Grimmfest, Manchester’s International Festival of Fantastic Film, celebrated its 18th anniversary this year with four ferocious, fear-filled days of the very best in genre cinema, screening at The Odeon Great Northern in Manchester, UK, from October 8th – 11th. We hosted plenty of World, International or UK premieres, many of them eligible for the much-coveted Grimm Reaper Awards.
The not inconsiderable challenge of allocating this year’s awards was accepted with admirable enthusiasm, by this year’s stoic jury: Director/screenwriter/actor Jennifer Trudrung (THE NEST, THE VIRGINS), Tim Scaping (Production and marketing head at Trinity Content Partners), MMU based academic and author Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes and genre cinema journalist and LOVE HORROR head honcho, Tom Atkinson.
The festival team would like to thank them all for their dedication, discernment, and diplomacy. The Jury’s task is never an easy one, but they accomplished it with a minimum of bloodshed and in the end a final consensus and agreement were reached.
The Grimm Reaper winners for Grimmfest 2026 are:
BEST SCARE AWARD: Joint winners: NEVER AFTER DARK and THE WHISPER.
NEVER AFTER DARK scored for the overall atmosphere of creeping disquiet conveyed in sound, space and shadow, but also for what our Jury termed the “scraping fingernails scene”.
THE WHISPER freaked our Jurors out with two scenes in particular – the way in which the film’s big “reveal” is delivered, and the truly nightmarish “baby scene”.
Special mentions: CRAWLERS, for that final scene, and UNDER YOUR FEET for one of the best jump-scares of the year.
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BEST SFX AWARD: Joint winners, THE GLORIOUS DEAD & BOX CUTTER.
THE GLORIOUS DEAD home crafted SFX by “The Adams Family,” a four-person DIY filmmaking collective that bakes practical, hands-on gore directly into the DNA of their films.
BOX CUTTER relies entirely on visceral, meticulously hand-crafted practical effects, using low-budget ingenuity to deliver a heavy, authentic level of gore that intensifies the film’s emotional drama.
Special mentions: THE ONES WHO GRIEVE for the plague victims and SICKO, for the injury effects during the bone crunching fight sequence.
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BEST CREATURE DESIGN: THE ROOM BELOW.
Incredible practical effects from the award-winning studio, Make Up Effects Group (MEG) to create a physical monster that serves as a visceral metaphor for the protagonist’s (Alyssa Sutherland) grief.
Special mentions: THE GLORIOUS DEAD and GRIND.
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BEST VFX: CRAWLERS
Seamlessly blends real-world footage of live spiders, practical animatronics, and highly detailed digital models into the shadow-drenched environments of the apartment block. Masterful!
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BEST SHORT: HARVEST
Written, directed and starring PATON ASHBROOK who gives an emotionally raw performance anchoring a terrifyingly grounded, near-future sci-fi nightmare about technology capitalizing on human isolation.
Special mention: IMPRINT
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MÉLIÈS BEST EUROPEAN SHORT: QUI INSIEME
A clear winner in the European shorts category, Fabio Langella’s unsettling moral parable, brilliantly subverts an inter-dimensional sci-fi romance into a terrifying psychological horror. A metaphor for toxic, obsessive relationships.
Special mention: THE HIRING PROTOCOL, Francois Choquene’s sourly satiric and unexpectedly emotionally weighty exploration of the emotional and psychological challenges of the search for employment in an increasingly computerised, corporate world.
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DEBUT FEATURE AWARD: THEY ALWAYS COME AT NIGHT
A mature debut from Victor Catalá and Carlos Camba Tomé. The ensemble cast is entirely convincing as a family under threat from the supernatural Santa Compaña. It also brilliantly taps into real Galician legend.
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SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Jacob Santana for EVIL DRESS and REVERSION
An incredible, daunting achievement by first-time feature director Jacob Santana. Shot back-to-back, these two strikingly different debut features boast exceptional production values and a high-end Spanish cast. Beautifully realised works from a remarkable new talent.
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SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: BOXCUTTER
Lucky Cerutti’s no-holds-barred masterclass in raw, character-driven, low-budget filmmaking. Nail-bitingly tense and a truly deserving winner.
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ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION AWARD: Joint winners THE GLORIOUS DEAD and ITHAQUA.
Both snow-bound films are incredible production feats. It’s mind-boggling how a four-person family team, The Adam’s family crafted the captivating THE GLORIOUS DEAD. Meanwhile, Casey Walker’s frontier survival horror ITHAQUA, shot in brutal temperatures of -38°C by day and -52°C by night; is a true testament to its crew’s grit.
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LEGACY AWARD: Steve Pink.
From TERRESTRIAL all the way back to GROSSE POINTE BLANK and taking in HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, HIGH FIDELITY and many more. An incredible body of work…
Special mention: Gustavo Hernández from SILENT HOUSE to THE WHISPER and taking in VIRUS-32 along the way, a master of the genre.
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BEST COMEDY: GRIND.
Successfully translates the soul-crushing anxieties of modern corporate life and the gig economy into a bloody, brilliantly acted, and hilariously unhinged anthology.
Special mention: STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL
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BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL.
