Horror At The Oscars: A Comprehensive History Of Nominees & Winners

Ah, yes, the fall. Such a wonderful time of year! Not only is it Mother Nature’s time to shine, but Oscar season is about to kick off, bringing us a bunch of the best movies of the year. Plus, we get a months-long excuse to watch scary movies every day.

Which got me thinking… Is there a way I could combine both my passions of Oscar season and scary movie season for a fun post? Then I remembered: people always say “The Academy doesn’t appreciate horror films!” I thought it might be fun to put that common complaint to the test by reflecting back on the nearly decade-long history of the Oscars and examining which horror films have both been nominated for and taken home the coveted golden statue.

A note before we proceed: This list will continue to grow as I commit to more research. I’m sure that even after all the hours spent searching for each and every Oscar-caliber horror film in history, that some have been overlooked. In an attempt to compile the most comprehensive and accurate list possible, I will add to and tweak the following information as it’s uncovered. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this trip through horror-Oscar history!

Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde (1931)

Won:
Best Actor: Fredric March

*Also nominated for:
Best Cinematography: Karl Struss
Best Adapted Screenplay: Percy Heath and Samuel Hoffenstein

Rebecca (1940)

Winner:
Best Picture
Best Cinematography: George Barnes

*Also nominated for:
Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Best Adapted Screenplay: Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison
Best Actor: Laurence Olivier
Best Actress: Joan Fontaine
Best Supporting Actress: Judith Anderson
Best Film Editing: Hal C. Kern
Best Music/Original Score: Franz Waxman
Best Art Direction (Black and White): Lyle R. Wheeler
Best Visual Effects: Jack Cosgrove (photographic) and Arthur Johns (sound)

The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects: William Hedgcock, John P. Fulton, and Bernard B. Brown

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

Nominated for:
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White): Joseph Ruttenberg
Best Film Editing: Harold F. Kress
Best Music/Scoring of a Dramatic Picture: Franz Waxman

King of Zombies (1941)

Nominated for:
Best Original Score: Edward J. Kay

The Phantom of the Opera (1943)

Winner:
Best Cinematography, Color: Hal Mohr and W. Howard Greene
Best Art Direction- Interior Decoration, Color: Alexander Golitzen, John B. Goodman, Russell A. Gausman, and Ira Webb

*Also nominated for:
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: Edward Ward
Best Sound Recording: Bernard B. Brown

Gaslight (1944)

Winner:
Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman
Best Art Direction (Black-and-White): Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari, Edwin B. Willis, and Paul Huldschinsky

*Also nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Actor: Charles Boyer
Best Supporting Actress: Angela Lansbury
Best Adapted Screenplay: John L. Balderston, Walter Reisch, and John Van Druten
Best Black-and-White Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

Winner:
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White): Harry Stradling Sr.

*Also nominated for:
Best Supporting Actress: Angela Lansbury
Best Black-and-White Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis, John Bonar, and Hugh Hunt

Spellbound (1945)

Winner:
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: Miklós Rózsa

*Also nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Chekhov
Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Best Black-and White Cinematography: George Barnes
Best Special Effects: Jack Cosgrove

Them! (1954)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects

The Bad Seed (1956)

Nominated for:
Best Actress: Nancy Kelly
Best Supporting Actress: Eileen Heckart
Best Supporting Actress: Patty McCormack
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White): Harold Rosson

Psycho (1960)

Nominated for:
Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Best Supporting Actress: Janet Leigh
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White): John L. Russell
Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Black-and-White): Robert Clatworthy, George Milo, and Joseph Hurley

The Virgin Spring (1960)

Winner:
Best Foreign Language Film

*Also nominated for:
Best Black-and-White Costume Design: Marik Vos

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Winner:
Best Costume Design, Black and White: Norma Koch

*Also nominated for:
Best Actress: Bette Davis
Best Supporting Actor: Victor Buono
Best Black-and-White Cinematography: Ernest Haller
Best Sound: Joseph D. Kelly

The Birds (1964)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects: Ub Iwerks

Kwaidan (1965)

Nominated for:
Best Foreign Language Film

Wait Until Dark (1967)

Nominated for:
Best Lead Actress: Audrey Hepburn

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Winner:
Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Gordon

