Typically, the Academy tends to overlook horror movies. To this day, we are not particularly sure why, but Oscar voters don't necessarily love the genre. Sure, there have been some great exceptions that not only got nominated for Academy Awards but also managed to take home a few awards. Kathy Bates took home the award for Best Actress for her role in Misery, Jordan Peele's Get Out won Best Screenplay, and Silence of The Lambs swept the Academy Awards back in 1992, winning Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins both took home awards for Best Actor and Actress.
Update September 29, 2023: It's now awards season, but it is Halloween season, so this list has been updated with even more great performances in horror movies that the Academy Awards overlooked.
It's safe to say that the horror genre boasts a huge amount of under-appreciated performances. Perhaps not by the audience, but most certainly by the Academy. Today, we attempt to right that wrong, as these are the best horror performances that deserve Oscar nominations.
13 Matthew Lillard - Scream (1996)
Matthew Lillard was simply fantastic in Wes Craven's Scream. Perhaps Lillard's performance may not be as layered as a few other performances on this list, but it's a wild and over-the-top performance we can't help but love. During the film, Matthew Lillard plays a fairly interesting character that we never really think about. However, it's in Scream's final act when Lillard loosens the reins and delivers one of the best off-the-wall performances of all time in horror.
Lillard follows the script like any good actor, but a few lines of dialogue were brilliantly improvised, adding authenticity to his performance. Lillard screams (no pun intended) as he and his fellow Ghostface killer stab each other in order to frame Sidney's dad. But the best moment is when Lillard's character is crying on the floor and cries, "my mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me". No disrespect to Best Supporting Actor that year, Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire, but Lillard was the true winner that year.
12 Emily Blunt - A Quiet Place (2018)
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Emily Blunt has proven time and time again that there is no genre, character, or film she can't expertly tackle and execute, and undeniably, one of her finest and most gripping performances was without a doubt in her husband John Krasinski's horror hit A Quiet Place. The deeply unnerving picture centers on a family fighting to survive in a post-apocalyptic world in which horrific blind creatures use their keen sense of hearing to attack their prey, striking at the smallest of sounds.
Blunt was phenomenal as the family's resolute matriarch, Evelyn Abbott, who tries to provide some form of normalcy for her young children while struggling to keep them safe in their terrifying new reality. The scene where Evelyn goes into labor alone and must hold back her screams of anguish and pain is truly impressive, with the character's agony palpable to viewers. Being able to masterfully emote and convey feelings of pure torment without saying a word is downright commendable, and Blunt does so brilliantly.
11 Jeff Goldblum - The Fly (1986)
Director David Cronnenberg's The Fly did receive an Oscar for its hideous makeup and hairstyling. But, the man under all the prosthetics criminally never even got a nod. Jeff Goldblum is one of the most beloved actors of all time, bringing his undeniable charm to every role. His elevated performance in The Fly, however, is by far and away his best. The Fly is a ghastly body horror that is most well known for the gross makeup that won the film an Academy Award. But what fans truly love about the film is that The Fly is filled with emotion, tragedy, and romance, which is fully realized by Goldblum's brilliant performance.
10 Lupita Nyong'o - Us (2019)
Much like the majority of the cast in Jordan Peele's 2019 horror movie Us, Nyong'o had the very difficult job of portraying two characters. One, a protective mother who will do anything to protect her family; and two, an unsettling doppelganger who releases a wave of murderous carnage upon the entire US. Both performances were fantastic, as Lupita Nyong'o delivered a tender yet badass performance as Adelaide "Addy" Wilson, as well as showing an undeniable creepy side with Red, which required her to do things with her voice that were impressive, het seemed incredibly difficult and painful to pull off. But being the sensational actress she is, Nyong'o brought her A-game, and more.
9 Christian Bale - American Psycho (2000)
Christian Bale's intensely brilliant performance in Mary Harron's American Psycho, stunned horror fans everywhere. His deeply disturbed, off-the-wall and sickening portrayal of Patrick Bateman is one of horror's most deranged and compelling performances ever. So why did Bale not get nominated for an Oscar? Well, it could be due to the bloody, and explicit nature of the film, even if the social commentary was poignant and intriguing.
8 Toni Collette - Hereditary (2018)
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On paper, Hereditary is a film that Oscar voters were sure to love. Well, aside from the horror elements and the film being based around a Pagan cult. Hereditary is a story of grief as we follow a family being torn apart after their tragic and brutal loss of their daughter/sister. The performances all around were great, but Toni Collette's powerful performance as a grieving mother elevates the film's theme of grief.
The explosive family dinner scene is one of the best moments of cinema in recent memory, and it's Toni Collette's raw performance to thank for that. We could have bet money that Toni Collette would have at least been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress nod, yet when the nominations were revealed, Collette's name didn't show up, to our disappointment.
