Top 10: 07 Oscar Noms in Horror #1

Last Updated on July 27, 2021

Written By Serena Whitney:

The night of the Annual Academy awards is always the biggest movie
night of the year. It’s a night when millions of people gather together and
watch and anticipate who’s going to win Oscars for their performances in movies
the majority of the public have yet to see.

Unfortunately, the horror buffs are
usually left out of this affair, because the Academy rarely awards Oscars to
actors/actresses in a horror film. (At least we got the Scream Awards now!)

The Academy hardly ever recognizes actors from
horror/suspense films, yet many past Oscar winners have gotten their start in
horror movies. (Tom Hanks, George Clooney, and Jack Nicholson to name some.) As
I was looking at this year’s nominees, I noticed that the majority of these
actors have been in horror films (both good and bad) and shined and stood out in
their past performances as well. (No matter if the dialogue was exceptional or
cheesy as hell.)

Here is my personal list of
the top ten performances from this year’s Oscar nominees in the genre that we
love.

WARNING – SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!

10.
Leonardo Dicaprio/Critters 3

If you are not
a Critters fan, there is probably only one thing you know about the
series: ‘Leonardo Dicaprio appears in the third installment.’ I, however was a
HUGE fan of the series, (well the first two anyways) but all I can remember from
the third film was there were Crites attacking people in an apartment and
Leonardo Dicaprio being one of them. His presence was the only memorable part of
the film. When I first watched this installment when I was a little girl, the
first thought in my head was, ‘Why on earth is the funny, homeless kid from
Growing Pains in this lame sequel?’ (Although if he had been in Critters
2, I would have thought differently.)

9. Eddie
Murphy/Vampire in Brooklyn

Folks,
this is my ULTIMATE guilty pleasure. I know this 1995 Wes Craven horror
comedy is considered to be “Gigli” bad, but I dug it. (Yes, I am a huge
Eddie Murphy fan, regardless of the constant crap he releases) Although,
his comedic talents didn’t save this movie from bombing, I always respected
the fact that he was willing to try something new despite what the public
thought. I do feel though, since the movie has been out a while now, it has
a certain Blacula/Def by Temptation campy feel to it, that makes it a
more enjoyable watch today. So go ahead and rent this Eddie Murphy horror
flick from the lowest point of his acting career….well second lowest.

8.
Dijmon Hounson/Deep Rising

This man has
been nominated multiple times for Academy awards and is most known for his
portrayal as Amistad, but I will always remember him as Vivo, the criminal that
meets his shocking and untimely demise in 1998’s creature feature, Deep
Rising. This horror film was filled with gory death scenes, but the only
one that completely caught me off guard and made me jump out of my seat was the
death of Vivo. Go watch this movie if only for Dimjon’s limited and
“head-splitting” performance.

7. Jackie
Earle Haley/Maniac Cop 3

I remember
watching last year’s Little Children, and the experience of the film was
completely ruined for me, because I was trying to figure out where I had seen
this actor before. I gave up trying to figure it out on my own and looked up his
filmography, (God bless IMDB.com!) and surprised to see he played the crazy
cokehead who shoots the female cop in the beginning of Maniac Cop 3. (I
loved these movies as a child.) He managed to do far better in his role than the
late Paul “Don’t mess with the bull” Gleason and one time Academy Nominee Robert
Forster did in this cheesy B movie sequel.

6. Abigail
Breslin/Signs

When I had
watched Signs, I remembered it being my favorite M. Night Shyamalan at
the time, due to its unique take on an alien invasion, but more importantly,
because of the acting. The one who impressed me the most in the movie was the
little girl who played Mel Gibson’s daughter. She was incredibly cute and
adorable, and NOT in the “Welch’s grape juice” way. (God, I hate those f*cking
kids!) I, myself am usually quite annoyed by most children in scary movies, and
the fact that this “Little Miss Sunshine” didn’t make me annoyed, makes her
worthy enough to mention in this article.

PART 2 OF THIS LIST IS COMING SOON!