The 2015 Academy Award nominations were announced today and, as expected, the horror genre got left out in the winter cold to die a slow, painful death.
When was the last time those geeks at the Academy even recognized the value of a fright flick? Sure, we all know that Kathy Bates won a Best Actress Oscar for 1990’s Misery, and that great ’80s efforts like Aliens and The Fly have garnered the award for Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup, respectively.
But 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs is the first and only horror movie to ever win a Best Picture award! It also took Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay, but that’s beside the point.
And that was nearly a quarter-century ago. Time for those tuxedo-wearin’ squares at the Academy to admit once more that scary movies should not be exempt from consideration.
The folks over at renowned horror magazine Fangoria aren’t waiting around for the next Silence of the Lambs to come along and sweep up the golden statuettes, however. In response to the ongoing Oscar debacle in regards to genre films, it has released the nominees for its annual Chainsaw Awards, celebrating the year in fear.
I for one am happy to see that The Babadook has been nominated in four categories: Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay. In my opinion the Aussie shocker—which screens at the Vancity Theatre tomorrow night—was 2014’s best horror film.
I was also pleased to see that the B.C.-shot Horns is up for Best Actor and Best Makeup/Creature FX. And I’m giving a severed thumbs-up to Michael Parks’ nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his delightfully demented role in the twisted Tusk.
My biggest complaint about the Chainsaw Award nominations is the inclusion of Dracula Untold for Best Wide-Release Film. That’s ridiculous. Just like the movie.
At any rate, here’s Fangoria‘s list. “And the nominees are…”:
BEST WIDE-RELEASE FILM
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW, directed by John Erick Dowdle
DRACULA UNTOLD, directed by Gary Shore
GODZILLA, directed by Gareth Edwards
OCULUS, directed by Mike Flanagan
THE QUIET ONES, directed by John Pogue
BEST LIMITED-RELEASE/DIRECT-TO-VIDEO FILM
THE BABADOOK, directed by Jennifer Kent
THE BATTERY, directed by Jeremy Gardner
HOUSEBOUND, directed by Gerard Johnstone
THE SACRAMENT, directed by Ti West
UNDER THE SKIN, directed by Jonathan Glazer
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
BIG BAD WOLVES, directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME, directed by Alejandro Hidalgo
THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS, directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
WITCHING & BITCHING, directed by Alex de la Iglesia
BEST ACTOR
Lior Ashkenazi, BIG BAD WOLVES
Nick Damici, LATE PHASES
Jake Gyllenhaal, ENEMY
Jared Harris, THE QUIET ONES
Daniel Radcliffe, HORNS
BEST ACTRESS
Essie Davis, THE BABADOOK
Alexandra Essoe, STARRY EYES
Scarlett Johansson, UNDER THE SKIN
Marta Milans, DEVOURED
Tilda Swinton, ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
David Asavanond, COUNTDOWN
Tzahi Grad, BIG BAD WOLVES
Gene Jones, THE SACRAMENT
Michael Parks, TUSK
Noah Wiseman, THE BABADOOK
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Olivia Cooke, THE QUIET ONES
Anne Ramsay, THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN
Katee Sackhoff, OCULUS
Rima Te Wiata, HOUSEBOUND
Mia Wasikowska, ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
BEST SCREENPLAY
Jennifer Kent, THE BABADOOK
Gerard Johnstone, HOUSEBOUND
Jeff Baena, LIFE AFTER BETH
Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard, OCULUS
Zack Parker, Kevin Donner, PROXY
BEST SCORE
Frank Ilfman, BIG BAD WOLVES
The Newton Brothers, OCULUS
Jozef van Wissem, SQÜRL, ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
Jonathan Snipes, STARRY EYES
Mica Levi, UNDER THE SKIN
BEST MAKEUP/CREATURE FX
Tamar Ouziel, AFFLICTED
Steinaar Karstein, Mike Elizalde, DEAD SNOW 2
Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, HORNS
Robert Kurtzman, Brian Spears, LATE PHASES
Hugo Villasenor, SOTA FX, STARRY EYES
BEST TV SERIES
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW
HANNIBAL
PENNY DREADFUL
TRUE DETECTIVE
THE WALKING DEAD
BEST TV ACTOR
Hugh Dancy, HANNIBAL
Josh Hartnett, PENNY DREADFUL
Andrew Lincoln, THE WALKING DEAD
Matthew McConaughey, TRUE DETECTIVE
Mads Mikkelsen, HANNIBAL
BEST TV ACTRESS
Nicole Beharie, SLEEPY HOLLOW
Eva Green, PENNY DREADFUL
Janet Montgomery, SALEM
Anna Paquin, TRUE BLOOD
Sarah Paulson, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW
BEST TV SUPPORTING ACTOR
David Bradley, THE STRAIN
Zane Holtz, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN: THE SERIES
Rory Kinnear, PENNY DREADFUL
Norman Reedus, THE WALKING DEAD
Finn Wittrock, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW
BEST TV SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Gillian Anderson, HANNIBAL
Madeleine Martin, HEMLOCK GROVE
Melissa McBride, THE WALKING DEAD
Billie Piper, PENNY DREADFUL
Deborah Ann Woll, TRUE BLOOD
BEST TV MAKEUP/CREATURE FX
Francois Dagenais, HANNIBAL
Nick Dudman, PENNY DREADFUL
Steve Newburn, Sean Sansom, THE STRAIN
Todd Masters, Dan Rebert, TRUE BLOOD
Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, THE WALKING DEAD
WORST FILM
We’ll leave this one up to you (2014 releases only)
My choice of one individual (no movies/TV shows) for induction into the FANGORIA Hall of Fame