Hollywood composer. That will be a theme for the rest of the craft awards.

Best Costume Design: My vote Kate Hawley, Frankenstein, winner Kate Hawley, Frankenstein. PVD Horror called his one, too, so obvious winner.

Best Makeup FX: My vote Mike Hill, Frankenstein, winner Mike Hill, Frankenstein. PVD Horror split their vote between Frankenstein and The Bride. The establishment choice won.

Best Creature FX: My vote Studio Gillis and WETA Workshop, Predator: Badlands, winner Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Five Nights at Freddy's 2. PVD Horror went with Primate after considering Five Nights at Freddy's 2. Almost. That written, if anyone can beat WETA Workshop, it's Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Best Documentary Feature: My vote Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, winner In Search of Darkness: 1995–1999. Both members of PVD Horror picked In Search of Darkness: 1995-1999: Journey Back Into Iconic '90s Horror, so they called it.

Best Non-Fiction Series or Miniseries: My vote Monstrum, winner The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. Both members of PVD Horror picked The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, so they called it. That's O.K., Monstrum invited its viewers, including me, to vote for them, so I'm happy I did.

Best Series: My vote Widow's Bay, winner Widow's Bay. PVD Horror split their votes between Widow's Bay and Creep Tapes.

Best Video Game: My vote Resident Evil: Requiem, winner Resident Evil: Requiem. PVD Horror also voted for Resident Evil: Requiem. Hours of watching streames play this game on Twitch paid off.

BEST KILL - Tell Us! My vote The Boogeyman, Widow's Bay, winner Obsession, Brick Kill. PVD Horror split their votes between Obsession and Primate, so they were much closer than I was.

Next year, I might watch PVD Horror before voting to get a sense of what other horror fans think. I might pick more winners for the bigger categories and also follow along for Best Kill.

That's a wrap for today, which will count as an early Sunday entertainment feature because tomorrow is World Diabetes Day and Sunday is America Recycles Day. Priorities. Also, stay tuned.