Top 10 HORROR Acting Oscar Nominations of ALL TIME 

The fact that Toni Colette for Hereditary, Florence Pugh for nidsommar, Mia Goth for Pearl, Lupita Nyongo for US, is totally disrespectful.

I would argue Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream would count as a horror performance. She deserved to win as well.

Not only should Linda Blair have won an Oscar for The Exorcist, but she also should've been one of the biggest movie stars Hollywood ever had! She played a very complex and difficult character and was totally convincing from start to finish!

Bette Davis in Baby Jane is one of the finest ever recognized with Oscar nomination. Heartbreaking and utterly terrifying.

Piper Laurie as Margaret White is my #1, what a genius, unconventional and well rounded performance. Her choice to play this dark character with comedic undertones actually made Margaret that much more unhinged and menacing See Patricia Clarkson and Julianne Moore’s flat and understated portrayals of the character for contrast. Both are wonderful actresses but made the character way too subdued. Piper was “over the top” in the best possible way and deserved that Oscar win

I always get so frustrated whenever I remember Glenn Close doesn't have an Oscar. Especially for Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons.

YES Horror Oscar snubs - can't wait. Oh PLEASE don't miss Mia Farrow for Rosemary's Baby! Also my other picks: AnyaTaylor-Joy for The Witch, Essie Davis for The Babadook, Jeff Goldblum in The Fly, Donald Sutherland in Don't Look Now, Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man, Tim Robbins in Jacob's Ladder, Gong Yoo for Train to Busan, Gregory Peck in The Omen, Kåre Hedebrant for Let the Right One In, Naomie Watts in The Ring. I'm sure I have more!

I think Rebecca De Mornay should've gotten a nomination for her performance as Peyton Mott in the Hand That Rocks The Cradle.

The car scene in Sixth Sense makes me cry, every, single, time.

Love the Laurie love. I can't see anyone else doing her role with the entertaining panache and unique comic flair Piper brings to it- RIP to a major, singular talent.

Kathleen Turner in Serial Mom is absolutely fantastic. One of her best performances. She should have been nominated.

I appreciate the love for Agnes Moorehead! Such an underrated talent.

It should have been Ellyn Burstyn for the Exorcist.

Fatal Attraction is part of a wave of late 80s/early 90s thrillers that utilized the slasher template with bigger budgets and big names to avoid the exploitation label. I think it definitely belongs on this list.

Ellen Burstyn for The Exorcist should be number 1, there is no finer performance not only in horror but film in general. That she did Exorcist and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore back to back is amazing. ‘74-75 she ruled. Then in her later years she does Requiem. Crazy good actress.

daniel kaluuya is SO great in get out. everything about that movie was incredible, and his performance holds it all together. so glad he's an oscar winner now. haley joel osment in the sixth sense is honestly one of my favorite performances of all time, like, wow. i'm sad i don't see him around as much anymore but what a career he had as a child actor.

Ellen Ripley & Norman Bates are iconic and actors should have won oscars for those performances

Ellen Burstyn was robbed in 1974. Her performance in The Exorcist was the best in any of the nominated films imo

Sigourney Weaver's performance in Aliens is so emotional and deep; people just don't know! Through the Directors Cut, you learn she sees Newt as the daughter she lost while in space. This adds so much more depth to her actions. Shes in almost every scene of a 2+ hour film, carrying it on her shoulders. And her eyes, they are eveything; they tell the story! So much depth comes through, every emotion shes feeling without needing words. They are not required, and you know exactly what she's thinking and feeling as you watch her tell half of the story with her subtle yet so telling gestures. Arguably one of cinemas greatest performances!

Best performances to NOT get an Oscar nod: 10. Anthony Perkins in Psycho 9. Elizabeth Moss in The Invisible Man 8. Betty Gabriel in Get Out 7. Octavia Spencer in Ma 6. James McAvoy in Split 5. Mia Farrow in Rosemarys Baby 4. Florence Pugh in Midsomar 3. Jack Nicholson in The Shining 2. Lupita N’yongo in Us 1. Toni Colette in Hereditary

As much as I love Glenda Jackson (and I do love her, RIP) Ellen Burstyn gave a better performance in the Exorcist

Would love you to do a list of horror movie performances that were NOT nominated but should have been for an Oscar! x

Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction is another one of those roles that could have easily gone over the top and chewed all the scenery. There was just enough restraint to make it genuinely tense and creepy and powerful. I have greatly enjoyed all your October videos.

