Discover the five stellar shorts nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award, together representing the most impressive short-form films of 2022.
The name Fangoria is known far and wide. As such, the annual Chainsaw awards give genre fans a chance to celebrate the films and performances they’ve loved over the past year. It also opens up a plethora of new horrors to genre fans, many of which may have flown under the radar. Once the 2023 Chainsaw award contenders were announced, I made it a point to check out all the excellent nominated shorts.
While voting for the awards may be closed, I encourage you to experience these amazing short films for yourself. Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on Shudder, likely sometime in May. Watch all the outstanding nominees, and then stay tuned to find out if your favorites take home the coveted statue.
MEAT FRIEND (8 minutes, Izzy Lee and Steve Johnson)
Meat Friend is an outlandish comedy short about a sentient ex-con pile of meat who teaches children important life lessons. If that sentence doesn’t immediately sell this one to you, then we are on different wavelengths! I found myself laughing out loud all the way through this one. The only thing I was disappointed with was that it had to end so soon. It was also great to see b-movie favorite Megan Duffy along for the fun.
O, GLORY (2 minutes, Charlie Edwards-Moss and Joe Williams)
This trippy, 70s-inspired short is a psychedelic descent into madness. O, Glory does a great job capturing the gritty, downbeat feel of 70s horror and exploitation cinema. It showcases the isolation and dread that comes with genre films of the era, such as Wicker Man. A psychiatric Doctor and his assistant take a trip to an isolated country cottage in order to assess a woman who it is claimed is losing her mind. On the face of it, it may be a standard psychological horror, but the experience feels more like a heart-pounding, mind-bending fever dream.
GUTS (8 minutes, Chris McInroy)
This is another hilarious horror comedy that absolutely hits the mark. It is about the working life of a man whose guts are on the outside instead of the inside. Guts is as gross as it is funny and will have you squirming in your seat as much as howling with laughter.
BLINK (10 minutes, Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg)
A woman is pushed from her window and is now paralyzed, able only to communicate by blinking. She tries to warn those around her of a sinister force with murderous intent, but all seems futile. Blink is an edge-of-the-seat thrill ride that doesn’t give you chance to catch your breath during its ten-minute runtime. I was in suspense as I felt for this woman, powerless to convey the horror and torment that afflicted her.
CLOSE YOUR EYES (3 minutes, Andy Chen)
This is a punchy short with a quick build and effective payoff. It almost has a feeling of nostalgia because of the structure and runtime, fitting it neatly in amongst the many great shorts out there that focus on the jump scare. Sleepwalking is always a creepy tool to use in horror, and it’s played out wonderfully here.
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So there you have it, this year’s exceptional nominees for Best Horror Short in the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. I would struggle to pick a winner from these, as the quality is outstanding across the board. , But as my heart lies with comedy horror, I would have to toss a coin between the riotous Meat Friend and Guts. Whoever wins, the real winner is you, the viewer.
I hope you have as much fun with these shorts as I did, and I look forward to seeing the results! Let us know in the comments who gets your vote.
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