Top 10 HORROR Acting Oscar Snubs of ALL TIME 

Toni Collette not getting nominated for Hereditary is pure criminal

Toni Collette always brings it, she deserves a nomination for literally every movie she's been it.

Toni Collette was miles ahead of some of the other nominees that year. I know the Oscars don't like horror, but this one was just pure nonsense. This and the Andrea Riseborrough thing have really made me question the integrity of the Oscars now. If the reason horror movies don't get nominated is because voters don't watch the movies because they're horror movies, then those voters are biased and should not be involved in voting.

The fact that Toni Collette garnered her first Oscar nomination with a horror movie performance but they didn’t give her a second one for another genre movie performance is WILD TO ME!!!!

Mia Farrow absolutely should have been nominated. She absolutely made that movie work. Colette was amazing in Hereditary.

I know it’s a long shot but I still love Shelley Duvall’s performance in “the Shining”. She was feeling it. It’s one of my favorites in a horror film. She was entertaining to watch. In a “real” and sorta comical way.

Mia Goth should've been considered for a nomination for her role in Pearl! It was so good,heart wrenching and real

What about Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse? Plus Florence Pugh in Midsommar? Plus Ted Levine in Silence of the Lambs? And Dwight Frye in Dracula?

The Toni, Emily and Lupita snubs still sting to this day. Also Mia Goth was incredible or Florence. So many performances... Jeff Goldblum from The Fly omg how the hell did he not get in??

Great selections!! I thought Tilda Swinton was super great in “We Need To Talk About Kevin”. Definitely worth an Oscar nod. Also, Mia Goth in “Pearl”

Great list, but my number one would have been Isabelle Adjani in Possession. It’s one of the greatest performances of all time. And she won at Cannes so it definitely qualifies as a snub. Also, where is Naomi Watts for Mulholland Dr??? 😂 I guess we could chalk that up as a crime thriller with horror elements.

I'm a The Shining fanatic, and to me, Shelley is the core of that movie, her performance is truly unbelievable. She should AT LEAST have been nominated.

Deborah Kerr truly deserved a Best Actress nomination for The Innocents. One of her best performances for sure.

1. Toni Collette - Hereditary 2. Anthony Perkins - Psycho 3. Jack Nicholson - The Shining 4. Marcia Gay Harden - The Mist 5. Florence Pugh - Midsommar 6. Lupita Nyong'o - Us 7. Terence Stamp - The Collector 8. Alex Wolff - Hereditary 9. Mia Goth - Pearl 10. Deborah Kerr - The Innocents

1980 was a very strong year for acting, but I really wish that Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall had been nominated for The Shining.

I’m surprised you didn’t include Gary Oldman for Dracula. I found his performance very moving

Nobody ever mentions her but I think Vera Farmiga's performance in "Orphan" is phenomenal.

Nicole Kidman in "The Others", Florence Pugh in "Midsommar", Vera Farmiga in "The Conjuring" or "Orphan"... Even Rebecca Ferguson deserved atleast a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her amazing work in "Doctor Sleep". It's a shame that horror movies are always snubbed by the Academy.

Toni Collette was robbed not just of a nomination, but the actual win! No one that year acted better than her!

I will never not be bitter about Toni

Every time I watch Rosemary's Baby (which I do frequently) I'm flabbergasted she wasn't nominated. The entire move hinges on her performance, and she delivers.

Also Florence Pugh for Midsommar and Mia Goth for Pearl

JoBeth Williams should have been nominated for Best Actress for her terrific performance in "Poltergeist".

Fun fact: Elsa Lanchester who played the titular "Bride Of Frankenstein" (the character who'd even been named Elsa in later adaptations) was nominated in 1958 for Witness Of Prosecution and one of her fellow nominees was Carolyn Jones, who'd be more famous for her role as Mortricia Addams in the 1960's series, for The Bachelor Party. So Elsa Frankenstein and Mortricia Addams were nominated for an Oscar in the same year, albeit for other roles.

Nicole Kidman for The Others deserved a nomination 100%

Absolutely agree about Mia Farrow. The genius of her performance is that you're not supposed to really know until the very end whether she's in danger or losing her mind, and she modulates perfectly so you can't be 100% sure. Makes the ending all the more powerful.

I'm surprised you mentioned Dee Wallace for Best Actress for Cujo but never suggested Danny Pintauro for Best Supporting Actor! What a great performance from a child actor! Speaking of child actors, what about Alex Vincent in Child's Play? That scene of him crying behind the door broke my heart! And also Kim Su-an as the little girl in Train to Busan for Best Supporting Actress especially for that scene at the end that had us all crying our hearts out. Oh, I almost forgot! Christopher Walken for Best Actor for The Dead Zone!