Yes by all means Glenn should have one. That performance was one for the ages. Moonstruck was like a TV movie and Cher was being rewarded for her previous performances which were much better.

I always thought Ellen Burstyn should of won for The Exorcist. Mia Farrow should of been at least nominated for Rosemarys Baby, Other good horror performances imo is Janet Leigh Psycho, Billie Whitelaw The Omen, Glenn Close Fatal Attraction Brad Douriff Exorcist 3 Shaw , Dreyfuss and Scheider all give great performances in Jaws one very underrated performance of Jonathan Scott Taylor in Omen 2 as Damien and Linda Blair is a crime !!

I think it’s wrong that Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw weren’t nominated for Jaws, same as Jack Nicholson not being nominated for The Shining and Bruce Willis not getting a nomination for The Sixth Sense.

Linda Blair would still have had to actually ACT in the full on possession scenes. Otherwise the dubbing over of Mercede's voice would have been like a bad anime voiceover and the gravitas of the scenes would have been lost.

Terrific analysis. Osment's is one of the great child performances. The noms for Exorcist and the wins for Lambs show that a horror movie has to be truly extraordinary to get nominated. There are countless dramas that got nominated over the years that aren't up to the quality of those two horror movies.

In 1986 i was hurt at work and was off work for 8 weeks. After the first week, the doctor wanted me you get up and go for walks. I lived three block from the video store. I would walk to the video store every day and rent a Bette Davis movie. I must have watched 7 of her older movies and I must say, she was GREAT in all of them

Veronica Cartwright's performance in Alien is another level of terror. I think half the reason the film is scary are her reactions to what is happening.

My top 10 Horror Performances Jack Nicholson-Shining Jodi Foster-Silence Lambs Kathy Bates-Misery Piper laurie-Carrie Conrad Veidt- Cabinet Calligari/Man Laughs Michael keaton-Beetlejuice Robert Shaw-Quint Lon Chaney-Phantom/Hunchback Tie:Dracula-Lugosi & Oldman Linda Blair-Exorcist

Audrey Hepburn in Wait until Dark is probably my number 1. Only because I LOVE audrey. Everyone else is fine lmao love the vid

So many brilliant performances in international cinema are in horror. It’s such a shame the Oscars fail to take note of these performances, directors, and even these films.

Love that you brought up Agnes Moorehead! But I do think Eileen Heckart should be on this list. Bad Seed has its campy qualities, but she is phenomenal in her role.

What fun! Thank you! SO HAPPY you included Agnes Moorehead’s fabulous Velma Carothers! What a fantastic 😊character! I’m also very partial to Carrie, Baby Jane and others that you covered. Well done!

These are some of the greatest nominations ever, and it’s a pleasure seeing them all in one place. Horror acting is the best-performers get to be dramatic, demented, campy, seductive, and modulate from placidity to hysteria. And thank you for ALWAYS giving us the gayest number one choices. The second I saw Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte in the runners-up segment, I knew exactly what was coming 😂

I remember way back in the day reading an article about the woman that voiced the child's demon. Didn't seem to be a big controversy. The child is possessed it's understandable that the demon's voice wouldn't be the child's. I totally agree about her amazing performance.

Haley Joel Osment gave the best performance by a child on screen ever.

Great video! What about Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd? He was nominated for an oscar for the role. Its a musical, but also a horror movie right?

Your video concepts have been so original and so fresh!!!! I love this

Bette Davis in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? and Piper Laurie in CARRIE will always stand out for me because they GIVE…..IT……THEIR…….ALL!

Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is one of my all time favorites

Love that you mentioned Agnes Moorehead in Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte so much ❤️

Love the videos, man. Keep it up!!!

You left out Victor Buono for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane because he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for that film.

Yes, the line between a thriller and a horror film is sometimes blurred. I agree with you about Glenn Close. She was robbed of an Oscar for Fatal Attraction like Bette Davis was of a win for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. I just can't believe she's NEVER won!!! It's ridiculous!