*Also nominated for:
Best Adapted Screenplay: Roman Polanski

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director: Stanley Kubrick
Best Film Editing: Bill Butler
Best Adapted Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick

The Exorcist (1973)

Winner:
Best Sound: Robert Knudson and Chris Newman
Best Adapted Screenplay: William Peter Blatty

*Also nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn
Best Director: William Friedkin
Best Supporting Actor: Jason Miller
Best Supporting Actress: Linda Blair
Best Cinematography: Owen Roizman
Best Art Direction: Bill Malley and Jerry Wunderlich
Best Editing: John C. Broderick, Bud S. Smith, Evan A. Lottman, and Norman Gay

Ben (1973)

Nominated for:
Best Original Song: “Ben” by Walter Scharf, Lyrics by Don Black

Jaws (1975)

Winner:
Best Editing: Verna Fields
Best Original Score: John Williams
Best Sound: Robert L. Hoyt, Roger Heman Jr., Earl Madery, and John R. Carter

*Also nominated fo:
Best Picture

Carrie (1976)

Nominated for:
Best Lead Actress: Sissy Spacek
Best Supporting Actress: Piper Laurie

King Kong (1976)

Winner:
Best Visual Effects: Carlo Rambaldi, Glen Robinson, and Frank Van der Veer

*Also nominated for:
Best Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Best Sound: Harry W. Tetrick, William L. McCaughey, Aaron Rochin, and Jack Solomon

The Omen (1976)

Winner:
Best Original Score: Jerry Goldsmith

*Also nominated for:
Best Original Song: “Ave Satani” by Jerry Goldsmith

The Swarm (1978)

Nominated for:
Best Costume Design: Paul Zastupnevich

Alien (1979)

Winner:
Best Visual Effects: H.R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder and Denys Ayling

*Also nominated for:
Best Art Direction: Michael Seymour, Leslie Dilley, Roger Christian, and Ian Whittaker

The Amityville Horror (1979)

Nominated for:
Best Original Score: Lalo Schifrin

Altered States (1980)

Nominated for:
Best Original Score: John Corigliano
Best Sound Mixing: Arthur Piantadosi, Willie D. Burton, Michael Minkler, and Les Fresholtz

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Winner:
Best Makeup: Rick Baker

Poltergeist (1982)

Nominated for:
Best Sound Editing: Stephen Hunter Flick, and Richard L. Anderson
Best Visual Effects: Michael Wood, Bruce Nicholson, and Richard Edlund
Best Original Score: Jerry Goldsmith

Aliens (1986)

Winner:
Best Sound Effects Editing: Don Sharpe
Best Visual Effects: Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson

*Also nominated for:
Best Actress: Sigourney Weaver
Best Original Score: James Horner
Best Sound: Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, Michael A. Carter, and Roy Charman
Best Editing: Ray Lovejoy
Best Art Direction: Peter Lamont and Crispian Sallis

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects: Lyle Conway, Bran Ferren, and Martin Gutteridge:
Best Original Song: “Mean Green Mother from Outer Space” by Alan Menken (music) and Howard Ashman (lyrics)

Poltergeist II (1986)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects: John Bruno, Garry Waller, Bill Neil, and Richard Edlund

The Fly (1986)

Winner:
Best Makeup: Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis

Beetlejuice (1988)

Winner:
Best Makeup: Ve Neill, Steve LaPorte, and Robert Short

Predator (1988)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects: Joel Hynek, Robert M. Greenberg, Richard Greenberg, and Stan Winston

Ghost (1990)

Winner:
Best Supporting Actress: Whoopi Goldberg
Best Original Screenplay: Bruce Joel Rubin

*Also nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Editing: Walter Murch
Best Original Score: Maurice Jarre

The Addams Family (1991)

Nominated for:
Best Costume: Ruth Myers

Misery (1990)

Winner:
Best Actress: Kathy Bates

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Winner:
Best Picture
Best Actor: Anthony Hopkins
Best Actress: Jodie Foster
Best Director: Jonathan Demme
Best Adapted Screenplay: Ted Tally

*Also nominated for:
Best Editing: Craig McKay
Best Sound: Tom Fleischman and Christopher Newman

