2026 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards: Best Limited Release Nominees

From Gothic revenge tales to sapphic supernatural stories, there's some serious competition this year.
ByMaggie Boccella
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Best limited Release
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It’s the best time of the year: the nominees for the 2026 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards have been announced, celebrating the best of the best in horror. But while some of our favorite horror movies get long runs in theaters or enjoy viral success on a streamer, others get a much less lauded release — which is where our award for Best Limited Release comes in. 

Last year’s award went to E.L. Katz’s Azrael, starring Samara Weaving as a mute woman trying to survive the apocalypse. But who will take home the crown this year? Before you vote, check out all the nominees for Best Limited Release here. 

  • Dust Bunny

    Mads Mikkelsen in DUST BUNNY/screenshot courtesy of Roadside Flix
    Mads Mikkelsen in DUST BUNNY (Credit: Roadside Flix)
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    Hannibal helmer Bryan Fuller makes his feature debut with the fantasy horror Dust Bunny, featuring Mads Mikkelsen as an assassin hired by an eight year old girl to kill the monster under her bed. Also featuring David Dastmalchian, Sigourney Weaver, and Sheila Atim, Fuller creates a gateway horror film for young ones as he toys with the idea of childhood fears becoming real. 

    While he’s better known for writing on terrifying tales that’ll have you second-guessing your next stake, Fuller goes hog-wild with the world of Dust Bunny, earning him a spot on this list for his first ever film.

  • Mārama

    Ariāna Osborne in Overlook award winner MĀRAMA (Credit: Dark Sky Films)
    Ariāna Osborne in Taratoa Stappard's MĀRAMA (Credit: Dark Sky Films)
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    Director Taratoa Stappard takes the Gothic genre and turns it on its head in his debut feature film Mārama, featuring Ariāna Osborne as a young Māori woman who journeys to England to find out the truth about her family. What she discovers is more horrifying than she could possibly have imagined, and with it comes a reckoning that no one is prepared for, not even her. 

    The film uses its own genre conventions to emotionally devastating effect, turning a primarily Eurocentric style of story into a deeply moving commentary on colonialism and Māori identity, and one hell of an entry into the canon of “Good for Her.”

  • Queens of the Dead

    QUEENS OF THE DEAD (Credit: IFC Films)
    QUEENS OF THE DEAD (Credit: IFC Films)
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    Tina Romero continues her father’s legacy with this campy zombie flick that puts a group of drag queens at the center of the chaos. As a love letter to both George Romero’s influence on the zombie film and the queer community that makes horror what it is, Queens of the Dead gathers a crew that includes Nina West, Katy O’Brian, Riki Lindhome, and Margaret Cho to give viewers the show of a lifetime as drag meets dread.

    While films like 28 Years Later took over the conversation when it comes to undead menaces this year, Romero keeps the horror comedy alive with her take on the classic movie monster, and we certainly hope to see a lot more from her in the future.

  • The Serpent's Skin

    THE SERPENT'S SKIN (Credit: Dark Star Pictures)
    THE SERPENT'S SKIN (Credit: Dark Star Pictures)
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    Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackey’s sixth film is a sapphic supernatural tale of heartbreak and witchy womanhood. Starring Alexandra McVicker, Scott Major, Charlotte Chimes, Joe Lynch, and Jordan Dulieu, the film takes inspiration from ‘90s cult favorites like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Craft for the story of a woman escaping her transphobic town only to wind up with a demon feasting on all of her friends. 

    Combining the classic ghost story with a romance strong enough to survive a demonic possession makes The Serpent’s Skin one of the most unique films on this list, as its protagonists must face their insecurities in order to defeat evil.

  • Touch Me

    TOUCH ME (Credit: Yellow Veil Pictures)
    TOUCH ME (Credit: Yellow Veil Pictures)
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    This sci-fi horror comedy will make you rethink that ex you’re still pining over. Directed by Addison Heimann, Touch Me stars Olivia Taylor Dudley and Jordan Gavaris as a pair of codependent, traumatized friends who run into Brian, a former boyfriend who seems perfect on the surface, but is hiding serious secrets just behind his perfect facade. 

    And by secrets, we mean he’s an alien. Because what else would you expect from the films we nominate for Chainsaw Awards? Either way, Joey and Craig are forced to face violence and danger to escape Brian’s clutches, all while trying to figure out what the hell they’re meant to be doing with their lives. 

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Contributing Writer

A self-professed Babe With the Power and bad movie enthusiast, Maggie Boccella is a pop culture junkie whose work also appears on Collider. When not writing, she's probably watching a schlocky '80s movie or reading a murder mystery.