The only 7 horror films that have been nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture

These seven films represent a unique collection of horror and thriller movies that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, breaking barriers in the genre's recognition by the Academy.

The Exorcist (1973)

William Friedkin's groundbreaking horror film was the first horror movie to be nominated for Best Picture. It received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound.

The Exorcist tells the story of a young girl named Regan possessed by a demon. The plot centers on Regan's mother, Chris MacNeil, an actress living in Georgetown, who witnesses her daughter's disturbing transformation. Regan begins exhibiting bizarre and violent behaviors, including speaking in different voices, levitating, and experiencing extreme physical changes.

Jaws (1975)

Directed by Steven Spielberg, Jaws was nominated for Best Picture at the 48th Academy Awards. The film was a massive box office success, breaking records and inspiring the "sharksploitation" subgenre. It featured a minimalist approach to the monster, relying on John Williams' iconic score and was ultimately preserved in the United States National Film Registry.

Jaws follows the story of a deadly great white shark terrorizing the fictional Amity Island, a summer resort town. After a young woman is killed during a late-night swim, police chief Martin Brody wants to close the beaches, but the town's mayor refuses, fearing economic damage to the summer tourism.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Silence of the Lambs is the only horror film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

In the movie, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is tasked with interviewing the brilliant but cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter to help catch another serial killer known as Buffalo Bill, who skins his female victims.

This horror movie won five major Academy Awards:Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Sixth Sense was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film became a cultural phenomenon known for its iconic twist ending. It lost the Best Picture award to American Beauty but was a massive box office success.

This horror story follows Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, and Cole Sear, a young boy with a unique ability to see and communicate with dead people. The movie begins with a traumatic incident where Vincent Grey, a former patient, confronts Crowe in his home and shoots him before committing suicide. A year later, Crowe begins working with Cole, a nine-year-old boy who is struggling with his supernatural ability to see ghosts.

Black Swan (2010)

Natalie Portman won the Best Actress Oscar for this film, which received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. It was a significant box office success, earning $329 million on a $13 million budget.

Black Swan follows Nina's intense psychological journey as she prepares for the challenging dual role. Highly perfectionist and sheltered, Nina struggles to embody the sensual and dark Black Swan character, which contrasts sharply with her own fragile and controlled personality. Her artistic director, Thomas Leroy, pushes her to unleash her darker side and truly become the Black Swan.

Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele's directorial debut earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The film was praised for its social critique and original screenplay, launching Peele's career and sparking important cultural conversations.

Get Out is about Chris Washington, a Black photographer who visits his white girlfriend Rose Armitage's family estate for the weekend. During the visit, Chris experiences increasingly unsettling interactions with Rose's family and their Black servants, who behave strangely. Rose's mother Missy, a psychiatrist, hypnotizes Chris, trapping his consciousness in a dark void called the "sunken place".

The Substance (2024)

The most recent entry in this list, The Substance made history by becoming only the seventh horror movie nominated for Best Picture. It received nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Demi Moore), Best Director (Coralie Fargeat), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The Substance could become the second horror film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, since the first to do so was The Silence of the Lambs.

The Substance is a body horror film about Elisabeth Sparkle, a 50-year-old actress who is fired from her long-running aerobics TV show due to her age. Desperate to reclaim her youth and career, she uses a mysterious black market drug called The Substance that creates a younger version of herself named Sue .

Notably, these films represent a significant breakthrough for horror and genre films at the Academy Awards, which historically has been reluctant to recognize such movies.