Ohhhh but wait … Mia Goth????? What about Mia Goth??? Did you forget her??? Florence Pugh also deserved a nod!!

Mia Goth, I mean she gave one of the best performances ever as Pearl, her monologue left me speechless, even more so because there aren't many cuts to that scene. She proved the kinda actress she is and she is a really good one, not a conventional one but still pretty amazing. Classic.

Only one I missed on your excellent list was Anthony Hopkins in Magic (1978).

As a teenager devoted fan of Stephen King when The Shining came out, I held the liberties Stanley Kubrick took with the novel against him. It took me a few years to distinguish between the different media's interpretation of the same story and gain the appreciation and respect I have for the film. As for snubs, I've always loved Kathy Bates and Judith Parfitt in Dolores Claiborne (if it counts in the category).

Your list is great. Your choices are all correct. Top two snubs to this viewer were Anthony Perkins and Mia Farrow. Criminally neglected. Thanks!

Wow, another amazing video! Most of your eliminated performances I agree with but Jane Alexander in "Testament" is astonishing she deserves to be there. That was a very tough year in lead actress and there were many snubs in that category alone. Dee Walace was amazing but so was Bonnie Bedelia's portrayal of Shirley Muldowney in "Heart Like A Wheel" and Anne Bancroft's tour-de-force comedic performance in "To Be Or Not To Be". I 100% agree Mia Farrow was snubbed big time in fact she should have multiple Oscar nominations at this point in her career!

Brian Brian Brian! We need a sequel to this video that includes: Mia Goth for Pearl, Winona Ryder for The Crucible, Shelley Duvall for The Shining, & Gary Oldman for Bram Stokers Dracula!

I also think Howard Shore should've been nominated for Best Original Score for The Fly. That music made the movie almost as much as the performances.

Man, the last time I sat stunned by a performance like those included here, is Mia Goth's 10 minute epic performance at the end of Pearl. There wasn't a single camera cut that I noticed...it was a massive scene and went the full emotional range gamut humanly possible...fracturing disappointment, guilt, hope, love, despair, and rage, seamlessly dissolving into one another and emerging back again. There's no way she memorized that entire scene...it had to either be improved stream of consciousness, or there were cues off camera for her to read. If it was improve or memorized, it's a masterclass in two oppositional methods. Even if she had cues, to pull off that performance without any hint of visually reading is admirable enough. I was physically tired after those 10 minutes, but made myself watch it again. Just incredible.

I'm not sure if I consider all of these Oscar nomination worthy but here are few power house horror performances: Deborah Kerr - The Innocents, Catherine Deneuve - Repulsion, Simone Simon - Cat People, Mickey Rourke - Angel Heart, Michael Rooker - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Great list. Jeremy Irons in “Dead Ringers”, too.

Deborah Kerr - "The Innocents". Gary Oldman - "Bram Stoker's Dracula". Florence Pugh - "Midsommar".

Gary Oldman in Dracula Tilda Swinton in Suspiria Tony Todd in Candyman Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter Willem Defoe in The Light House Fairuza Balk in The Craft

My personal # 1 pick, hands down, is Brad D in The Exorcist 111. Just brilliant. Your definitely correct about Miss. Weaver. No one else could have filled her shoes.

Have you seen "Long Day's Journey Into Night"? I agree Crawford does great work in "Jane," but not above what Hepburn accomplishes in possibly her greatest dramatic performance.

100% agree on Goldblum. What an amazing, sweaty, gross, tragic, weird performance.

Great list! I would like to add a few of my favorites who were snubbed. I thought Florence Pugh was AMAZING in Midsommar. That would have been the same year as Lupita Ngyong'o for Us, and yes I think they both should have made it in. How cool would that have been? Also, Mark Rylance was so terrifying in Bones and All and a best supporting actor nomination was in order, I think. Another great supporting actor nomination would have been Rory Kinnear in Men. Thanks for making these videos. They are a lot of fun.

Great and unexpected choices. I totally agree with Toni Collette and I would have actually replaced Gaga instead of Melissa McCarthy that year. I'm very surprised you would take out Katharine Hepburn in Long Day's Journey Into Night for Joan Crawford, that's one of her best performances (such a great acting category that year, I would take out the very good Lee Remick in Day Of Wine & Roses). Still shocked Mia Farrow never had an Oscar nomination and this would have been an all timer to get her in (she made Golden Globe & BAFTA, so I think she was in 6th place for Rosemary's Baby). Lupita was excellent in Us and she did make SAG, so I also think she was very close that year. Jeff Goldblum would have been a phenomenal all timer for The Fly. Can't wait for your Oscar fiasco video for The Shining, thanks for another great video. 👍

Love Essie Davis in The Babadook glad you mentioned that one… I would add Veronica Cartwright for best supporting actress in Alien, her panic stricken death scene is one of the best ever I think

Funny, many critics hated Jack Nicholson’s performance in The Shining. Some still see it as kabuki acting (Steven Spielberg’s assessment at first). But I sensed that Nicholson’s work is designed to show how a personality like his would be susceptible to that influence. Make him a boy scout at the start and it’s too simplistic. Jack needs to be potentially abusive and alcoholic to start. And Perkins is an inexcusable snub. It’s up there with not giving O’Toole the Oscar for Best Actor in 1962. But at least he was nominated! And Colette! Every year her work in Hereditary just grows in estimation.

