It seems like it has to be said every year, but best actress is the hardest and most jam-packed of the nominee groups.  It's the same story for 2022. There were so many great performances by actresses in 2022 where these women simply owned the genre. This year, a definitive new wave of young actresses are on the scene. Rebecca Hall holds down the fort for the veteran actresses, but there is a generational push that has arrived, so much so that we couldn't include everybody.

These actors anchored their films in 2022.  The generational change in the male side of the horror genre is also going through a youth movement. Though a couple of veteran actors had a great showing (Roth and Fiennes) this was largely a young man's game in 2022.  It bodes well for the future, doesn't it?

The supporting actresses often get some of the best roles.  Roles where the actress can just unleash her inner method. Villains and colorful companions are often the domain of the supporting actresses and we got some great ones this year.  The nominees for best supporting actress in a horror move are:

Are you looking for your comic relief?  Your antagonist?  Your foil?  The best friend who tells it like it is?  Look no further than the best supporting actor. These often scene-chewing performances may leave a lasting impression long after the film is done, even if the character was not the central figure of the film.  This year's supporting actors are made up of veteran actors. These guys flesh out the movie and are the extra flavor needed to make the story work.  Our favorite supporting actors for 2022 are:

You don't have to be a youngster to be a breakout rising star, but it helps.  Many of these performers are in their first dramatic roles in an independent feature film.  In 2022, most of these nominees are in are getting their first lead roles... or first movies ever.  These are actors who deserve to reap the rewards of bigger and better jobs due to their great performances in 2022 Horror:

We all have to start somewhere, and these nominees are your on-ramp to the horror genre.  Not as gory or as viscerally intense as much of horror, these movies still bring some scares, but often bring a lot of fun to the proceedings.  These films would be (mostly) kid friendly, but would also be applicable for the scaredy cat adults out there who need a fun entry point when picking a horror film. Honestly, this year, not a lot of kid's fare, but a bunch of films that would be "low impact" for horror Newbies, and per usual, it's largely the big studios providing the more accessible fare.

Horror and Comedy. Peanut Butter and Jelly.  These are compliments to each other, and try to draw the two great and powerful emotions out of you in quick succession.  Humor and glee, with dread and terror.  When it doesn't work, it's almost palpably painful.  But when it works: pure gold!  Our favorites in horror comedies from 2022:

The art of the movie poster isn't dead yet!  Horror films have always had some of the best movie posters.  In an era where movie marketers want to pitch the headshots of the big stars in their movies, horror movies rely upon the story and the feels of the films to draw you to them.  

Often known for cheap production values, the genre is capable of showing off the beauty of the scary. When horror brings quality Cinematography to the table the experience is much more powerful.  These 2022 films were able to show the beauty to juxtapose or heighten the sense of terror and dread in their films in 2022:

And here is the other side of that visual experience.  In a Kaiju-less year, the nominees were quite varied in 2022.  The acrophobic and queasy situation in Fall, the bizarro world of Phil TIppet's Mad God, a rejuvenated take on the Predator, the hypnotic angelic alien of Nope, an indestructible vengeful lion in Beast, and a couple of creepy lycanthrope films highlight last year's offerings.

Sound plays such an important role in horror movies.  From the snap of a branch to the nap of a neck, the right audio clue at the right moment makes all the difference in the world.  Sometimes you are looking for the jump scare, and other times you are setting up the ominous build up, and you need the right audio score to hammer this home.  This category also recognizes movies that have strong original soundtrack ties or a great original score.

Where would the horror genre be without movies like Martyrs, Ju-On, Train to Busan, Suspiria, Nosferatu, or Pan's Labyrinth?  Get to know other cultures by what scares them the most!  It's the most fun you can have learning about another culture, and get your socks scared off.  Foreign films also are envelope pushers.  Horror films pushed to the extremes, and this year is no exception.  The nominees for this year's best International Film are:

We are careful to point out here, that this isn't the WORST movie of 2022, but the most DISAPPOINTING movie of 2022.  The Thing is, you have to have the semblance of expectations to begin with, in order to make this list. A movie that sounded like it was going to be entertaining, but ended up being a letdown.  That's not to say that some of these moments don't have some good moments (See below), but as a whole, not what we wanted from them. Then again, a couple of these movies do suck, and we're here to point this out.  Your nominees for the 2022 Depends award are:

2022 for gore hounds will be forever known as the year of Terrifier 2. It is unrelentlessly gory and the violence stacks upon violence in a way that I have a hard time figuring out how it managed to show in theaters.  No doubt this is NC-17 material, and frankly this appears to be Art's party and everyone else is happy to be here.  But who knows?  The rest of these scenes were pretty intense.

An encouraging trend in horror movies over the past decade is the emphasis on strong storytelling and dialogue. A great script and story can be the difference in helping you remember a film or dismissing it as a fluff piece.  Horror can be smart.  Horror is better when it's smart. Just don't call quality horror scripting elevated horror! This year's nominees are:

There's something about a great inhuman monster. It brings out the little kid in you, as the monsters from your dreams come alive on screen.  Big and stompy or twisted and mutated, these beasties touched our imagination in 2022:

You might recognize something here.  You don't have to be a great FILM to have a great horror MOMENT.  Each of these moments leaves an indelible stamp on your memory of the movie in your brain. These are the proverbial "HOLY SHIT!" events that will have you talking about it to your friends later.  The moments for us in 2022:

The best director category has a few iconic horror directors this year.  Jordan Peele, Ti West, and Scott Derrickson continue to bolster their resumes as being among the best in the business in genre film.  Carter Smith has made a welcome return from film purgatory with the shocking and poignant Swallowed.  Luca Guadagnino proved that his version of Suspiria was not a fluke and that he is a name to be reckoned with in horror with the melancholy Bones and All.  Zach Cregger makes a successful leap from TV (The Whitest Kids U' Know) to the big screen with Barbarian.  And Christian Tafdrup and Chloe Okuno were given golden opportunities to show off their talents to a wide audience in their breakout features.

One of The Scariest Things favorite topics is "Horror movie... or not?"  We embrace the horror-adjacent films, and wanted to find a way to include them in our celebration of scary films.  Many of these films were part of the film festival circuit, and if you haven't been paying attention, you really should participate in the genre film festivals as there are so many great films, particularly films that are almost, but not-quite horror movies.  Our nominees from 2022:

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