Baby Jane is my favorite movie of all.

Awesome list. I can suffer some of those who aren't as clearly defined as horror (Close, Davis) as I love horror too. Honorable mention: Elizabeth Moss in 'The Invisible Man'

RIP Piper Laurie

I am new to your channel but I somehow I felt like the Bette Davis, Baby Jane role would be #1. It's my favourite horror performance of all time. The whole cast was excellent.

Keep up the good work! 👍

Even though you had to bend the rules for the definition of horror for most of the top 5, I love this selection overall. And your next top 10 list sounds like it's going to be great too ❤

Love your videos. Do a top 10 worse snubs in the horror genre 🙏

Tony deserves a Oscar nomination, she's a great actress

Way too low for Daniel Kaluuya. 😭

What? Ellen Burstyn wasn’t #1? I’m shocked. I thought that’s who you’d pick. That’s who I would have picked.

Burstyn, Blair and Close: ROBBED.

Throwing in my snubs picks -- 1. Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby 2. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Dr 3. Anthony Perkins, Psycho 4. Bela Lugosi, Dracula 5. Jeff Goldblum, The Fly 6. Lupita Nyong'o, Us 7. Toni Collette, Hereditary 8. Robert Englund, A Nightmare on Elm Street 9. John Cassavetes, Rosemary's Baby 10. Christian Bale, American Psycho HM: Jessie Buckley, I'm Thinking of Ending Things; Betty Gabriel, Get Out; Claude Rains, The Invisible Man; Morfydd Clark, Saint Maud; Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin; Matthew Lillard, Scream; Charles Laughton, Island of Lost Souls; Chris Sarandon, Fright Night; Samara Weaving, Ready or Not; Liv Ullman, Hour of the Wolf Of course there's many many many more deserving, too many to list, and definitely a ton I'm straight-up forgetting.

I love Bette Davis at number 1.

Wonderful list!!! Bette, Glenn, Ellen, Jason, Haley…so agreed!!!

Apart from De Niro's, Juliette Lewis' nomination for Cape Fear was deserving too.

Great list

No 2 - again yes for Haley Joel for the Sixth Sense. OMG this list could be 35 performances in horror films that deserved Oscar nominations or wins! Right? Will watch to the end then comment xxx

Great list! I agree with everything. I love all these movies❤ Baby Jane Hudson deserves no.1

The last thing I could’ve imagined was for this video to have a f-ing cliffhanger 😆 I need “days away” to be right now

Brian, thanks for another excellent video! I agree that Glenn Close should have won the Oscar for "Fatal Attraction." Cher was good but not that good. Keep up the great commentaries. You're a pro!

How about listing your Top Ten comedic Oscar Nominated performances at some point.

YES YES YES!!!!!! I agree 💯%!!!!!! Thanks for sharing this entertaining video! ✨🤩✨🍿✨🎥✨🎃✨

Brian I LOVE your channel but have a genuine fear of the exorcist, so I'll come back once the images stop popping up on your videos & making me jump😂

"That was a great twist at the end! Did you know that the gentleman in the toupee was Bruce Willis the entire time?" Charlie Kelly, _It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia_

Rebecca is my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film!!

Brian, you know a movie that scared the shit out of me and I think was intended to be a thriller and not a horror film?! 1955's THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER starring Robert Mitchum! I mean, I was SO scared for the kids and EVERYONE in that movie! Mitchum gave such a dark, scary, heart-pounding performance in that film, it kept me at the edge of my seat and stayed with me LONG after I first watched it! Have you seen this Mitchum film, that should be lauded much more, in my opinion? If not, I strongly recommend it, since you love movies of that ilk. If you have, what do/did you think about it?

Bette Davis looking down from heaven saying ‘damn right!’

BTW, what movie/TV show is that at 11:30 with Piper Laurie WEARING GLASSES, WHITE SCARF TIED AROUND HER NECK AND wielding a pair of scissors?

