Horror has often been underrepresented at theAcademy Awards,with scary movies loved by fans and critics alike often failing to receive nominations. Although the genre has not been completely absent from the Oscars, it is often restricted to the technical categories. However, six horror movies have broken through andreceived a Best Picture nomination. These acclaimed films made a huge impact, with all of them receiving multiple nominations and most of them getting at least one win. There have been several other horror movies that have picked up nominations throughout the almost 100-year history of the Oscars. However, in recent years, there have been unignorable snubs towards the horror genre, particularly when it comes to performances. Unfortunately,recent horror movies have failed to gain much representation at all. Despite this,there is still a long, colorful, and interesting history shared between horror and the Oscars.With the 96th ceremony fast approaching, now is a perfect opportunity to look back at all the times the Academy rightfully acknowledged horror movies.
What Was the First Horror Movie To Win an Oscar?
It only took five years of the Academy Awards for a horror movie to win an award. In 1932,Fredric Marchwon Best Actor for his role as the title characters inDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. However, it was a joint win withWallace BeeryforThe Champ. The actors were only one vote apart in the ballot, andthe rules at the time statedthat if less than four votes separated nominees, they would be joint winners. Additionally, the category only had three nominees. This does not discredit the first horror movie win, it simply highlights how competitive the Oscars have become with time.Dr Jekyll and Mr Hydealso picked up nominations for Adapted Screenplay (known then simply as Adaptation) and Cinematography. However,Dr Jekyll and My Hydewas an anomaly andthe early years of the Oscars saw horror fail to contend for the major awards. The genre was not absent from the ceremonies completely though. 1935’sBride of Frankensteinpicked up a nomination for Sound Recording and the 1940 ceremony saw bothThe Invisible Man ReturnsandDr. Cyclopsnominated for Special Effects. This set an early trend of horror receiving credit for its production rather than performances or writing.
Horror Movies Are Often Recognized Within Technical Categories
The trend of horror succeeding in production-based categories continued. Throughout the 1980s,The Fly,Beetlejuice,andAn American Werewolf in Londonall won Best Makeup.Sleepy HollowandSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Streetboth received awards for Art Direction.Bram Stoker’s Draculatook home three awards, including Best Makeup, Best Costume Design, and Best Sound Editing, and the chilling soundtrack to 1976’sThe Omensaw the movie take home Best Original Score.
10 Scariest Movies That Have Won Oscars
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the Oscars.
Even looking away from the movies that won awards, horror has not been short of nominations in technical categories,seeing recognition for movies that are often snubbed by major awards.The Amityville Horror,Interview with a Vampire, andThe Villageall received nominations for Original Score.Poltergeistand its sequelPoltergeist II: The Other Sidepicked up nominations for Visual Effects, as didAlien 3andLittle Shop of Horrors.This came after 1979’sAlienwon in the category. However, in recent years, these categories that often recognized the achievements within horror cinema have insteadbegun to reflect the taste of the general voting body. The only real breakthrough was in 2019 whenThe Lighthousereceived a nomination for Best Cinematography.
Which Horror Movies Have Been Nominated for Best Picture?
When a horror movie is well received by the academy, it can rack up a significant number of nominations. The first horror movie to garner this response was Alfred Hitchcock’sPsycho, which may not have won any awards but picked up an impressive four nominations, including Best Director for Hitchcock and Best Supporting Actor forJanet Leigh. This trend can be seen in the sixhorror movies nominated for Best Picture.The most nominated horror movie of all time isThe Exorcist, which was nominated for ten awards and won two of them, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. The other Best Picture nominees had similar success.Jawsreceived four nominations, winning three awards; Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, and Best Sound.Black Swangot five nominations, withNatalie Portman taking home the Best Actress award.Get Outgot four nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay. WhileThe Sixth Sensemight not have won any awards like the others, it still got six nominations, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
By far the most successful horror movie at the Oscars isThe Silence of the Lambs, being the only horror movie to take home the title of Best Picture. It didn’t just achieve this huge feat though,it also became the third (and most recent) movie to win in all five major categories; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also received nominations for Best Sound and Best Film Editing. The huge sweep not only cementedSilence of the Lamb’s legendary status; it was also a significant moment in horror history, as itproved the academycanreward the horror genre.They just don’t do it often enough!
The Other Major Category Horror Has Surprisingly Succeeded In
Of the major categories, there is one that has seen slightly more success than the others; Best Actress. As mentioned, Jodie Foster won for her performance inThe Silence of the Lambsand Natalie Portman won for her role inBlack Swan. Kathy Bates also picked up the award for her performance as obsessed super-fan Annie Wilkes inMisery, theonly Stephen King adaptation to win an Oscar. The category has also seen nominations for Signorney Weaver inAliens, Bette Davis inWhatever Happened to Baby Jane?and Sissy Spacek inCarrie, with the latter movie also receiving a Best Supporting Actress nomination forPiper Laurie.
However, Best Actress is arguably the category that has recently seen the most horror snubs. The absence of nominations forToni ColletteinHereditary(Collette received her first and only Oscar nomination for her supporting role inThe Sixth Sense), Lupita Nyong’o inUsand most recentlyMia GothinPearlhaveall garnered criticism towards the academy.It is not a case of these performances winning, but to not even recognize them with a nomination proves the Oscars does not celebrate horror as extensively as it should.Goth was vocal about the need for a shift in the academy, and particularly the dialogue around recent horror performances being forgotten shows the awards still have a long way to go in its representation of the horror genre. Often, the success of the likes ofGet Out,The Silence of the Lambs,andThe Exorcistare seen as outliers. Despite horror as a genre not being completely absent from the awards, it is still hugely underrepresented, seen mostly in the technical categories — and more recently, not seen at all.Horror pushes boundaries, but the continued lack of inclusion by the academy highlights that it is still not taken as seriously as it should be.
The 96th Academy Awardswill take place on March 10, 4 pm PST / 7 pm EST. It will be available to watch on ABC in the U.S. as well as to stream online.
