EJ Moreno and Flickering Myth honor the year in horror…
Welcome to the second Flickering Myth Horror Awards, the place to spotlight the best in our beloved spooky genre.
From fan-favorite horror outings to prestige heavyweights, this year’s landscape looks much different than the previous years. It’s great to see the genre thrive like this. Our Flickering Myth Horror Awards include the standard fare like Best Picture, Actress, and Actor, but we’ll also have special awards like Unexpected Horror Hit and Camp Classic of the Year.
Firstly, let’s kick things off with the second inductee into the Flickering Myth Horror Hall of Fame…
Horror Hall of Fame
Tim Burton
Decades to his name, Tim Burton can still make a banger like this year’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice; that’s how you earn a spot in the Hall of Fame. It’s rare for a legacy sequel to work, but Burton is still that good.
There was a time when we doubted Burton. A string of films didn’t match his classic work in the late 80s and early 90s, and it seemed like his brand of horror was a thing of the past. Then Wednesday dropped, starting his collaboration with Jenna Ortega, and that would lead to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The stars aligned perfectly.
Tim Burton introduced a whole generation to the macabre, including myself, and I can’t deny how good it was to be reminded of his greatness this year. Whether it was the original Beetlejuice or its sequel, Edward Scissorhands, or Mars Attacks, Burton knows how to bring joy through some wild worlds, and for that, we are grateful.
Unexpected Horror Hit
Longlegs
Neon had a wildly impressive year, with multiple films breaking into the mainstream. Indie horror had quite a great year in general, and a movie like Longlegs is precisely why.
In what I labeled “the scariest film of the decade,” this Oz Perkins-helmed film stormed onto the scene and held no prisoners. We had one of the best viral marketing campaigns in years, the mystery of what Nicolas Cage’s titular Longlegs actually looked like, and great buzz leading up to the release. Once it dropped, it made some mega bucks.
As it stands, Longlegs grossed $127 million worldwide on a budget of less than $10 million, becoming Neon’s highest-grossing film domestically and the highest-grossing independent film of the year. That type of mainstream magic is hard for horror to capture, and we’re so happy this fantastic film found a home with the right sickos.
Runner-up: Terrifier 3
Camp Classic of the Year
The Deliverance
A Tubi movie featuring drag queens almost nabbed this spot, but that purposeful campy romp couldn’t touch this. What makes The Deliverance so campy is that the film is seemingly 100% taking itself seriously.
Director Lee Daniels seemingly sought to make a serious horror film about a poverty-stricken family facing a demonic force. Still, the final product was not serious and only occasionally creepy. Where the film really shines is a bat-shit crazy performance from Glenn Close as the family matriarch. It starts at a ten and gets better when she’s possessed.
Daniels shows some power as a horror filmmaker, but there are bizarre choices after bizarre choices. Glenn Close delivers lines that will live with me for a lifetime, and the final act shows the wonderfully talented Andra Day doing the absolute most. It’s not great, but as a lover of “bad” movies, this totally earns a spot on my list.
Runner-up: Slay
Best International Film
Exhuma
South Korean horror has long been the go-to for genre fans seeking something different. Looking back to the genre-bending Oldboy, the horror community knows we’re in for a treat, and Exhuma is a delight.
At the time of writing, this is the sixth highest-grossing South Korean film of all time and deserves so. It’s a stunningly haunted film with all the signature we’ve come to expect from the country’s genre films, including film industry staple Choi Min-sik. Even with that, it still finds a way to be surprising with how it twists paranormal films.
The direction and writing are strong, but if there had to be one reason to see this, it would be Kim Go-eun. The actress steals this film and can’t be missed when it comes to great horror performances this year. You must go out of your way to see this terrifyingly great South Korean export; the year is incomplete without this.
Runner-up: The Devil’s Bath
Best Horror Director
Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)
After her debut in 2017 with Revenge, we knew we had a powerhouse brewing in Coralie Fargeat. She had a knack for tension, body horror, and femininity, all of which are on display with her latest, The Substance.
