Best Leading Female

 

Vera Farmiga (Lorraine Warren) - The Conjuring

Lili Taylor (Carolyn Perron) - The Conjuring

Mia Wasikowska (India Stoker) - Stoker

Jane Levy (Mia) - Evil Dead

Laura Caro (Sol) - Here Comes the Devil

 

Winner

 

Vera Farmiga - In a year where the leading ladies of horror have taken over all elements of film making this is difficult to choose one winner but it was Farmiga's brilliant portrayal of Lorraine Warren that has taken our Queen of horror award for his year. May we also add that she is the shining star in the poorly received 'Bates Motel' stealing the show as Mother Bates.

 

Best Leading Male

 

Patrick Wilson (Ed Warren) - The Conjuring

Reece Shearsmith (Whitehead) - A Field in England

Sam Robertson (Edward Arkham) - Dementamania

Elijah Wood (Frank) - Maniac

Aaron Poole (Aaron) - The Conspiracy

 

Winner

 

Reece Shearsmith - Ben wheatley's quite bizarre historical tale would not have been if it wasn't for its eclectic talent including a surprisingly straight role from comedian Reece Sheersmith. 

 

Best Supporting Female

 

Lin Shaye (Elise Rainier) - Insidious Chapter 2

Dee Wallace (Sonny) - The Lords of Salem

Meg Foster (Margaret Morgan) - The Lords of Salem

Roxane Mesquida (Mimi) - Kiss of the Damned

Holly Weston (Laura Harrington) - Dementamania

 

Winner

 

Roxanne Mesquida - Yet another very close catergory where the women of horror showed their dominance. The 'Rubber' star really shined as rebellious vampire Mimi in the sexually dominated 'Kiss of the Damned'.

 

Best Supporting Male

 

Michael Smiley (O'Neil) - A Field in England

Eli Roth (Gringo) - Aftershock

J.K. Simmons (Edwin Pollard) - Dark Skies

Leigh Whannell (Specs) - Insidious Chapter 2

Angus Sampson (Tucker) - Insidious Chapter 2

 

Winner

 

Michael Smiley - Another star turn from Ben Wheatley's favourite casting, his dominmeering and ruthless O'neill against Shearsmith's lead was nothing short of mesmerising.

 

Best Actor/Actress in an Independant Feature

 

Mhairi Calvey (Anna Brooks) - Any Minute Now

Chuck Pappas (Joey) - To Jennifer

Brianne Davis (Jen) - The Night Visitor

Andrew Squires (Father Pallister) - Heretic

Louisa Lytton (Jenny) - Young, High and Dead

 

Winner

 

Louisa Lytton - She may be a household name thanks to her career in Eastenders and The Bill but it was with British horror film 'Young, High and Dead' where she showed a darker side to her acting career.

 

Best Visual Effects

 

Evil Dead

Dementamania

Pacific Rim

Hatchet 3

Frankenstein's Army

 

Winner

 

Frankenstein's Army - There is no denying that the creature design in 'Frankenstein's Army' was one of the highlights of 2013. The macabre and messed up hybrid of people and machine has yet to be matched and despite its found footage formula made for a very memorable film.

 

Best Soundtrack

 

Maniac - Rob

Insidious Chapter 2 - Joseph Bishara

A Field in England - Jim Williams

The Lords of Salem - John 5

Kiss of the Damned - Steven Hufsteter

 

Winner

 

Maniac - The eclectic 80's electro backdrop is the real star in what was surely the surprise hit of the year. Original in every aspect a remake could be Elijah Wood has never been cooler against the beats and neon lights.

 

Best Screenplay

 

A Field in England - Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump

Aftershock - Guillermo Amoedo, Nicolas Lopez

Escape from Tomorrow - Randy Moore

Insidious Chapter 2 - James Wan, Leigh Whannell

Mama - Barbara Muschietti

 

Winner

 

A Field in England - Ben Wheatley managed to baffle us all into having to watch this film again and again until it finally sunk in that it really doesn't make sense. The winning formula of an open book tale of English Civil War with four individuals chasing magic and mushrooms is a rewarding treat that leads to more insight on each and every watch.

