Do The Oscars Hate Horror Movies?
Image Source: Esquire
2025 Oscar Nominee, The Substance is only the ninth horror movie to get a nod in the Best Picture Category, and at the time of this article going out (assuming The Substance doesn’t take home the plaudit) only two have managed to snag the golden statue.
It’s been seven years since a horror movie was last recognised in this category when Get Out lost to the gothic love story, The Shape of Water. And before Del Toro’s movie, we have to go all the way back to 2010 to see another horror at the top. Natalie Portman’s Black Swan was beaten out by The King’s Speech; however, Portman did take home the Best Actress statue. The other films that have raced for Best Picture are Parasite, The Green Mile, The Exorcist, Jaws, Silence of The Lambs, and The Sixth Sense.
So does the Academy hate horror movies?
Should They Have Won?
When a horror movie gets to the nomination stage, it stands a good chance. Usually, if they lose, it’s because there was strong competition. In Get Out’s year, it was pitted against Gary Oldman’s Darkest Hour, Ladybird, as well as winner, Del Toro’s Shape of Water. The Sixth Sense lost to American Beauty. The Silence of the Lambs did manage to beat Oliver Stone’s JFK and Bugsy (yes, we know, it’s closer to a psychological thriller but scary, and it’s all we’ve got), but it was a behemoth of a movie. Anthony Hopkins also snagged the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Hannibal.
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The Obvious Snubs
The Oscars snubbing horror isn’t about the overall win, they just tend not to put the movies up for the awards in the first place. Horror actually holds its own with only 9 nominations achieving 2 wins for Best Picture. Although famously Hitchcock never won a Best Director Oscar (despite five nominations), looking back further, this wasn't always true.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula won three out of the four Oscars it was nominated in, but they were all in minor categories, Costume, Effects, and Make-Up. The Academy refused to give Francis Ford Coppola recognition for his work on this amazing movie, with Best Director or Best Picture categories. Coppola had already won in both these categories for The Godfather Part II, so it could have also been a case of The Academy wanting to give another director an opportunity.
Christian Bale not receiving a nomination for his performance in American Psycho remains a mystery. That was the year that Russell Crowe (Best Actor) and Gladiator (Best Picture). Could Bale have stolen the Best Actor award from Crowe if he’d been put up? We’ll never know.
Toni Collette should have also received attention for her role in Hereditary. The A24-produced psychological horror is a modern classic, and Collette’s layered portrayal of a grieving mother rivalled anything on the Oscars list that year.
These are just the modern ones, in the distant past, there are too many to list. The Shining didn’t receive a single Oscars nod.
Genre Limits
Emily Blunt received a London Critics Award for the British Actress of 2019, and MTV dubbed her the most ‘frightening’ performance of the year for The Quiet Place. The movie won several awards elsewhere including a Saturn for Best Picture. That same year Lupita Nyong put in a stellar performance in Us. Parasite, the Korean horror satire had also broken through to American audiences. It was a good year for the genre. It might be that the Academy decided one was their limit. Parasite (deservedly) took home Best Picture, but the others didn’t get a look in. The Quiet Place was given a nomination in a minor category, sound editing. Us was forgotten completely, despite Lupita Nyong (and the movie) being nominated for a People’s Choice Award.
The year Sixth Sense received its time in the limelight for Best Picture, this happened again. The Blair Witch Project changed the horror genre, as the first movie made from ‘found footage’. Heather Donahue also put in an Oscar-worthy performance, but despite the huge box office draw, the Academy did not recognise the achievement.
Horror Self Sabotage
The biggest money-making horror franchises aren’t generally Oscar bait. Scream, The Conjuring, and Halloween, they all put bums on seats, but in B movie tradition, aren’t critically sound. Robert Englund’s performance as Freddy Kruger is one of the most iconic in horror, but it was never designed to get into the Best Actor category. This is probably the biggest reason that horror doesn’t feature more at the Academy Awards. And why it’s usually something slightly on the cusp of the genre that gets nominated because the standard slasher flick that audiences love doesn’t have enough subtext.
The Future
Streaming features now appearing in the Oscar list, improves the chances of a horror movie catching the Academy’s notice. Netflix, in particular, seems to love to play in the horror sandbox, mixing quality and commercials with movies such as Bird Box. This might be the best way forward.
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Source(s): IMDb The Oscars Screenrant
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