IS OSCAR AFRAID OF HORROR FILMS?

With the first annual RIR Awards about to officially kick off horror awards season (boss bunny, Rabbit, will be revealing the winners beginning the week of December 10!), I’m reminded it won’t be long before nominations are announced for this year’s Academy Awards.

And while I suspect that horror films will not be making much of a bloody splash on the red carpet (with the possible exception of A Quiet Place and/or Toni Collette’s performance in Hereditary), that isn’t to say that Academy members are afraid to award the genre either.

To date, six horror films have been nominated for Best Picture, and one of those nominees actually took home the final award of the evening. Can you guess which film? (Don’t worry; I promise you won’t have to guess for very much longer!)

Aside from Best Picture, not only have horror films been nominated, one year even for Original Song, if you can believe it, but have WON in a variety of categories over the decades. Here’s a fun (says me) list of those films with multiple Oscar nominations and at least one win to celebrate. And as an added bonus, I’ve include three classics of the horror genre that while the recipient of multiple nominations, each ultimately went home empty-handed.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) – 5 WINS from 7 nomination

PICTURE
DIRECTOR – Jonathan Demme
ACTOR – Anthony Hopkins
ACTRESS- Jodie Foster
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Sound
Film Editing

JAWS (1975) – 3 WINS from 4 nominations

ORIGINAL SCORE
SOUND
FILM EDITING
Picture

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1992) – 3 WINS from 4 nominations

COSTUME DESIGN
SOUND EDITING
MAKE-UP
Art Direction – Set Decoration

THE EXORCIST (1973) – 2 WINS from 10 nominations

SOUND
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Picture
Director – William Friedkin
Actress – Ellen Burstyn
Supporting Actor – Jason Miller
Supporting Actress – Linda Blair
Cinematography
Art Direction – Set Decoration
Film Editing

ALIENS (1986) – 2 WINS from 7 nominations

VISUAL EFFECTS
SOUND EFFECTS EDITING
Actress – Sigourney Weaver
Art Direction – Set Decoration
Sound
Film Editing
Original Score

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943) – 2 WINS from 4 nominations

CINEMATOGRAPHY, COLOR
ART DIRECTION – INTERIOR DECORATION, COLOR
Sound
Music Scoring of a Musical Picture

BLACK SWAN (2010) – 1 WIN from 5 nominations

ACTRESS – Natalie Portman
Picture
Director – Darren Aronofsky
Cinematography
Film Editing

GET OUT (2017) – 1 WIN from 4 nominations

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Picture
Actor – Daniel Kaluuya
Director – Jordan Peele

DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (1931) – 1 WIN from 3 nominations

ACTOR – Fredric March
Adapted Screenplay
Cinematography

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945) – 1 WIN from 3 nominations

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Supporting Actress – Angela Lansbury
Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Black & White

SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999) – 1 WIN from 3 nominations

ART DIRECTION – SET DECORATION
Cinematography
Costume Design

ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) – 1 WIN from 2 nominations

SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Ruth Gordon
Adapted Screenplay

ALIEN (1979) – 1 WIN from 2 nominations

VISUAL EFFECTS
Art Direction – Set Decoration

THE OMEN (1976) – 1 WIN from 2 nominations

ORIGINAL SCORE
Original Song – Ave Satani

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) – 1 WIN from 2 nominations

COSTUME DESIGN
Actress – Bette Davis

THE SIXTH SENSE (1999) – 0 WINS from 6 nominations

Picture
Director – M. Night Shyamalan
Supporting Actor – Haley Joel Osment
Supporting Actress – Toni Collette
Original Screenplay
Film Editing

PSYCHO (1961) – 0 WINS from 4 nominations

Director – Alfred Hitchcock
Supporting Actress – Janet Leigh
Cinematography, Black & White
Art Direction – Set Decoration, Black & White

POLTERGEIST (1982) – 0 WINS from 3 nominations

Original Score
Visual Effects
Sound Effects Editing

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