'Obsession' Takes Five Wins at Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

Curry Barker's "Obsession" dominated the 2025 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards with five wins, including Best Director for Barker and Best Lead Performance for Inde Navarrette. The fan-voted awards, which honor horror in film, television and gaming, premiered Sunday on Shudder, hosted by Devon Sawa of "Final Destination" and "Chucky" fame.

The victory sweep was not limited to the top categories. "Obsession" also won Best Wide Release, Best Screenplay and Best Kill for its "Brick Kill" sequence, beating a field that included "Weapons," "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" and "The Bride!"

What did 'Backrooms' take home?

The internet-cryptid feature "Backrooms" earned the second-highest tally of the night: three awards. It won Best First Feature, Best Cinematography for Jeremy Cox, and Best Score for Kane Parsons and Edo Van Breemen. Chiwetel Ejiofor had also been nominated for Best Lead Performance for the film but lost to Navarrette.

The craft categories told a different story. "Frankenstein" took Best Costume Design for Kate Hawley and Best Makeup FX for Mike Hill. Jim Henson's Creature Shop won Best Creature FX for "Five Nights at Freddy's 2."

Who won in television and gaming?

"Widow's Bay" won Best Series over nominees including "Alien: Earth" and "The Creep Tapes." "Resident Evil: Requiem" won Best Video Game against a field that included "Silent Hill f" and "Little Nightmares III." "The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs" took Best Non-Fiction TV Series or Miniseries.

On the film side, "Dust Bunny" won Best Limited Release Movie, "V/H/S/Halloween" won Best Streaming Premiere, and Japan's "Exit 8" won Best International Movie. "In Search of Darkness: 1995-1999" won Best Documentary Feature. Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Performance for "Weapons."

The ceremony's lighter side

Two moments stood out beyond the competitive categories. "Insidious" star Lin Shaye presented the final award of the evening to "Obsession." "Cujo" star Dee Wallace presented the Goodest Boy award to Indy, the Nova Scotia retriever who leads "Good Boy."

Michael Varrati, who wrote and directed the ceremony, framed the tone as deliberate. "Like the genre it honors, the true fun of the Chainsaw Awards is that we have the audience's permission to push the envelope," Varrati said. "Horror fans not only want to celebrate the films and individuals who kept them watching, but they want to do it in a manner befitting the thing they love."

He added: "That's why we can present a special award to a dog who became a fan favorite or send our scream king host into a corn maze to contend with things lurking behind the rows."

Special honorees

Joe Bird, known for "Talk to Me" and "Leviticus," received the Editor's Eyeball Award recognizing his rising horror career. A second Editor's Eyeball Award went to co-presenter James A. Janisse, honoring him and Chelsea Rebecca for creating the horror YouTube channel "Dead Meat."

The ceremony was executive produced by Armen Aghaeian, Tara Ansley and Abhi Goel. Amanda Grace Collins served as lead producer, with Phil Nobile Jr. and Varrati producing.

What does this change for the winners? For "Obsession" and "Backrooms," both emerging titles in a year crowded with studio releases, a fan-voted platform on Shudder delivers visibility that no trade review can buy — though whether that converts to wider distribution remains, as ever, the unanswered question.