I agree that it is too bad the academy never seems to want to recognize horror. Some really amazing horror films have come out in the last 10 years

linda blair's performance is crazy, even crazier that she manages to sell it so well with not being her voice. It is 100% beliavable

Isabelle Adjani's performance as Anna in "Possession" (1981) was terrifying and brilliant

As soon as I saw this video I thought of Toni Colette in Hereditary. They really goofed on that one.

Toni collette is just so real in The Sixth Sense. She’s great in all movies she’s done. But the scenes with her in the movie are the best in my opinion. As a mom I just love everything about her. I also love her movie mom role in About a Boy. A greatly underrated film.

Good choice for the best performer. 👏👏👏

The fact that Toni Colette got snubbed for Hereditary is still absolute lunacy imo. One of the most insane performances of all time

Love THE SIXTH SENSE!! Definitely one of my all-time favorites 😍

Currently, hardly anyone other than the biggest horror buffs have seen this film, but I really hope Resurrection (2022) gets a cult following over the next few years. EASILY one of the greatest psychological horror films of all time with a PHENOMENAL performance from Rebecca Hall, on par with Toni Collette in Hereditary. Bold claims, but I stand by them.

Does Shape of Water nomination count? Since that film is a mix of different genres including horror.

For me personally, the biggest snub of all time, was Jessica Walter in "Play Misty for Me". She won a Golden Globe for her performance but didn't even get a nomination for an Oscar, for one of the best portrayals of "Borderline Personality Disorder" ever put to film. Glenn Close in a similar performance for "Fatal Attraction" (some say a complete ripoff of Jessica Walter) was brilliantly off kilter and frightening but Jessica Walter was just completely unhinged. But her performance never slipped into the realm of "Grand Guignol" territory. She was always one hundred percent believable. And utterly terrifying.

10:00 -- Yeah, tell that to Oscar traditionalists. 🙂🙂 They have a history for omitting or denying awards based on lip synching.

Haley Joel Osmond should have won that Oscar in 1999. That was a really, really tough category that year. Michael Clarke Duncan for Green Mile, Tom Cruise for Magnolia, even Jude Law’s performance in Talented Mr Ripley. The Academy went the safe route and gave it to Michael Caine….who, had already picked up an Oscar twenty years prior. It should have gone to Haley Joel…but, Cruise and Duncan would have been acceptable picks too.

Love, love, love Bette Davis, especially in “What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?”

Just one final comment. I know that the Academy would never considered one of the Greatest Horror movies ever for 99% of the awards,but for this 1982 Masterpiece Masterpiece,"The Thing" Makeup and Visual Pratical effects not being Recognize will be forever remain as one of Horro's Greatest Tragedies,when visual effects have been a staple at the Academy Awards since its inception. This one have no excuse whatsoever. "The Thing" is just one of the Greatest movies ever made.

You better include Isabelle Adjani in your horror snubs! Maybe an all time great one.

“Psycho” received four Oscar nominations, but it deserved to win more than four awards: Picture, Director, Lead Actor, Supporting Actress, Editing, Original Score, and Adapted Screenplay. Of course, there’s confusion over whether Anthony Perkins or Janet Leigh gave lead or supporting performances, but since Norman Bates carries us to the end of the film while Marion Crane does not, I say he’s the real lead and she’s the faux lead (aka supporting).

Bette Davis SHOULD have won her third Oscar for Baby Jane, absolutely indelible performance.

Linda Blair SHOULD have won, as should have Piper Laurie. Incredible performances!!

Matt Baume did an in depth video about Psycho that’s absolutely fantastic. Highly recommended

Ok going to comment as I watch - and straight out of the gate Ellen for The Exorcist... YES YES YES! OMG YES!

Jason Miller had the least flashy role in The Exorcist, but he knocked it out of the park. The movie would not have been the same without him. IMHO Anthony Hopkins was much better in Magic, a psychological horror film made in 1977 (I believe), before he was a big star. He effectively played two parts, one understated, and one very evil (voice only, as a ventriloquist's dummy).

Ellen Burstyn should have won for The Exorcist!

RIP Piper Laurie.

Serpent and the Rainbow and The Devils Backbone should have been nominated as well. Both terrifying and brilliant movies

If your gonna include Sigourney Weaver for Aliens which is Sci fi then Linda Hamiltons snub for Terminator 2 needs recognition