By Maria Lewis
“And the Oscar goes to … The Ring!”
Lol, could you imagine? No, you probably couldn’t because horror movies so rarely a) have a presence at the Academy Awards and b) win. It’s more likely you’re on shrooms than living with the reality of a horror film actually winning an Oscar. Yet following the aftermath of the 89th Academy Awards, any self-respecting film fan has to ask the question: why do the Oscars hate horror movies? If so much love can be garnered for people dancing in primary colours to a scene we’ve experienced a thousand times before, why is there so little affection for the things that frighten us? If we can have a ‘white men at war’ story be an Academy Awards contender every two-to-three years, why can’t that be the case for things that go bump in the night? What is the unforeseen merit that horror movies lack and other genres have in spades?
That’s not to say horror has never hit big at the Oscars. It has – once. During the 1992 ceremony Silence Of The Lambs ate up the competition with fava beans and a nice Chianti as it took out best picture, best actor, best actress, best director and best adapted screenplay. That’s a huge feat for any film, let alone a horror movie. In fact, it was so big of an achievement it hasn’t been done since. Oh sure, Jaws was up for best picture back at the 1976 Oscars and the very existence of a best makeup category was to celebrate the incredible work of Rick Baker in An American Werewolf In London. Yet the films that have scored recognition among what people consider to be cinema’s primary God makers are few: Alien (two nominations, one win), Aliens (seven nominations, two wins), Rosemary’s Baby (two nominations, one win), The Sixth Sense (six nominations), The Omen (one nomination, one win), The Exorcist (ten nominations, two wins) and Misery (one win). There are arguments to be made for Black Swan being on that list, but calling Black Swan a horror movie is like calling Step Up an intimate drama. It has been a long, long time since a horror film has made an impression among the Academy and 2017 was no different to the drought of previous years. Not a single horror movie scored a nomination in any category … and it was not for lack of options.
The Witch was one of the most critically-acclaimed films of the previous 12 months and an exquisite piece of work which showed technical skill at nearly every level: screenplay, dramatic performances, sound mixing, production design, editing, cinematography. Yet the story of a New England awakening was exempt from any formal recognition in those categories. Then there’s Green Room and yes yes, I know it seems like I’m a paid monkey for that movie but it’s doubtful anyone who has seen Jeremy Saulnier’s film can question its power. Patrick Stewart would have been the obvious choice for a best supporting actor nod for his menacing portrayal of a Neo-Nazi leader in the film, while Anton Yelchin could have been a much deeper cut with a posthumous nomination in the best lead actor category. Cinematography and score would have also been long shots, but not entirely out of the question. And yet … none of these things received nominations, while Justin Timberlake’s song from friggin’ Trolls did?
Genre bias within the Academy has long been an openly discussed topic, with a film sub-genre invented solely to appeal and exploit this bias. You know, those films that tick all of the most obvious awards season boxes and are released during the time of year where the sole purpose is for them to compete in the Oscars race. We call them ‘Oscar bait’ (hello The Revenant, Manchester By The Sea, The Iron Lady, War Horse et al). However, with The Dark Knight debacle – where following the omission of Chris Nolan’s Batman in 2008 the Academy admitted an error and expanded the potential best picture nominees to as many as ten each year – there has been a noticeable increase in the celebration of genre movies. Largely sci-fi has gained the most from this, with District 9, Arrival, The Martian, Gravity and Avatar all being best picture nominees in the past decade. Horror though, hasn’t tasted as sweet in the mouths of those casting the ballots.
Could the 2018 Academy Awards be a different story? With the Academy now aware that other stories exist outside of the magnified lens of white, straight people they have been making an attempt to celebrate and award more diverse films. As a direct result of that, the voting members of the Academy are now also more diverse than ever and hungry to see and award stories that reflect the full potential of cinematic storytelling. Now once you factor in The Dark Knight effect … Enter stage right, Jordan Peele’s commentary on race in America, Get Out. The horror film is critically acclaimed and gaining the kind of early year buzz that – with a studio-funded awards season push and continued momentum – could see it genuinely become a contender. Currently sitting at 99 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes with nearly 150 reviews, perhaps it’s Get Out that finally sees horror get in the awards season race once more.
Maria Lewis is a journalist and author who can be seen on The Feed, weeknights on SBS Viceland. She’s the presenter and producer of the Eff Yeah Film & Feminism podcast. Her debut novel Who’s Afraid? was released in 2016 with the sequel – Who’s Afraid Too? – out now. You can find her on Twitter @MovieMazz.
