The 2024 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards are just around the corner, and we're ready to celebrate the best our glorious genre has had to offer over the last 18 months. From fanged vamps to eight-legged freaks, everyone loves a good creature feature, and 2024 had no shortage of creepy, bizarre and downright grotesque beasties.
Last year's Best Creature FX was awarded to Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. for their outstanding work on Dan Trachtenberg's Prey, where the pair bought a new lease of life to the Predator in what might just be the bloodthirsty alien's scariest form. But who – or what – will take home the crown this year? Join us as we run down this year's nominees for Best Creature FX, sponsored by Paramount Scares.
Tune in Sunday, October 13th at 9pm ET to find out all the winners as we announce them live. Streaming exclusively on Shudder TV.
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Evil Dead Rise – Adam Johansen and Damian Martin, Odd Studio
Lee Cronin bought the Evil Dead franchise back with a bang with the bloody and brutal Evil Dead Rise. Highlights among Adam Johansen and Damian Martin's incredible deadite work included the transformation of star Alyssa Sutherland into the terrifying ‘Maggot Mommy' and, of course, the mutated mass known as the Marauder.
Odd Studio's gargantuan filmography includes FX work on *deep breath* Alien: Covenant, The Invisible Man, Queen of the Damned, Possum, Mad Max: Fury Road, Little Monsters, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and much, much more.
Five Nights at Freddy’s – Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and now Freddy Fazbear – Jim Henson's Creature Shop is no stranger to bringing iconic characters to life. When director Emma Tammi braved adapting the hugely popular video game franchise Five Nights at Freddy's, she made the incredibly smart choice of bringing Jim Henson's Creature Shop on board to give life to the series' terrifying animatronics.
Founded in 1979 by the legendary puppeteer Jim Henson, Jim Henson's Creature Shop is behind literally hundreds of your favorite movies from childhood and adulthood alike, including The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Witches and so much more.
Infested – Thierry Onillon and Léo Ewald
French spider horror Infested was a true nightmare for arachnophobes, but even those who usually aren't bothered by creepy crawlies still found their skin itching thanks to the fantastic work from Thierry Onillon and Léo Ewald. Mixing real spiders with CG terrors bought to life by the pair of talented VFX supervisors made for one absolutely horrifying thrill ride set in urban Paris.
The FANGORIA Chainsaw Award nomination joins Onillon and Ewald's Genie Award nominations from earlier this year.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter – Göran Lundström
Academy Award-nominated makeup artist Göran Lundström made another iconic horror figure out of Javier Botet (REC, Mama, Crimson Peak, It) when, after a gruelling four hour application, he turned the actor into Dracula himself. André Øvredal's gloomy and gothic take on a single chapter from Bram Stoker's Dracula gave us an iteration of the classic vampire not often seen on screen – an animalistic, bat-like figure fully fleshed out by Lundström and his talented team.
Lundström received an Oscar nomination for his work on Ali Abbasi's dark fantasy Border, and another later for Ridley Scott's House of Gucci.
M3GAN – Adrien Morot and Kathy Tse, Morot FX Studios
Sweet little M3GAN took the world by storm when she burst onto the scene with the now-iconic viral dance – we were instantly obsessed. The tiny technological terror was bought to life by Adrien Morot and Kathy Tse of Montreal-based Morot FX Studios, who built a life-sized puppet to provide the base of M3GAN. Additional VFX and movement by actor Amie Donald all combined to make the perfect blend of uncanny and adorable.
Extra fun fact? Morot was inspired to get into the FX business after reading an article on The Thing in an issue of FANGORIA!
Congratulations to all of the incredible nominees, you can check out the full list right here. You're invited to watch with us live. We'll be live tweeting throughout the show, come on in and join the virtual party with #ChainsawAwards. As we gear up for the big day, tag us in your shared ballots, and all your Chainsaw party preparations! Print your official 2024 Chainsaw Awards official Ballot PDF right here.
Or if you prefer a jpeg, you can download that right here.
Thank you to our sponsors Vixen by Micheline Pitt, Shudder, Paramount Scares, Impale, The Criterion Collection, and RED for making this all possible! For more, check out our Chainsaw Awards survival guide.
