Hollywood’s problem with the horror genre

This makes its complete shut out from last year’s Oscars seem like an extraordinary oversight. Even if it had been shut out from other categories it could easily have been nominated in, such as best cinematography or best original screenplay, Toni Collette’s performance as Annie Graham is almost universally agreed to be Oscar-worthy. She completely embodies a crazed mother struggling to keep things together and produces a performance that will haunt viewers for a very long time, and yet she was not even recognized for Hollywood’s biggest award. The entire movie was not recognized in any category, and yet, the oddly-paced Bohemian Rhapsody that sanitized and glossed over many aspects of Freddie Mercury’s life took home the most awards.

This is a clear example of the issue of genre bias in Hollywood: excellent genre films, particularly horror films, are consistently cast aside and do not gain the recognition and respect that they deserve. The complete disregard for Hereditary during the Academy Awards is not an isolated incident, and is exceedingly common throughout the history of Hollywood. This treatment of well-made horror movies and other genre fare is ridiculous, and makes the Oscars seem snobbish and condescending to the average moviegoer.

Some of the films that critics consider to be among the best ever made are of the horror genre. Movies like The Shining, Psycho, and The Exorcist  have become classic films, and almost every regular moviegoer has either seen or knows the plot and story of each. However, all of the above films did not receive the award for best picture, losing to Kramer vs. Kramer, The Apartment, and The Sting, respectively. Those are all fine movies, but none of them have stood the test of time or reached the levels of critical acclaim that the horror films they beat have. Hollywood’s distaste for the horror genre becomes all the more apparent when you consider the fact that The Shining actually won two Razzie Awards for Worst Director and Worst Actress, or that The Exorcist screenwriter was angry at the fact that the movie was snubbed that his angry rant against the Academy became legendary. Even Alfred Hitchcock, possibly Hollywood’s most famous and respected director in the horror genre, never won Best Director (although he was nominated several times), and the only one of his movies that ever won Best Picture was Rebecca, even though others like Psycho, The Birds, or Rear Window have become much more widely known and respected. Thus, throughout Hollywood’s history, horror movies have consistently been shut out and disrespected.

Things, however, do seem to be changing. Get Out, Jordan Peele’s horror film that focused on race in modern America, won big at the 2018 Oscars and has been widely praised. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, while not a full-fledged horror film, contains many things that define the genre, and recently brought home Best Picture. Horror films like Hereditary are still often ignored and pushed aside, but hopefully, Hollywood will recognize the power of horror movies and other genre films and start to give them the recognition they deserve.