Director Steve Kostanski on the set of "Psycho Gorman." Photo courtesy/copyright of Steve Kostanski & MASTERSFX.
Horror genre director/writer/makeup FX artist Steve Kostanski and Emmy Award winning makeup FX artist Todd Masters, founder of MASTERSFX, proudly announce the win of two 2022 FANGORIA MAGAZINE “Chainsaw” Awards for their 2021 feature film project, Psycho Goreman (PG). The film won 2022 “Chainsaw” Awards in the categories “Best Creature FX” and “Best Limited Release Movie.” To see the full list of award winners, please visit: https://horrorobsessive.com/2022/05/15/2022-fangoria-chainsaw-awards/
In Psycho Goreman, Siblings Mimi and Luke unwittingly resurrect an ancient alien overlord who's been entombed beneath their backyard. The creature longs to destroy the universe, but thanks to their possession of a magical amulet, the kids force it to be their new best friend. As the monster reluctantly obeys their childish whims, his magical powers draw the attention of interstellar friends and fiends from across the cosmos. Soon, a rogues' gallery of galactic combatants converge on the strange realm of small-town suburbia and an absurdist battle of Saturday Morning Television-inspired action, outrageous comedy, and freaky comic-book violence ensues—one that will decide the fate of the entire galaxy!
Regarding the win of two “Chainsaw” Awards, Todd Masters said, “It was a great list of Creature FX nominees this year - each was top-notch work. And we’re truly honored to take away the win! I’m proud of Steve and our Toronto MFX team for the Best Creature FX Chainsaw Award. They really pulled out all-the-stops to make this film chock-full of monsters. And Steve himself, a superstar artist - and of course writer, producer, director - brings great energy to his movies, which is easily witnessed on-screen. He makes it fan-damn-tastic, despite what the production resources and challenges are. Everyone had as much fun making PG as we do watching it."
“The Chainsaws are more-or-less home-brewed and are one of the few awards shows that are fan-based. It’s FANGORIA’s readers and fans of these films that chose the winners. So this made our second Chainsaw Award for ‘Best Limited Release Movie,’ especially cool. The indies are typically made with more heart than budget. Steve and our team really worked hard for this win. And it’s a true honor to be part of all this,” Masters adds.
Adds Steve Kostanski, “The idea for Psycho Goreman came to me right after I finished directing Leprechaun Returns. Some friends of mine wanted to invest in a feature film, so I pitched them the idea about two kids who befriend an evil alien overlord who wreaks havoc on the world, while, at the same time, must obey their childish whims. The film is kind of an E.T. style family adventure entertainment story mashed-up with an action sci-fi horror film. To me, the movie plays like a ‘PG’-rated family film, and at other times it’s really brutal and violent.”
Director Steve Kostanski on the set of "Psycho Gorman." Photo courtesy/copyright of Steve Kostanski & MASTERSFX.
Psycho Goreman was released theatrically in theatres across the U.S. and Canada, as well as on VOD, on January 22, 2021. The film was later released on Blu-Ray March 16, 2021. Said movie reviewer Adam Graham of the Detroit News: Psycho Goreman is a hilarious gut-buster in every sense of the word.” The Canadian Special Blu-ray edition of Psycho Goreman completely sold out in a matter of days.
One of today’s most inspirational makeup FX artists, Steven Kostanski, who works in-house with the MASTERSFX Toronto studio, continues to push his talents even further, as a successful genre director. Kostanski wrote, directed, and created the monsters and makeup FX for Psycho Goreman - the film marked his fifth feature as a director. His earlier directorial projects have been Manborg, Father's Day, and The Void - both of which he co-directed - and Leprechaun Returns for SYFY.
Kostanski first began working with MASTERSFX when a movie the company was working on - A Haunting in Connecticut - came to his hometown of Winnipeg, and MFX needed some local help.
The effects work on Psycho Goreman was extensive, with the MASTERSFX Toronto team having pulled out every trick in the book to marinate the modest budgeted film in monsters.
“I don’t think there was anything else like Psycho Goreman out there recently,” Kostanski said. “It speaks to the video store kid who used to rent R-rated sci-fi and horror movies back during the ‘80s and ‘90s - movies that really were too intense for kids but that had to be seen anyway – like Terminator 2. Psycho Goreman is a tribute to the films of yesteryear that might traumatize a kid, but yet were still impossible not to watch.”
Zane Knisely, Head of MFX’s Toronto Studio, who also served as Associate Producer on Psycho Goreman, adds, “We were bursting out our bay door with creatures during the making of this film. It was a creatively exhausting movie, but somehow we pulled it off! The monsters are fun and a key part of the movie. Psycho Goreman tapped into a broad demographic, with a mindset ranging from a childlike to an adult experience. It transported me back to monster movies I loved when I was a kid. That’s how I felt when I watched it. The film is almost nostalgic - I feel it’s one of the best ‘kid’ movies ever made.”
ABOUT THE FANGORIA “CHAINSAW” AWARDS: The Fangoria “Chainsaw” Awards began in 1992. The annual ceremony recognizes outstanding achievements in horror film and television. The 2022 “Chainsaw” Awards event was hosted by David Dastmalchian (Dune, The Suicide Squad) and was live streamed live on Shudder, Sunday, May 15, 2022.
Since its launch 30 years ago, the “Chainsaw” Awards have been awarded to many notable honorees, including Wes Craven, George A. Romero, Lupita Nyong'o, Anthony Hopkins, and Elisabeth Moss.
This year, many big names from the horror world were also featured as presenters, including Dee Wallace, Joe Dante, Rachel True, Radio Silence, and many more. Nominees who were up for the prestigious 2022 horror awards included Candyman, Last Night in Soho, Titane, Chucky and Midnight Mass.
ABOUT MASTERSFX: Founded in 1987 by three-time Emmy Award winner Todd Masters, MASTERSFX (MFX) is a multi-award-winning character and makeup FX company. MASTERSFX's creative teams produce a distinctive blend of practical and digital makeup FX, prosthetics and animatronics, through a process called “dMFX,” for hundreds of hit feature films, TV shows, and commercials, since 1987..
Included among the TV projects to which MASTERSFX has contributed its work are Handmaid’s Tale, The Magicians, The Good Doctor, The Umbrella Academy, The Expanse, Coroner, The Boys, The Flash, This is Us, What We Do in the Shadows, True Blood, Six Feet Under, Tales from the Crypt, Fringe, and many others.
Among the company's film credits areChild’s Play, Sonic the Hedgehog, the 2019 version of Rabid, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Haunting in Connecticut, Star Trek: First Contact, The Horse Whisperer, Slither, Snakes on a Plane, Look Who's Talking, and many more.
Makeup and special FX artist Todd Masters is the winner of the 2021 Daytime Emmy® Award for “Outstanding Special Effects Costumes, Makeup” for his work on the Universal Studios/1440 produced TV movieAliens Stole My Body, the second entry in the young-adult, fantasy/sci-fi book series Aliens Ate My Homework by Bruce Coville. Masters is also the winner of a 2016 Daytime Emmy® and Leo Awards for “Outstanding Makeup” for the Netflix series, Monsterville. He is the winner of an Emmy Award in 2003 for the 2001/2002 Season of Six Feet Underin the category "Best Special Effects Makeup." And, in 2006, Masters won a "Saturn Award" for "Best Makeup FX" for his work on the film Slither.
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