It's Friday the 13th and I'm observing it the same way I did last month, examining horror nominees at an awards show. Then, it was the Saturn Awards. Today, it's the Academy Awards. I begin with Sinister Cinema Reviews asking What is Going On With The Oscars??!! A BIG Year for Horror!
Horror is actually getting recognition at the Oscars for the second year in a row??! What is happening?? This is great for the genre.I agree with Jason on most of his points except for Bugonia being horror film; I consider it to be science fiction so much that it headlined Science fiction movie nominees at the Critics Choice Awards for Science Fiction Day. The Saturn Awards agreed, nominating it for Best Science Fiction Film. Still, Jason has enough company that Empire Magazine tweeted the following image.
Including Bugonia got pushback in the replies; several users questioned its inclusion or flatly stated that it's not horror. I'm agree; it's science fiction that appeals to horror fans, but it's not horror.
Speaking of Empire Magazine, it published The Oscars Have Finally Embraced Horror – And It’s Worth Screaming About. Follow over the jump for excerpts from it and my reactions.
The big news is, of course, Sinners’ record-breaking number of nominations. Ryan Coogler’s film is up for a mammoth 16 awards at the Oscars this year. And it is, in its very bones, a vampire movie, a siege film too, so steeped in genre tropes that it was released as a mega IMAX blockbuster last April, way outside the usual awards window. And it is undeniably outstanding, tense and tender and full of surprises, blending its bloodthirsty tropes with explorations of racial tensions, artistic expression, cultural appropriation and colonisation, superbly directed by Coogler, performed immaculately by its cast.I looked at Sinners' best categories in 'One Battle After Another' and 'Sinners' lead screenplay categories at the Oscars according to Gold Derby and Actresses, costume designers, art directors, and casting directors at the Oscars for International Women's Day, where it leads both Best Original Screenplay and Best Casting. Gold Derby's odds also have it leading in Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Cinematography, and Best Score and in second place for Best Picture, Best Director for Ryan Coogler, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Production Design. If that plays out as predicted, Sinners would win five Oscars, tying it with Silence of the Lambs for most Academy Awards won by a horror film. If it wins more, it will hold the record.
That’s reflected in the nominations. It’s up for Best Picture, and Director for Coogler, as well as Original Screenplay. This is a space that horror films rarely enter. Even more notably, several actors are nominated for the film: Michael B. Jordan, for his dual role as twin gangsters Smoke and Stack, notably – SPOILER ALERT! – getting vampiric as the film goes on; Wunmi Mosaku for her deeply touching turn as Smoke’s estranged wife Annie, later caught up in the siege mayhem; and the legendary Delroy Lindo, nominated at long last, this time as harmonica player Delta Slim. You could imagine a world in which Sinners is nominated for Ludwig Göransson’s exceptional score, a few production design and costume nods, and some recognition for Coogler. But to see the players get their shine too is a genuine moment.
They’re not the only ones. Weapons – another all-out horror, with spooky spells, jump-scares, bludgeoned heads, possessions – might not have received widespread Oscars recognition, but did get a Supporting Actress nomination for Amy Madigan. She plays the film’s terrifying antagonist, Aunt Gladys, an instant genre icon, able to veer between true terror and slapstick perfection. It’s an excellent performance, exuding malevolent menace, dialling up and down from scene to scene. And it’s the sort of role that Academy often tends to ignore.Amy Madigan led Gold Derby's Oscar odds on Sunday and still does.
There are other dark delights, too. Guillermo del Toro once again had the Oscar base swooning with his sumptuously gothic Frankenstein adaptation – zapping new life into a foundational horror text. For all that it finds deep sympathy with its Creature, that sentimentality goes hand in hand with limb-sawing gore, smashed heads, and twitching electrified corpses. It’s up for a total of nine awards! Including, significantly, Jacob Elordi for his transformative Creature performance, truly convincing as a man made of many men. Like The Shape Of Water, it’s up for Best Picture, and a Screenplay award. As garlanded as that film was, Doug Jones wasn’t nominated for playing its central fish-man.Frankenstein led Gold Derby's odds for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design on Sunday and still does. Also, Jacob Elordi leads for Best Supporting Actor and the film leads for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. If everything goes as Gold Derby predicts, horror movies will win ten Oscars. Wow!
Most surprising, and the nomination sure to have hardened horror-heads grinning with glee, is a Makeup And Hairstyling nod for The Ugly Stepsister. From Norwegian writer-director Emilie Blichfeldt, it’s a riff on Cinderella told from the perspective of – you guessed it – one of the so-called ‘ugly stepsisters’, Lea Myren’s Elvira. By circumstance, her family is in dire straits; their only hope is for Elvira to earn the affection of eligible royal Prince Julian, by any means necessary. She undergoes all kinds of sickening surgeries and putrid procedures to be deemed worthy of him, in a sharp and satirical commentary on beauty standards. The film is a riot, like The Substance meets The Favourite. And it is legitimately disgusting, outright stomach-churning in its gonzo final reel.It's an honor for The Ugly Stepsister just to earn a nomination.
That's a wrap for today's post. Stay tuned for Pi Day.
Previous posts about the 2026 Oscars
- 'The Perfect Neighbor' leads Gold Derby odds for Documentary Feature at the Oscars
- 'One Battle After Another' and 'Sinners' lead screenplay categories at the Oscars according to Gold Derby
- 'All the Empty Rooms' leads Gold Derby odds for short documentary at the Oscars
- Actresses, costume designers, art directors, and casting directors at the Oscars for International Women's Day
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