7 Essie Davis - The Babadook (2014)
Australian actress Essie Davis was a force to be reckoned with when she starred as the distraught mother of a deeply disturbed child in Jennifer Kent's cult classic The Babadook, in which the single widowed Amelia tries to help her son Sam overcome his fears and erratic behavior as he is terrorized by a chilling humanoid monster lurking within their home. Davis captured the profound grief and mounting frustrations Amelia faced as a single parent attempting to help her troubled son, as she herself spirals into madness due to the Babadook's taunting and ominous threats. The actress gave it her all during the tense climatic scene when she's possessed by the creature, hurling all her rage and sorrow at stunned moviegoers.
6 Florence Pugh - Midsommar (2019)
Ari Aster returns once again with a fairly harrowing drama, which Oscar voters are sure to love. But as with Hereditary, Midsommar is surrounded by some very disturbing horror elements that make it so memorable. This again stopped the film from being nominated for any awards at the Oscars, and Florence Pugh criminally never got nominated for her exceptionally raw performance. Pugh shines as her character Dani Ardor deals with the grief of the recent murder-suicide of her entire family, all while being trapped in a toxic relationship. As always, Pugh is at the top of her game, keeping the movie grounded with a compelling character drama among the drug-fueled horror mayhem unfolding on-screen.
5 Duane Jones - Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not only did Duane Jones make history when he landed the groundbreaking lead role in George A. Romero's '60s masterpiece Night of the Living Dead, but he also delivered an exceptionally acted and poignant performance in the juggernaut flick. Jones marked the first time an African American was cast as both the hero and main protagonist in a horror film, bringing a silent but commanding strength and power to the character despite facing both a horde of ghouls and harsh adversity. While the casting of Jones in 1968 was a bit controversial, Romero chose the actor due to his impressive audition, beating out fellow white hopefuls and forever leaving his mark in the cinema.
4 Jack Nicholson - The Shining (1980)
Jack Nicholson's iconic performance as Jack Torrance is a performance we will never forget, which was surprisingly devoid of any Oscar nominations. Infamously, Jack Nicholson is completely unhinged as Jack Torrance, a once stable-headed family man, who begins to go 'nuts' during their stay at the haunted Overlook Hotel. The Overlook Hotel has profound effects on each of its characters, yet it turns Jack Torrance into a bloodthirsty serial killer who attempts to murder his wife and son.
Jack Nicholson is terrifying and unpredictable, constantly laughing in a deranged manner and gleefully telling his wife that he is going to bash her brains in before swinging an axe through a door and exclaiming the iconic line, "here's Johnny!".
3 Barry Keoghan - The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
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Undeniably, one of the most unsettling and spine-tingling performances on this list is hands down Barry Keoghan in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which draws upon elements of Greek tragedies and tells the story of the mentally unstable 16-year-old Martin Lang as he becomes infatuated with a cardiothoracic surgeon (Colin Farrell) and his family, insinuating himself in the man's life to a distressing degree.
Martin's true intentions are slowly revealed, and the character becomes more and more erratic and unglued as he seeks vengeance against the doctor, remaining stoic and unwavering on his quest to deliver justice. Keoghan delivers an eerie and outright creepy portrayal as the tormented teen, showcasing his spectacular acting prowess and range while leaving chaos and bloodshed in his wake.
2 Anthony Perkins - Psycho (1960)
It is shocking and downright criminal that Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 trailblazing horror triumph Psycho did not win any Academy Awards (though it did earn four nominations), and Anthony Perkins' career-defining outing as the legendary motel proprietor Norman Bates introduced one of the cinema's most iconic serial killers of all time. Bates is a shy and unstable man with some serious mommy issues who initially comes off as unassuming and reserved but quickly demonstrates his dark and twisted side and ultimately delivers one of the most brutal murders to ever grace the screen.
Perkins masterfully played Bates with a tortured and cryptic sense of malice that future actors would look to in their villainous performances, and he was truly robbed of an Oscar win. Psycho is widely regarded as one of the finest films ever made, and Perkins' unforgettable portrayal will rightfully live on and continue to terrorize the masses.
1 Mia Farrow - Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Mia Farrow's performance in the incredible Rosemary's Baby is simply unforgettable. Which is why we still wonder to this day, how she never even got an Oscar nod. Instead, her co-star, Ruth Gordon, won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minnie Castevet, which is well deserved, but we still can't help but feel like Mia Farrow, the shining star of this movie, more than deserved a nod at the least.
Rosemary's Baby is a phenomenal and deeply terrifying look at paranoia, as Rosemary believes to have given birth to the antichrist, and her husband, friends, and neighbors are all a part of a cult. Brilliantly, the film never reveals the truth or any shred of evidence until the end, putting Mia Farrow center stage as she delivers a brilliantly anxious performance, as she grows increasingly more paranoid as the film goes on.
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