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Winner:
Best Costume Design: Eiko Ishioka​
Best Sound Effects Editing: Tom C. McCarthy and David E. Stone
Best Makeup: Greg Cannom, Michèle Burke, and Matthew W. Mungle

*Also nominated for:
Best Art Direction: Thomas E. Sanders and Garrett Lewis

Jurassic Park (1993)

Winner:
Best Sound Effects Editing: Gary Rydstrom and Richard Hymns
Best Visual Effects: Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Michael Lantieri
Best Sound: Gary Summers, Gary Rydstrom, Shawn Murphy, and Ron Judkins

Addams Family Values (1993)

Nominated for:
Best Production Design: Ken Adam and Marvin March

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)

Nominated for:
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Carol Hemming, Daniel Parker, and Paul Engelen

Interview with a Vampire (1994)

Nominated for:
Best Production Design: Francesca Lo Schiavo and Dante Ferretti
Best Original Score: Elliot Goldenthal

Se7en (1995)

Nominated for:
Best Film Editing: Richard Francis-Bruce

Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects: Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Randal M. Dutra, and Michael Lantieri

The Ghost and the Darkness (1997)

Winner:
Best Sound Editing: Bruce Stambler

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Winner:
Best Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs and Peter Young

*Also nominated for:
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Costume Design: Colleen Atwood

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Best Original Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan
Supporting Actor: Haley Joel Osment
Best Supporting Actress: Toni Collette
Best Film Editing: Andrew Mondshein

The Mummy (1999)

Nominated for:
Best Sound: Leslie Shatz, Chris Carpenter, Rick Kline, and Chris Munro

The Cell (2000)

Nominated for:
Best Makeup: Edouard F. Henriques and Michèle Burke

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Nominated for:
Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe
Best Makeup: Ann Buchanan, and Amber Sibley

King Kong (2005)

Winner:
Best Sound Editing: Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn
Best Sound Mixing: Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
Best Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor

*Also nominated:
Best Art Direction: Grant Major, Dan Hennah, and Simon Bright

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Winner:
Best Production Design: Eugenio Caballero and Pilar Revuelta
Best Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro
Best Makeup: David Martí and Montse Ribé

*Also nominated for:
Best Original Score: Javier Navarrete
Best Original Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro
Best Foreign Language Film

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Winner:
Best Art Direction: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo

*Also nominated for:
Best Actor: Johnny Depp
Best Costume Design: Colleen Atwood

Black Swan (2010)

Winner:
Best Actress: Natalie Portman

*Also nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky
Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Best Editing: Andrew Weisblum

The Wolfman (2010)

Winner:
Best Makeup: Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Winner:
Best Editing: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

*Also nominated for:
Best Actress: Rooney Mara
Best Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth
Best Sound Mixing: David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Bo Persson
Best Sound Editing: Ren Klyce

Prometheus (2012)

Nominated for:
Best Visual Effects: Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, and Martin Hill

Get Out (2017)

Winner:
Best Original Screenplay: Jordan Peele

*Also nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Director: Jordan Peele
Best Lead Actor: Daniel Kaluuya

The Shape of Water (2017)

Winner:
Best Picture
Best Director: Guillermo del Toro
Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat
Best Production Design: Paul D. Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeffrey A. Melvin

*Also nominated for:
Best Original Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor
Lead Actress: Sally Hawkins
Best Supporting Actor: Richard Jenkins
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer
Best Cinematography: Dan Laustsen
Best Costume Design: Luis Sequeira
Best Sound Editing: Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira
Best Sound Mixing: Christian T. Cooke, Glen Gauthier, and Brad Zoern
Best Film Editing: Sidney Wolinsky

A Quiet Place (2018)

Nominated for:
Best Sound Editing: Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

Border (2018)

Nominated for:
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer

The Lighthouse (2019)

Nominated for:
Best Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke

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That was a comprehensive examination on the history of horror films and their performance at the Academy Awards. What do you think? Are there more scary movies on this list than you anticipated? Do some of these not even count as “horror” in your book? Most importantly, which films did I overlook and should I add to this list? Sound off in the comments section below and let me and the rest of the movie loving world know your thoughts!