The Total Film FrightFest 2014 Awards

Moving to the Vue West End and now occupying five screens, Film4FrightFest 2014 was bigger and better than ever before: 64 films to choose from, ranging from the staple sub-genres (vampires, ghosts, zombies, monsters, serial killers, occult, etc.) to fascinating, rule-bending fare occupying the outermost peripheries and darkest corners of the genre .

The standard was unusually high, suggesting horror is, right now, in a very good place… and making the following Total Film Awards a tough gig given so much quality was vying for attention. But here it is – our annual celebration of best of FrightFest.

Best Film (Main screens)

Nominations
Alleluia
The Babadook
Faults
The Guest
Housebound
Late Phases
Life After Beth
The Samurai
The Signal
Starry Eyes

And the winner is…
The Babadook

Best Film (Discovery screens)

Nominations
Altergeist
Another
The Canal
Coherence
Creep
Dead Within
The Den
Honeymoon
Julia
R100

And the winner is…
Coherence

Best Actor
Dan Stevens (The Guest)
Daniel Henshall (The Babadook)
Laurent Lucas (Alleluia)
Leland Orser (Faults)
Nick Damici (Late Phases)

And the winner is…
Laurent Lucas (Alleluia)

Best Actress
Essie Davis (The Babadook)
Lola Duenas (Alleluia)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Faults)
Rose Leslie (Honeymoon)
Aubrey Plaza (Life After Beth)

And the winner is…
Essie Davis (The Babadook)

Best Director
Adam Wingard (The Guest)
Fabrice du Welz (Alleluia)
Jennifer Kent (The Babadook)
Till Kleinert (The Samurai)
William Eubank (The Signal)

And the winner is…
Jennifer Kent (The Babadook)

Scariest Movie
Among The Living
The Babadook
Creep
The Mirror
White Settlers

And the winner is…
Creep

Best Horror-Comedy
All Cheerleaders Die
Bad Milo!
Life After Beth
R100
Wolfcop

And the winner is…
R100

Best Found-Footage Horror
Creep
Exists
The Mirror

And the winner is…
Creep

Best Death
Upside-down slicing n dicing of homophobic locals (The Samurai)
Foot in mouth (Among The Living)
Quintuple decapitation (Sin City: A Dame To Kill For)
Tongue, arms, leg, head (The Green Inferno)
Vagina eats face (V/H/S: Viral)

And the winner is…
Tongue, arms, legs, head (The Green Inferno)

Best Monster
Klarence (Among The Living)
Milo (Bad Milo!)
Kooky looking female werewolf (Late Phases)
Cock monsters (V/H/S: Viral)
Bigfoot (Exists)

And the winner is…
Milo (Bad Milo!)

Ickiest Scene
Bea birthing something slimy (Honeymoon)
Nails, teeth, maggots (Starry Eyes)
Diarrhoea (The Green Inferno)
Carving letters in stomach (Deadly Virtues)
Pinching a testicle (Truth Or Dare)

Best Scare
Bigfoot bursting from firework smoke (Exists)
“Billy, can you just move the laptop so I can see the rest of the room…” (The Canal)
Dolores’ demise (Late Phases)
The Babadook spreads his arms (The Babadook)
Creeping about in a wolf mask (Creep)

And the winner is…
Dolores’ demise (Late Phases)

Best Exploding/Imploding skull
Cop shot in car (Wolf Creek 2)
Electric current (Housebound)
Home invader pummelled in barn (White Settlers)
Head caved in with dumbbell (Starry Eyes)
Exploding bondage ninjas (R100)

And the winner is…
Head caved in with dumbbell (Starry Eyes)

Most Memorable Dialogue
“It works. My crazy Wicca bullshit. It works!” (All Cheerleaders Die)
“What the fuck are you?” “The fuzz.” (Wolfcop)
“What do you want from me, Zach? I’m a fucking zombie.” (Life After Beth)
“Listen, we can NOT turn against each other right now. That’s exactly what the beavers would want.” (Zombeavers)
“Hello, Mr. Sasquatch? I just want to be friends…” (Exists)

And the winner is…
“What do you want from me, Zach? I’m a fucking zombie.” (Life After Beth)

Funniest Scene
Beth, oven, hillside, smooth jazz (Life After Beth)
Headless iron lung (Late Phases)
Milo climbing up leg to return from whence he came (Bad Milo!)
Queen of Saliva (R100)
Cheese grater on face (Housebound)

And the winner is…
Beth, oven, hillside, smooth jazz (Life After Beth)

Best Penis Trauma
Transformation from cock to wolfcock (Wolfcop)
Shaft slice (Julia)
Were-beaver goes for nuts (Zombeaver)

And the winner is…
Transformation from cock to wolfcock (Wolfcop)

Best Erect Penis To Redress The Balance Of All The T&A Displayed In So Many Films

And the winner is…
The Samurai

Worst Film
Deadly Virtues
Shockwave Darkside 3D
Zombeavers

And the winner is…
Shockwave Darkside 3D

Best FrightFest Guest
Nacho Vigalondo (Director of Open Windows and V/H/S: Viral): a beaming presence who threw himself into the festivities and made everyone smile.