For some reason, horror is still a bit of a taboo genre in Hollywood. It’s often seen as a way for studios to make some quick money while spending very little on production costs. But horror movies can be way more than just quick cash grabs. For example, 2017’s It grossed over $700 million, proving that horror isn’t some niche fandom but a valuable part of cinema. And yet, the genre often gets pushed aside and seen as inferior.
So it’s no surprise that only a few dozen horror movies have ever been nominated for Oscars, and out of those few dozen, many aren’t even strict horror films. They walk the tightrope between horror, drama, and thriller, like Black Swan, The Shape of Water, and Parasite. But there are a few horror classics that not only scored Oscar nominations but also won awards. Here are five Oscar-winning horror movies you definitely need to check out.
Get Out (2017)
Oscar wins: Best Original Screenplay
Other Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director – Jordan Peele, Best Actor – Daniel Kaluuya
1Jordan Peele’s seminal film Get Out ushered in a new era of horror, one where scary movies weren’t afraid to challenge society in very obvious and opaque ways. In the film, a Black guy goes to visit the family of his White girlfriend, only to discover they have some insidious plans in store for him. Get Out isn’t just scary; it’s loaded with messages about race and privilege, both of which make the villains even more terrifying.
“The genesis for the film was when Obama was elected, and there was this sentiment that we can stop talking about race now because we’ve just solved the problem,” Peele told The Guardian in 2017. “We are now living in a system where racism is involved with policy. We’ve left the era where people were trying to pretend that race doesn’t exist.”
What makes Get Out so fantastic is that it doesn’t feel like it has a heavy-handed message that bogs down the plot. Instead, it’s brilliantly witty, well-paced, and loaded with suspense.
Rent Get Out on Prime Video.Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Oscar wins: Best Supporting Actress – Ruth Gordon
Other Oscar nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay
In Rosemary’s Baby, a young couple, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, move into a New York apartment building, hoping to create a life for themselves. But before long, two older nosy neighbors, the Castavets, nudge their way into the couple’s lives, and soon, strange things begin to happen. What happens next is still shocking to this day, and was even more so back in 1968 when the movie premiered – Rosemary is raped and impregnated by Satan himself.
In the film, Ruth Gordon plays Rosemary’s Satan-worshipping neighbor, Minnie Castevet. What was so great about her character is that she was both lovable and hilarious (the kind of old-school New Yorker you’d want to chat with and hear all her crazy stories), but she also held a dark and evil secret. It’s not surprising that Gordon took home the award for Best Supporting Actress in 1969.
Watch Rosemary’s Baby on Paramount+.Alien (1979)
Oscar wins: Best Visual Effects
Other Oscar nominations: Best Art Direction
Alien changed horror and sci-fi forever. There had been alien movies before, and slasher films had started becoming popular throughout the 1970s, but Alien was really the first to bring the two together. Alien movies were no longer just a bombastic part of the sci-fi genre. With the right setting, pacing, lighting, and cinematography, they could be scary as hell.
But on top of its isolated environment, the real thing that made Alien pants-crappingly scary was the visual effects. The xenomorph alien took inspiration from the artwork of H.R. Giger, portraying a creature that looked both alive and mechanical. To this day, it remains one of the most iconic characters in cinema history. And who can forget the iconic chest-burster scene where we first see the xenomorph hatch and scurry away to grow larger and stronger? There might be a debate amongst fans of Alien vs. Aliens, but when it comes to horror, the original can’t be beaten.
Rent Alien on Prime Video.Jaws (1975)
Oscar wins: Best Score, Best Sound, Best Film Editing
Other Oscar nominations: Best Picture
Jaws is a lot of things: it’s a summer blockbuster, it was once the highest-grossing movie of all time, and it’s the film that really solidified Steven Spielberg as one of Hollywood’s biggest power players. But at its core, it’s a horror movie. In some ways, it’s even scarier than a standard horror movie because it doesn’t just have a terrifying killer (the shark), but it also plays with our fears of the ocean. We all know there’s stuff swimming beneath the water we can’t see, and Jaws knew how to play with that fear perfectly.
It’s also not surprising that John Williams took home the award for Best Score, thanks to his iconic composition for Jaws. It’s rare to know a film simply from its score alone, but the second anyone hears that dun dun knows exactly what it’s from. While the Jaws sequels aren’t really worth watching (unless you want a good laugh), the original film still holds up as a scary and perfectly made movie.
Rent Jaws on Prime Video.The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Oscar wins: Best Picture, Best Actor – Anthony Hopkins, Best Actress – Jodie Foster, Best Director – Jonathan Demme, Best Adapted Screenplay
Other Oscar nominations: Best Film Editing, Best Sound
Only three films have won in the five major categories at the Oscars. It Happened One Night was the first to do so in 1934, followed by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, and lastly, The Silence of the Lambs in 1991.
The movie follows young FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she hunts down an emerging serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. But to get inside the head of a madman, she seeks the help of another infamous killer, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). But Lecter has his own agenda, and soon, Clarice finds herself in the middle of two killers. The Silence of the Lambs is brilliant, suspenseful, and smart. Plus, it helped break barriers for horror movies to be taken seriously by Hollywood, critics, and audiences.
Rent Silence of the Lambs on Prime Video.
