I was very pleased last night to turn on my computer and read that Let the Right One In was named by the Austin Film Critics as one of the best movies of this year.  This film is one-in-a-million and really takes the genre to the next dimension.  I was kind of disheartened when the Golden Globes didn’t give it a nom for Best Foreign Language Film, as the Golden Globes are pretty progressive and I felt like LTROI’s best chance at getting some recognition might’ve been there.  What I find really intriguing about the Austin Critics choosing Let the Right One In as their number 9 pick is that it could potentially introduce this film to Academy voters and give it some fuel going into the second wave of Best Foreign Language Film competition:  the Oscars.

The other interesting thing about this year’s Oscars is that it’s presenting a plethora of opportunities for horror fare.  While not exactly something horror purists are going to be looking at as genre reputation, Heath Ledger and The Dark Knight might very well be looking at Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture nominations respectively.  Chris Nolan might even have some Best Director recognition in his sights.  But I’m gonna go with it’ll be one or the other between The Dark Knight receiving a Best Picture or Nolan nabbing a Best Director.  There’s a lot of competition this year in those categories and the Academy will most likely just go with one to make room for other contenders – especially after the Golden Globes (who have even more slots for contention) boned the hell of out Nolan and co.

The aforementioned purists will be glad to know that its not only Ledger and The Knight team gunning for little gold men.  Like I said before Let the Right One In could ride some dark horse, end-o-year buzz into a fifth slot in Best Foreign Language Film.  It’d probably not spell victory for LTROI – but the recognition would be pretty damn cool.  On the other side of the spectrum, the Academy just yesterday released the submissions for nomination in the Best Original Song category.  Surprisingly enough, Darren Lynn Bousman’s Repo! The Genetic Opera comprised three of the forty-nine entries.  Songs “Chase the Morning”, “Chromaggia”, and “Zydrate Anatomy” will be thrown into the mix, battling it out with The Boss (Old Spruce Bruce Springsteen lends his voice to The Wrestler’s theme), Dracula (whose felt incarnation belts outs the hilarious “Dracula’s Lament” in Forgetting Sara Marshall), and those Goddamn high-schoolers who just won’t stop singing their way through their teen years.  It’s a long shot, considering that Repo! was buried by its studio and barely got released.  But you never know what’s gonna happen this time a year, do ya?

While much like comedy, horror is usually the first to be brushed off to the side by the Academy.  So it’s easy to understand the skepticism of you, the fans.  How can these under-budgeted, under-appreciated films compete with bloated, studio darlings being shoved in the faces of Academy voters?  Well, if it’ll help to inspire some hope in your gore-hungry little hearts, I’ve compiled a short little list below of horror films that have beaten the odds and at least been recognized by the Academy for major competition:

1932:  Horror wins its first Oscar as Fredric March pulls down Best Actor for his portrayal of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

1945:  Angela Landsbury eyes up a Best Supporting Actress trophy for The Picture of Dorian Gray.  She didn’t win.  Director of Photography Harry Stradling Sr., however, does for Best Cinematography in a black-and-white film.

1957:  A precursor to kids-gone-satanic films such as The Omen and The Exorcist, The Bad Seed, shows up at the ceremonies with four nominations (Best Cinematography, Best Actress, and two Best Supporting Actress) but loses out, one of which to some chump by the name of Ingrid Bergman…

1961:  Four years later, Psycho mimics The Bad Seed with four nominations (including Best Director and Best Supporting Actress) and no wins.

1963:  Creepy and atmospheric, maybe the best part of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? was the knock-out performance delivered by Bette Davis.  Baby Jane nabbed five Oscar noms (including a Lead Actress for Davis) but won only one – for Best Costume Design.  Lame…

1969:  Rosemary’s Baby picks up two nominations, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.  Ruth Gordon learns the pluses of satanic rape when she walks home with the statue for the former.

1972:  Here’s to you Repo! enthusiasts… A sequel to the horror film Willard wherein one of the title character's rat minions is the main character, Ben may have been about as shitty as horror movies get.  But that didn’t stop the producers from grabbing top-tier talent in Michael Jackson to the sing the film’s theme and later become recognized by the Academy for it with a Best Original Song nod.

1974:  The Academy decides that a film scary enough to send people fleeing from theaters in packs is worthy of 10 (count ‘em… 10) nominations, putting the film up for competition in every major category.  Unfortunately a little movie called The Sting came out that same year and The Exorcist only scoops two trophies (Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound).

1976:  Steven Speilberg has arrived.  Jaws nabs a best picture nomination along with three others in technical categories.  Three others: 3, Best Picture: 0.

1982:  Not too major of a category, but I’ll throw this in to bridge the gap between the 70s and 90s, a time period where apparently the Academy forgot about horror… Rick Baker does the werewolf some big-time justice on the silver screen and wins a Best Make-Up statue for John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London.

1992:  Silence of the Lambs does horror fans everywhere proud by winning pretty much every major category (Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Adapted Screenplay).  Incredible on one hand but on the other, the biggest Oscar omission ever:  Ted Levine gets no love for incredibly awkward and terrifying portrayal of Buffalo Bill.

2000:  A little movie called The Sixth Sense finds some of that same woolen Lamb love when it astonishes its way to six nominations (among which are Picture, Director, Supporting Actor and Actress, Original Screenplay, and Editing).  How many does it win?  Zero.  The Academy later pats itself on the back after screenings of The Village, Lady in the Water, and The Happening…

2001:  Think Ted Levine got screwed?  Willem Dafoe (nominated for his portrayal of Max Schreck in Shadow of a Vampire) suffers one of the most bullshit losses of Oscar history when the Academy hands Best Supporting Actor to Benicio Del Toro for a role where he essentially plays himself (the movie’s Traffic if you’re wondering).  Schreck promptly rolls over in his grave following this atrocity.

2007:  Horror earns its first recognition IT DIDN’T DESERVE when The Nightmare Before Christmas 2—oh, I’m sorry The Corpse Bride gets nominated for Best Animated Feature.  Sorry Tim, but UNinspired in an UNderstatement.

So there you go… ups and downs, but more importantly – recognition.  Anyone has just as great a chance of winning one of those coveted gilded nude men as the other.  So how about it?  Lets get the Academy pumped to celebrate the most deserving of genres… THE HORROR FILM!

A special thanks to guest artist/fellow FEARnet blogger Giaco Furino for his wonderful picture of Mr. Oscar losing his head.  Check out his blog here.