Fargeat has a distinct vision and is unafraid to add humor to even the most heinous moments. There’s a fabulous look with the world she creates; The Substance has such a polished chic aesthetic captured perfectly through her cinematic language. The way she uses the camera to photograph these nasty visuals in beautiful places? Masterwork.
Fargeat nabbed a Best Director nomination at the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice awards at the time of reporting. Could she make it all the way to the Academy Awards? It would be quite the moment for The Substance and Fargeat, but also for the horror genre. Much pressure is on, but we know the genre fans love what she did.
Runner-up: Robert Eggers (Nosferatu)
Best Horror Actor
David Howard Thornton (Terrifier 3)
In the prestige space, Hugh Grant has been gaining nominations for his role in Heretic. While that’s an excellent turn, I have to look at what horror fans are discussing: Art the Clown.
Terrifier 3 dominated the fall of 2024, becoming quite the meme while also finding a way to turn its online chatter into box office success. It grossed big bucks at the box office and perfected its slasher formula. Everything lined up perfectly for the movie, and at the center is one brilliant turn by actor David Howard Thornton.
Each time the actor has stepped into the role of Art the Clown, we’ve seen horror magic. In my review of the film, when I call Thornton the “Charlie Chaplin of Horror,” I wholeheartedly mean that. He does so much with no dialogue and always knows the tone needed for this twisted madness. This generation finally has its horror icon.
Runner-up: David Dastmalchian (Late Night With The Devil)
Best Horror Actress
Demi Moore (The Substance)
Speaking of prestige, Demi Moore has entered an awards season decades after her last run. Shockingly, it’s with the year’s most gnarly and visceral films, something unheard of during most years.
Moore held nothing back in her daring performance, evoking Joan Crawford’s camp work within the world of the nasty Cronenberg fever dream. The actress spends most of the film working alone, which you overlook at first, but it soon drives home the isolated nature that led her to take the titular substance.
Prestige films have discussed aging before, and horror has used this metaphor for years, but something about Demi Moore at the center of the film brings out this new layer. As a tabloid figure during her career, Moore had fuel to add to this fire, and she masterfully became a vehicle for director Coralie Fargeat’s work.
Runner-up: Lily-Rose Depp (Nosferatu)
Best Horror Sequel or Remake
Nosferatu
Robert Eggers tackling his first IP had to be remarkable. When he chose to remake Nosferatu, we were all hyped. After seeing it, the horror community should know how lucky we are to have Eggers.
Tackling one of the seminal horror films of our lifetime is daunting enough, but capturing that time period accurately while maintaining what made the original Nosferatu is nearly impossible. Somehow, Robert Eggers not only does it but also does it with such power that we will be hailing this as his masterwork for years.
Filled with great performances and some of the year’s best production designs, every element of this film is firing on all cylinders. And you can’t talk about this film without mentioning the powerful work of Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlock. The actor has his best turn since Pennywise in IT and is a significant part of why this is so perfect.
Best Horror Film
The Substance
It’s not often that a modern horror film can evoke the feelings we had when we saw the body horror work of Brian Yuzna or David Cronenberg. It’s even rarer that the film makes the Oscars shortlist.
One of the most audacious projects in recent memory, The Substance by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, held space in 2024. It began with a solid marketing campaign, which led to some hilarious memes that will live with us. The film found its home with film critics and horror lovers alike, and the warm reception morphed into awards nominations.
Mainstream audiences, horror fans, and awards pundits gathered around this project. Fargeat bared her soul through her vivid filmmaking, allowing her actors to breathe life into the material perfectly. Add the spectacle of the makeup effects and that final act, and it’s great to see how The Substance became the moment.
Runner-up: Longlegs
What do you think of the second Flickering Myth Horror Awards? Do you agree with the picks chosen? What categories would you like to see for next year’s awards? And what was your favorite horror film of the year? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
EJ Moreno