I would also have listed Florence Pugh for Midsommar and Mia Goth for Pearl. Pearl is already an iconic horror villain to me and it is all based on Mia Goth and her terrifying performance in that role.

Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw should have been nominated for Jaws. Jack Nicholson should have been nominated for The Shining. Bruce Wills should have been nominated for The Sixth Sense. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe should have been nominated for The Lighthouse. So many people should have been up for Academy Awards for horror films and it’s unfortunate the genre gets overlooked overall at the Oscars. Thanks for the video Brian, keep up the great work!

This is one of the few times I disagree with you. Toni Collette's performance is one of the greats of all time regardless of genre. Given, I'm a sucker for a fabulous hysterical crying scene (eg. Florence Pugh in Midsommar), but Toni Collette was flawless in every scene.

Just a side not regarding PSYCHO. The Academy really dropped the ball there. The score is iconic. The music was written for strings only, wich turned out to be a stroke of genius. The editing is so masterful, it's studied in many film classes to this very day. Yet PSYCHO wasn't even nominated for best score or best film ending. 🤷

So good see your take on these Brian! I know you couldn’t talk about all of them because there are so many, what about Sheryl Lee for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me ?

OMG YES YES YES Dee Wallace in Cugo - what a performance! Most of it stuck in a car - half the time with a man in a St Bernard dog suit! Just amazing. Thank you for including her performance! (Sorry I comment so much - like you I love movies and awards)

Thank you. I have been mentioning Joan Crawford's performance for years. I am surprised they didn't nominate her in best supporting actress.

I think I was the one who in a previous video mentioned that Mia Farrow had received a nomination 🤭 for Rosemary's Baby. Thanks for double checking. She certainly deserved one. Toni Collette's omission I will never forgive 😢

Mia Farrow definitely should have been nominated. I still remember that performance to this day. In addition you are right about Jack Nicholson and Dee Wallace.

I assume you havn't seen Possession, you really need to because Isabelle Adjani gives an all time performance, you have to see it!

Toni Colette should not have been nominated.... she should WIN the Oscar!

Also Toni Collete should have WON for Herditary. Not just get nominated.

I would remove Nicole Kidman's nomination for "Moulin Rouge!" and nominate her performance in "The Others" instead.

Jeff Goldbumb in the fly. I'm convinced if his performance was about a man falling apart ftom a disease and it wasn't a body horror film, he would have AT LEAST been nominated. Their bias towards horror is infuriating to me.

At least BAFTA nominated both Joan and Bette when the Academy failed to do so.

The Fly came out when I was pretty young and the I remember to this day being terrified of the trailers! When the trailers for the movie came on I would have to leave the room. 😅

Amazing vids Brian keep up the good work ! Lots of love from India Especially the elusive Oscars videos I want one about mark Ruffalo, hugh grant , jennifer Aniston and many more and also you should make elusive Emmy videos too (Kim cattrall , Matthew Perry , Jesse Tyler Ferguson ) those would be great thanks and keep growing

A good list for sure. However, what about Mia Goth in Pearl?

Bride of Frankenstein is one of my favorites. The monster and the blind man scene brought tears to me. Dr. Pretorius was my kind of villain. Karloff humanized the monster and you actually wanted him to be happy.

Also even though I know they received nominations, I have always thought that Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie should have won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for CARRIE (1976).

Isabelle Adjani in “Possession” is a big one for me. Jeffrey Combs in “Re-Animator” and Barbara Crampton in “From Beyond” are other ones I would love to have seen but I get the Academy wouldn’t touch either of those.

Horror films are overlooked in every award show and let’s be real Toni Deserved not only to get nominated but also deserved to win

I always love me a good Top Ten List. I find that I make my own list as the video is playing to see what matches up. Here is a whole ten more that I think are quite deserving: 1. Christian Bale in American Psycho 2. James McAvoy in Split 3. Florence Pugh in Midsommar 4. Ian Holm in Alien 5. Bill Skarsgard in It 6. Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch 7. Tim Robbins in Jacob's Ladder 8. Deanna Dunagan in The Visit 9. Peter McRobbie in The Visit 10. Bill Murray in Ghostbusters

After watching some of your other videos, I was really hoping to find a Top 10 Horror Nominations and here it is!! Awesome.