Contrasts Melvil Poupaud’s charismatic, manic energy and Asia Argento’s gritty menace against Marine Vacth and Harpo Guit’s straight-faced descent into criminal chaos.
Special mentions: TERRESTRIAL and ITHAQUA.
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BEST ART DIRECTION: Nick William’s for MARAMA.
Transforms a Victorian Yorkshire manor into a dark, oppressive “living mausoleum” that beautifully uses shadows and minimalist excess to reflect the horrors of colonial history.
Special mention: ITHAQUA.
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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Antoine Carpentier for THE ONES WHO GRIEVE.
Painterly compositions, naturalistic lighting and period-accurate framing, creates a thick, oppressive atmosphere that captures the raw misery of this alternate version of late 19th century.
Special mentions: Jack McDonald for MOTHERWITCH, Bryn McCashin for ITHAQUA.
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BEST SCORE: Alberto Torres for DISFORIA.
Masterfully blends abrasive dissonance, psychoacoustic elements, and stark emotional contrasts to transform the protagonist’s mental breakdown into a visceral, deeply unsettling sensory experience.
Special mentions: SICKO, CRAWLERS, STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL.
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BEST EDITING: Ben Lee Allan and Damien Fannon for IVAN.
Masterfully paced; a tense, slow-burn psychological drama that seamlessly escalates into a multi-layered, chaotic tech-horror climax.
Special mentions; CRAWLERS and NEVER AFTER DARK.
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BEST SCREENPLAY: Graham Guit for STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL.
Brilliantly deconstructs a quiet family reunion into a chaotic, pitch-black horror comedy through sharp, absurd dialogue and a shocking, genre-shifting descent into extreme violence.
Special mentions: GRIND, ODDITIES, SICKO.
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BEST CHILD PERFORMANCE: Sofía Otero and Ibai Atanes in UNDER YOUR FEET.
Child actors, Sofía Otero and Ibai Atanes deliver exceptionally powerful performances by blending raw psychological realism with an instinctual sibling chemistry that anchors the film’s eerie terror.
Special mentions: Gilbert Bradman and Alistair Bradman in THE ROOM BELOW, Marcelo Michinaux in THE WHISPER.
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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Toby Stephens in MARAMA.
Stephens masterfully subverts the romantic lead to play a chillingly polite, sociopathic colonial antagonist whose apparent admiration for Māori culture masks a terrifying, manipulative obsession.
Special mention: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart for STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL.
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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Joint winners; Adrienne Barbeau for ODDITIES and Asia Argento for STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL.
Two genre icons at the peak of their considerable game, demonstrating precisely why they are held in such high esteem.
Adrienne Barbeau’s masterful transition from a warm, welcoming shopkeeper to a chillingly unhinged villain; her meatiest and most menacing role in years.
Asia Argento brings a fierce, unhinged energy to the role of Mila, seamlessly blending raw physical menace with razor-sharp dark humour.
Special mention to Claudia Salas for DISFORIA.
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BEST ACTRESS: Joint winners, Ariāna Osborne for MARAMA and Margarita Zachariou for MOTHERWITCH.
Ariāna Osborne’s flawlessly balances a raw, physical embodiment of Māori ancestral rage with the quiet tension of a Victorian gothic horror.
Margarita Zachariou’s delivers a raw, operatic portrayal of deep maternal grief, brilliantly balancing sympathy and terror while keeping her character deeply human.
Special mentions: Toby Poser for THE GLORIOUS DEAD and Alyssa Sutherland for THE ROOM BELOW.
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BEST ACTOR: Thierry Frémont for THE ONES WHO GRIEVE. Fremont’s ferocious performance as Jacob, a truly monstrous creation that blends religious fanaticism with absolute, unwavering control.
Special mentions: Ayan Utepburgen in SICKO, Melvil Poupaud in STRONGER THAN THE DEVIL.
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BEST DIRECTOR: Aitore Zholdaskali for SICKO.
Zholdaskali seamlessly blends pitch-black comedy, social drama, and full-blown horror. SICKO acts as a stylish, ultra-violent thriller, that serves as a biting satire on the financial desperation and indignities of late-stage capitalism.
Special mention Taratoa Stappard for MARAMA.
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BEST FEATURE FILM: NEVER AFTER DARK.
Dave Boyles mesmerizing J- Horror is masterfully written, with exceptionally crafted old-school practical atmosphere, and a powerful, anchoring lead performance by Moeka Hoshi.
Special mention: MARAMA.
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AUDIENCE AWARD: CRAWLERS. Runners up MARAMA, NEVER AFTER DARK
The votes are all in, and after a close-run contest, with only a few votes to separate the top three films, this year’s AUDIENCE AWARD goes to CRAWLERS, with MARAMA a close second, and 3rd Place going to NEVER AFTER DARK.
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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Adrienne Barbeau.
A well-deserved award for her outstanding work through decades of genre cinema from THE FOG through to ODDITIES.
Simeon Halligan Festival director said: ‘So that’s it for another year. An incredible line up of wonderful new genre movies graced our screens and we are so proud to offer the jury’s carefully considered selection of awards. So many truly original independently made movies hailing from all corners of the globe, we thank them one and all for their wonderful cinematic creations and for trusting us to give them the big screen exposure they deserve’.