by Jesse Hudgins
In 2023, I wrote that horror deserved much more respect in the mainstream, especially from the Academy. Three years later, I am happy to say that we are making some progress. Within this year’s Oscars, 27 nominations across all categories are horror-related. Sinners received a record-breaking 16 nominations, including Best Picture. Frankenstein received nine, including a Best Picture nomination. Weapons and The Ugly Stepsister rounded it out with nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Visual Effects.
This is the result of a gradual increase in horror recognition, with The Substance, Nosferatu, and Alien Romulus all being nominated last year. It seems that The Academy is beginning to recognize horror as a viable genre that can produce some of the best films each year. It doesn’t excuse those who should have been nominated in the past, but it’s a start.
For horror movie fans, this is a big deal; they’ve been pushing the genre for years, hoping that it would get some form of recognition for its storytelling, acting, makeup, effects, and more, only for it to be continuously swept to the side and not taken seriously. The big thing going forward would be to see if this pattern continues. Obviously, it’s far too early to tell what would even be considered the best horror movie this year or what could even be a contender, but that’s also because there isn’t a clear picture of the films that will be released in 2026.
One movie that you could toss in the ring as a potential contender is Robert Eggers’ Werewulf. Set to release on Christmas Day like its predecessor, Nosferatu, Eggers will reunite a lot of the team that worked on that movie for Werewulf. If it’s anything like its predecessor and then some, there’s potential for it to see greater success than Nosferatu. Other than that, it’s too early to tell what horror movies could be considered for next year’s awards, but at least progress has been made.
For me, this is much-needed validation. I’ve been a long-standing fan of the horror genre, and to this day, it’s one of my go-tos. One of my goals in life is to potentially make my own horror movie or work on something horror-related because even though it’s a genre full of terror, it’s where you’ll find some of the most vulnerable performances and creative whimsy you could ever think of. For years, most people wrote it off as slop or something that was just there, but now it seems people are starting to see what many others do, and that’s that horror deserves respect and validation. Let’s hope they start seeing that about animation next.
