7 Best Horror Movies Overlooked by the Oscars

When it comes to the Oscars, very rarely do horror movies get their flowers, especially when it comes to the above-the-line categories — Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. For instance, 2024’s Nosferatu is nominated for makeup, cinematography, production design, and costume design, but Lily Rose-Depp’s intense performance and Egger’s remarkable adapted script go unrecognized. While there have been some incredible horror movies nominated for Best Picture, like The Exorcist, Jaws, The Sixth Sense, Black Swan, Get Out and most recently, The Substance, fewer have won, with The Silence of the Lambs being recognized by many as the first and only horror film to win this category.

Just because there have been so few horror movies nominated for Best Picture does not mean horror movies are lesser than the acclaimed films the Academy Awards pay attention to. In fact, many horror films — even ones that are considered cult classics — have had a massive impact on the culture while exhibiting the raw creativity and ingenuity of filmmaking and were overlooked by the event.

Night of the Living Dead

In 1968, George A. Romero directed his first feature film. Not only would Night of the Living Dead be a game-changer for the horror genre, but it would also be revolutionary for the film industry at large. In it, the dead have risen, with a small group of strangers hiding out in an isolated home as they try to survive the night, as well as the rising tensions between each other.

Night of the Living Dead is so much more than a testament to low-budget filmmaking. It is also a great reflection of the fears of America in the late 1960s, coming out months after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Night of the Living Dead reflects how society felt as if it was losing its senses, using the mindless, carnal zombies as a metaphor for this.

As for the characters in the house, they each represent different ways people respond to these troubling times, with some wanting to wait it out, some wanting to take action, and some feeling numb to it all. Ben, the lead expertly portrayed by Duane Jones, is the most rational of the bunch, and his casting adds an extra layer to this message, as he is the only Black man in the house. From the revolutionary story and casting to Jones’ stellar performance, it’s a shame Night of the Living Dead was completely ignored at the Oscars.

Alien

Fast forward to 1979, and Ridley Scott would direct his second feature film, Alien. This is a genre-blend of a movie because Alien is a slasher film in space, following a lot of the same beats and scare tactics seen in movies like Halloween. However, the killer here is the xenomorph, which has a marvelous creature design that captivates audiences to this day.

In fact, the whole movie looks gorgeous, so it’s no surprise that it would be nominated for Best Art Direction and win for Best Effects, Visual Effects at the 1980 Oscars. However, those were the only two categories it was recognized in, despite being a beast of a film to direct, which featured an iconic performance from Sigourney Weaver and with the movie having a biting commentary in regards to capitalism.

The victims of Alien are the blue-collar workers, and the enemy is not just the alien — it’s also the corporation exploiting them with no regard for their safety. To this day, Alien’s message rings true, and its impact can still be felt, with new movies, shows, and comics coming out of the franchise.

The Thing

Another genre-blend of a horror film is The Thing. In 1982 John Carpenter — a master of genre filmmaking –would direct The Thing, a remake of the 1951 B-movie The Thing From Another World. This was no ordinary remake, though, as Carpenter and screenwriter Bill Lancaster reworked this adaptation to be a reflection of the fears of the Cold War-era 1980s as opposed to the post-World War II fears of the 1950s.

How The Thing reimagines The Thing From Another World and how it adapts the short story that inspired both films — Who Goes There? — is a masterclass in adaptation, one that went overlooked in the adapted screenplay category at the Oscars. Keep in mind though, The Thing was not just overlooked by the Academy Awards. At the time of its release, The Thing was a theatrical flop. Thankfully, it eventually found its audience and got the recognition it deserved once it hit VHS.

Nowadays, The Thing is considered one of the best horror films and best sci-fi films of all time. It is also one of Carpenter’s best, and that is saying something, given that he’s directed Escape From New York, They Live, The Fog, and Halloween. The Thing was an underappreciated film in theaters, even though it had an incredibly timely commentary, featured skin-crawling yet impressive practical effects and a powerful ensemble, with Keith David and Kurt Russell stealing the show.

