When Horror First Scared Up an Oscar Win

The Academy Awards have a reputation for favouring certain genres, often leaning towards dramas, biopics, and historical epics that fit a particular narrative Hollywood likes to promote. Over the years, the Oscars have faced criticism for their lack of diversity and for rewarding films that present a comfortable, familiar image of society. While there are always exceptions, it’s clear that some genres have struggled to get a look-in, and horror is right up there among the most overlooked.

Horror films, with their knack for tackling tough social and political themes through unsettling stories and monstrous characters, rarely fit the Academy’s mould. The genre’s reputation for jump scares and relentless chases has led many to dismiss it as less serious, leaving it on the fringes of awards season. Still, every now and then, a standout performance or a particularly clever script manages to break through the noise and earn some recognition.

Horror’s Rocky Road to Oscar Recognition

It’s a rare sight to see a horror film take centre stage at the Oscars. When ‘The Substance’ picked up an award in 2024, it felt like a bit of a watershed moment, especially for a body horror flick. With ‘Sinners’ making waves in the 2026 awards season, there’s a sense that the genre might finally be edging closer to mainstream acceptance. But these recent successes wouldn’t have happened without the trailblazers that came before.

Films like ‘The Exorcist’ managed to snag wins for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound, while ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ famously swept several major categories, including Best Picture. These wins were significant, but the first time a horror film truly made its mark at the Oscars happened much earlier, setting the stage for everything that followed.

The First Oscar-Winning Horror Performance

Back in 1931, ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ hit the screens, with Frederic March taking on the challenging dual role of the respectable scientist and his sinister alter ego. The film was an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, and while it wasn’t the first time the story had been brought to life, it was the first with sound, giving March the chance to deliver a performance that was both nuanced and genuinely unsettling.

March’s transformation from the well-meaning Jekyll to the menacing Hyde was a standout moment in early cinema, and it earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. He did have to share the honour with Wallace Beery for ‘The Champ’, but it was a landmark win all the same. This early recognition for a horror performance was a rare feat, and it would be nearly four decades before another actor in the genre would take home an Oscar.

Horror’s Elusive Place at the Oscars

It wasn’t until 37 years later that Ruth Gordon won for her role in ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, marking another rare moment of Oscar glory for horror. Since then, a handful of others have joined the club—Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes, to name a couple—but these wins remain few and far between.

Despite the genre’s ongoing struggle for recognition, these landmark moments have paved the way for today’s horror films to be taken more seriously by both critics and awards voters. While horror might never be the Academy’s favourite, its impact on cinema—and its occasional Oscar triumphs—are impossible to ignore.