2023 Scare Value Award Nominees

Here are the nominees for the second annual Scare Value Awards. Celebrating the very best in horror for 2023.

Ten categories…some traditional, some less so. Every movie that became available in the United States in the last calendar year is eligible. If a movie has been seen at a festival or overseas prior to 2023 but wasn’t available via a theatrical, streaming or on demand release until 2023…it’s eligible. If it made a festival run in 2023 but did not become widely available during the year…it is not.

We will also reveal two new entries into the Scare Value Hall of Fame later this week within our awards article. The Hall of Fame will consist of the greatest and/or most important horror films ever made. Each Hall of Fame class will have two inductees. One will be unveiled in each part of our awards articles.

Beware of inevitable spoilers within the nominations.

The 2023 Scare Value Award Nominees

Best Actor

Dave Bautista – Knock at the Cabin

Tobin Bell – Saw X

Nicolas Cage – Renfield

Tim Pocock – Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism

LaKeith Stanfield – Haunted Mansion

Best Actress

Kaitlyn Dever – No One Will Save You

M.C. Huff – KillHer

Morgan Saylor – Spoonful of Sugar

Alyssa Sutherland – Evil Dead Rise

Sophie Wilde – Talk to Me

Best Screenplay

Ted Geoghegan – Brooklyn 45

Andy Faulkner, Callie Hernandez, Will Madden, Pete Ohs and Ashley Denise Robinson – Jethica

Andrew Bowser – Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls

Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse – Summoning Sylvia

David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver and Jen D’Angelo – Totally Killer

Best Director

Takashi Yamazaki – Godzilla Minus One

Ryan Stevens Harris – Moon Garden

Robbie Banfitch – The Outwaters

Ken’ichi Ugana – Visitors

John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser – Where the Devil Roams

Best Gore Effects

Craving

Evil Dead Rise

Project Wolf Hunting

Saw X

When Evil Lurks

Best Final Girl

Madison – Influencer

Brynn – No One Will Save You

Jamie – Totally Killer

Emily – Unseen

Becky – The Wrath of Becky

Best Killer

Ellie – Evil Dead Rise

CW – Influencer

Alex – Jagged Mind

Eddie – KillHer

Alpha – Slotherhouse

Best Kill

Zipline into spikes – The Conference

Exorcism gone wrong – Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism

Atomic breath in the city – Godzilla Minus One

Kathleen makes an excellent dinner – Thanksgiving

The dog – When Evil Lurks

Best Twist

The truth about the support group – Appendage

What’s in the walls – Cobweb

There’s something in the hull of the ship – Project Wolf Hunting

They aren’t summoning a demon – The Sacrifice Game

Who is the real evil? – Spoonful of Sugar

Best Picture

Godzilla Minus One

The Outwaters

Talk to Me