 

Best Director

 

Ben Wheatley - A Field in England

James Wan - The Conjuring, Insidious Chapter 2

Franck Khalfoun - Maniac

Adrian Garcia Bogliano - Here Comes the Devil

Nicolas Lopez - Aftershock

 

Winner

 

James Wan - Giving us not one hair raising adventure this year but two may have been a big risk with two movies of the paranormal sharing cast, crew and tone but it paid off for the new master of Horror with the terrifying 'The Conjuring' and continuation of terror - 'Insidious Chapter 2'.

 

Best Independant Director

 

James Cullen Bressack - To Jennifer

Peter Handford - Heretic

Peter Goddard - Any Minute Now

Dominic Brunt - Before Dawn

John B Sovie II, Kristian Hanson - Sledge

 

Winner

 

Peter Handford - 'Heretic' came from nowhere to be in our eye, the best British film in recent years. It's low budget certainly had no effect on its grand story and we tip our hat to Handford for unleashing this gem.

 

Best Independant Screenplay

 

To Jennifer - James Cullen Bressack

Sledge - Kristian Hanson

The Night Visitor - Kevin Marcus, Bradley Marcus

Any Minute Now - Darren Barber, Peter Goddard

Heretic - Peter Handford

 

Winner

 

To Jennifer - Bressack's ground breaking (the first feature film to be entirely filmed on a mobile device) road trip certainly kept us on the edge of our seats as Joey heads out to surprise his "girlfriend" with shocking results.

 

Best Independant Film

 

Heretic

Sledge

Young, High and Dead

To Jennifer

Before Dawn

 

Winner

 

Heretic - There is no doubts in our minds that 'Heretic' gave most big budget films a run for their money this year and make sure you don't miss this very British tale of terror set for release in early 2014.

 

Best Original Film

 

A Field in England

The Lords of Salem

The Conjuring

Stoker

Here Comes the Devil

 

Winner

 

The Conjuring - 2013 has seen too many great films to narrow down into one catergory and honourable mentions also go out to 'Tower Block', 'Antiviral', 'Would You Rather' and 'Sharknado' but it was James Wan's based on true events chiller that raised the most fear this year. A strong cast, story and enough scares to leave you sleepless for a few nights this was most certainly the scariest of the year. 

 

Best Sequel/Prequel/Reboot

 

Evil Dead

Insidious Chapter 2

The Collection

Maniac

Curse of Chucky

 

Winner

 

Maniac - This shares nothing more than a feint plot and title with its predocessor but Franck Khalfoun and Alexandre Aja's reimagining was certainly the film we all wanted. From score to stars and the inventive use of first person angling not only for a scene but for the entire film make 'Maniac' the perfect reason to have faith in remakes.

 

Best TV Show

 

American Horror Story

The Walking Dead

 

Winner

 

American Horror Story - 2013 had a lot to get excited about. TV series were commissioned for 'Hannibal' and a prequel to 'Psycho' came in the name of 'Bates Motel' but despite some star performances (Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates and Mads Mikkelsen almost matchin Anthony Hopkins' Lecter) they ended in dissappointment. Then it was left for the big guns and established series to take centre stage. With that we can finally say that 'The Walking Dead' finally got where we wanted it with the "faster' paced zombie shenanigans we had in season one but it was the ever brilliant, albeit a dull introduction, 'American Horror Story' that stole the show again.

 

Worst Film

 

The Last Exorcism Part 2

Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia

The Bay

The Dyatlov Pass Incident

R.I.P.D.

 

Winner

 

The Last Exorcism Part 2 - It may have ditched the found footage but nothing about 'The Last Exorcism Part 2' has a redeeming feature, even its title. The great lead of Father Cotton from part one was missing to give way for more possessed mumbo jumbo for poor Nell. Showing at one point that the first film was uploaded onto YouTube only screams for a desperate attempt to gain more money from a film which wasn't great but an enjoyable watch at least.

 

Best Documentary/Special Feature

 

Tobe Hoopers Early Work - Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Special Features

The American Scream

Modify

Big Trouble in Little China Special Feature Overload

My Amityville Horror

 

Winner

 

My Amityville Horror - It was easy to see how this cash in from the child of Amityville, David Lutz, would have been a poor attempt to raise awareness, again, of the events that occured in 1978. It turned out to be a deep insight and unbiased look at how scarred Lutz was left after the "events" that happened in that house.