Joey Magidson
The Sunday Scaries are upon us once again! Yes, as the weekend concludes, most of us feel an oncoming sense of anticipatory dread about the week ahead. Anxiety about work manifests itself into a feeling that’s known as the Sunday Scaries. However, we at Awards Radar are here to combat that, by taking back the name. Now, we want you think about a horror-centric piece on the site when you hear the term. So, let us continue on with another installment of the Awards Radar Sunday Scaries! Today, with the Academy Award nominations looming in a few short days, we’re looking at if any horror films have a chance to be cited…
Spoiler alert: horror is not going to have a strong presence at the impending Oscar nominations. We’re going to see a lot of different films cited on Tuesday morning. Fright flicks? Yeah, not so much. It’s no secret that scary movies have a tough time with the Academy, but some years there are at least some interesting genre contenders in the mix. This time around, you have to really squint in order to see any, and if you’re a horror fan, that’s a bit of a shame.
The most likely title is, with a tiny bit of massaging of genre, El Conde, which seems like it’s poised to score a last minute nomination in Best Cinematography. It’s a category that’s not usually friendly to horror, either, so that’s not nothing. Still, it’s also a comedy and as much a satire/social commentary as it is anything horror related, but it’s about a vampire, so I think it certainly counts. Cinematographer Ed Lachman‘s visuals are quite possibly going to overcome some genre bias here, though the black and white of it all doesn’t hurt, either.
If you’re looking for other possibilities, there are two to consider are Beau is Afraid (which I’m stretching to include) and The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Both are hoping to surprise and crack the Best Makeup & Hairstyling race. The latter might have a slightly better shot than the former, even though I could see either pulling an upset nod, as it were. Don’t bank on them, but don’t be surprised by a nom, especially if the Dracula makeup really captured the imagination of voters.
Were there horror also-rans in the race this year? Well, not really, as 2023 was not full of the sort of prestige horror that voters can sometimes gravitate towards, at least during the precursors. Maybe 2024 will be better? Time will tell, but there are definite possibilities to consider. Either way, this Oscar season was lean for the genre, without a doubt.
Most likely, we’ll have a horror shutout from the Academy on Tuesday morning, give or take what you think of El Conde, genre-wise. It’ll potentially be what saves the day, though I suppose look out for The Last Voyage of the Demeter as well. Either way, stay tuned to see what happens on Tuesday morning and how horror manages to fare…
Do you think any horror films will be cited by the Academy Awards on Tuesday? Let us know!
Joey, I know you and Myles had differing opinions about the film itself and it hasn’t been shown in Britain yet so I haven’t had a chance to see it but how good is the Makeup in The Last Voyage of the Demeter & does it stand a chance of a nomination?.. It would be great if a horror film got in for something!
It is definitely good Makeup work, so it wouldn’t be an undeserving nominee, just a poor film on the whole to me. It’s one to watch out for, and really the purest horror option on the table for Tuesday.