The 98th Academy Awards were a significant moment for horror films. Movies like Weapons, Frankenstein, and Sinners received numerous nominations and awards. Although horror has become more popular recently, it hadn’t been well-represented at major award shows for many years, despite many deserving films. Last year’s film The Substance, directed by Coralie Fargeat, helped pave the way, and the 2025 Oscars clearly demonstrated that horror can achieve major recognition.
Look, I have to admit, Amy Madigan winning Best Supporting Actress was a real shocker – in the best way! After four decades of incredible work, she finally took home an Oscar for her truly unsettling and captivating performance as Aunt Gladys in Zach Cregger’s Weapons. Beyond just being a joyful moment for a deserving actress, this win feels genuinely significant for horror as a whole. It’s been almost twenty years since a horror performance received this kind of recognition from the Academy, and it proves that audiences and critics are finally acknowledging the artistry within the genre.
Amy Madigan Won the First Acting Oscar for a Horror Movie Since Natalie Portman in ‘Black Swan’
Warner Bros. Pictures
Amy Madigan’s recent Academy Award win was a significant moment for horror films. For years, the genre had been largely overlooked in acting categories at the Oscars. While films like The Substance and Get Out had some success – the latter even winning an Oscar for its screenplay – and Natalie Portman won Best Actress for Black Swan in 2010, Madigan’s win marked the first acting Oscar for a horror film in over a decade, breaking a long streak.
Sheila Madigan’s performance as Aunt Gladys in Weapons marked only the seventh time an actor had won an Academy Award for a role in a horror film. Before Natalie Portman’s win, the last time it happened was two decades earlier, with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins both winning for their famous roles in The Silence of the Lambs. And since the Academy Awards began in 1929, there had only been three horror-related acting wins prior to that.
Toni Collette Should Have Won an Oscar for ‘Hereditary’ in 2018
A24
Over the nearly century-long history of the Oscars, many strong horror performances deserved recognition, but Toni Collette’s stands out as truly deserving of a win. In Ari Aster’s 2018 film Hereditary, she delivered a complex, unsettling, and frightening performance. Collette brilliantly portrayed a daughter grappling with the loss of her mother, showcasing a woman slowly falling apart under grief that ultimately explodes into a terrifying and intense possession.
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Though Toni Collette deserved an award nomination for her acting, the Academy Awards probably weren’t recognizing horror films at the time. However, in the last few years, major actors, directors, and studios have started to appreciate both the financial success and artistic merit of the horror genre. Wins by Amy Madigan for Weapons and Michael B. Jordan for Sinners could encourage the Academy to include more horror films and performances in future awards.
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2026-03-16 18:38