The Fly

Another testament to practical effects and body horror is none other than The Fly, directed by David Cronenberg. Like The Thing, The Fly is a remake of the 1950s sci-fi/horror film. In both, a scientist has his molecules combined with that of a fly’s after the insect accidentally gets trapped in his experimental teleportation device with him. In the 1986 film, Jeff Goldblum delivers a heartbreaking, career-best performance as Dr. Seth Brundle, and his chemistry with his co-star Geena Davis makes The Fly one of the most tragic horror romances of the late 20th century.

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Thankfully, The Fly would receive one Oscar nomination and win for its incredible makeup, a win well-deserved. Seeing how Brundle transforms over the course of the film right up to when he is more fly than man are some of the best makeup effects seen on film, but The Fly has so much more going for it than just the body horror.

It’s a heartbreaking story, one that adapts its source material in such an empathetic way. Plus, both Goldblum and Davis give it their all in the film, making Cronenberg and writer Charle Edward Pogue’s already endearing characters all the more beloved.

American Psycho

Another incredible adaptation, this time of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name, is American Psycho, which was a success financially. Like Night of the Living Dead, American Psycho is proof movies can make a lot with a little, as the budget was $7 million, but the film grossed an estimated $34 million. American Psycho is equal parts horror and satire. Director/writer Mary Harron and writer Guinevere Turner expand on the book’s anti-capitalist critique of yuppie culture while delivering a hilarious, biting, and twisted film.

Of course, this movie would not be what it is if it were not for Christian Bale, who portrays the utterly pathetic, absolutely unhinged Patrick Bateman. An early performance for the acclaimed actor, it remains one of his most fun and one of his best to this day. Somehow Harron and Bale deliver a character audiences hate but want to see so much more of.

American Psycho is also a love letter to horror films like Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre while also doing something completely different with a wanna-be slasher like Patrick Bateman. With Bale’s captivating performance, a biting script, and direction that finds a great balance between humor, horror, and satire, American Psycho deserved more recognition at the time of its release.

28 Days Later

Night of the Living Dead is far from the only zombie movie to be worthy of some love by the Academy, with 28 Days Later deserving at least some attention, especially when one takes into consideration the powerhouse of a creative team behind it: Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and writer Oscar-nominated writer Alex Garland (Ex Machina). 28 Days Later reinvented the zombie genre, turning the living dead into infected persons who’ve lost all senses of themselves.

This movie brought zombies into the 21st century in an innovative and captivating way but also stayed true to what this horror subgenre does best — act as a metaphor for the fears of society. 28 Days Later is an anti-fascist film that makes its characters, as well as the audience, question if those who claim to protect us are actually the ones hurting us. Plus, it features a painfully endearing ensemble, one that makes audiences dread what lies in store for them.

The love for 28 Days Later is still alive and well, with audiences highly anticipating the third film in this franchise, 28 Years Later, which is set to hit theaters June 20th.

Nope

Nope marks the third film by director/writer Jordan Peele. His first directorial feature was Get Out, which is one of the few horror films to be recognized in the above-the-line categories at the Oscars, winning for Best Original Screenplay and being nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing (Peele), and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Daniel Kaluuya). While Get Out got recognition from the Academy of Motion Pictures, Nope did not. Thankfully, it did receive multiple nominations by the Academy of Science-Fiction, Fantasy & Horror, winning the Saturn Award for Best Science-Fiction.

Nope is a movie that is best seen without knowing much outside the most basic plot: a strange phenomenon plagues those living in a rural part of California, and the more siblings OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) investigate, the stranger and more dangerous things get. Nope captures the fun and awe of a Steven Spielberg film while also doing something utterly its own and is impressive on a creative and technical level.

Nope is also a love letter to Hollywood, specifically film crews, so for it to get overlooked by the Oscars is disappointing, especially when dramatic films that gush over the entertainment industry, like La La Land, Babylon, and Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, get much more recognition than any horror film would. Plus, Nope does not just talk the talk. The technical feats of this movie, which would be impossible to achieve without the crew, are jaw-dropping. That, accompanied by such a unique script, Peele’s innovative directing, and Kaluuya and Palmer’s captivating performances, and Nope is a movie that should not be overlooked.

What horror movies do you think were overlooked by the Oscars? Let us know in the comments below!