I enjoy your channel even though I'm not a huge Oscar fan precisely because they look down their nose at horror, my favorite films. Your list is spot on, I think most would assume Farrow, Perkins and esp Collette got nominated. A special thank you for Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein. How did that get overlooked (not to mention director, film and score...). The scene with the hermit and the end where the bride rejects him, just heartbreaking due solely to Karloff's performance. Crawford would have been nice nod too, would have avoided a lot of feuding and fussing, but it was Davis that year.

Jack Nicolson's performance in The Shining is at its scariest in the scene following the "all work and no play" bit. No ghosts, no bloody elevator, just the horror of an abusive man intimidating and terrorizing his wife.

I also mentioned it in your Oscar snubs of the 2010s video, but it still boggles my mind that James McAvoy was not nominated for his amazing performance in Split.

Agree with everything! I'll put here a list of my favorite Leading performances in horror movies from the past decade: Natalie Portman (Black Swan) Belen Rueda (Julia's Eyes) Anton Yelchin (Fright Night) Mary Elizabeth Winstead (The Thing) Frank Kranz (The Cabin In The Woods) Fiona Dourif (Curse Of Chucky) Elijah Wood (Maniac) Essie Davis (The Babadook) Justin Long (Tusk) Manuela Velasco (Rec° 4: Apocalypse) Sam Rockwell (Poltergeist) Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane) Katherine Waterston (Alien: Covenant) James Mcavoy (Split) Michael Fassbender (Prometheus & Alien: Covenant) Toni Colette (Hereditary) John Krasinski (A Quiet Place) Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place) Lupita Nyongo (Us) Matt Dilon (The House That Jack Built) Florence Pugh (Midsommar) Ewan Mcgregor (Doctor Sleep) Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man)

Absolutely love your list. Especially the mention of Dee Wallace. I would have to say the little kid that played her son too. Excellent acting! And I know you can't hit them all, but you gotta have Nicole Kidman from The Others and Mia Goth from Pearl. Next level acting! Enjoyed the watch though. Have to check out more from your channel. Subscribing! :) Oh, and the fact that you noted who you would remove from each category to add their nomination, great detail!

If you ever do Part 2, I suggest these two (2 performances I constantly rave about!) JoBeth Williams in 'Poltergeist'. Such a brilliant performance. Now yes, 1983 was a stupidly stack year, but I'd put her in Best Actress over Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria Also Carol Kane in Best Supporting Actress in 'When A Stranger Calls'. It basically is what Drew Barrymore's performances based off of in 'Scream. I'd take out Jane Alexander in 'Kramer vs Kramer' whose role was tiny and overshadowed by Streep and Hoffman

THE MIST. Both Marcia Gay Harden and the lead Thomas Jane. He gives a measured performance until the final scene and his painful anguish just makes the ending that much more devastating!!!

YES, Thank You.... Dee Wallace should have been Oscar nominated for Cujo! I have said this from day 1! Great to hear a shared opinion!! Also, the opening scene in Scream with Drew Barrymore is the BEST opening scene of any movie even in today's time!

Toni Collette performed her ass off in Hereditary

Kristen Dunst should have been nominated for Interview with a Vampire.

Max Von Sydow supporting actor for The Exorcist.

Frank Sinatra was the reason Mia Farrow wasn’t nominated, IMO. He bullied academy members NOT to nominate her. (I know that much) It’s disgusting what that egotist did to Mia. Her performance was incredible. I’m still angry about it.

I would have replaced Lady Gaga for her performance in A Star is Born and give that spot to Collette. Gaga's singing is fantastic, but I thought her performance was okay.

I can’t believe Adam Sandler didn’t get a nomination for Uncut Gems

Florence Pugh in Midsommar, Barbara Hershey and Ron Silver in The Entity, Danny Lloyd in The Shining, Christopher Lee in The Wicker Man, Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers, Jennifer Jason Leigh in Heart of Midnight and Annihlation, Anthony Hopkins in Magic...amongst others

I may be biased because Jaws is my number 1 film of all time, but I’m always shocked to be reminded that Robert Shaw went completely unnoticed for his performance as Quint. The USS Indianapolis monologue alone is just astounding. An all-timer performance, and he should have WON Best Supporting Actor that year.

OMG you are kicking out of the park - I said Jeff in The Fly too - what a performance! Just wow - most folks do not appreciate his performance in that movie - I'm so so glad you do and it's your number one! Well done indeed!

I read The Shining again about a decade ago. Jack Torrance is not a good or stable character in the book, even early on. It's definitely more nuanced in the book, but it's there, even early on.

Nobody has ever mentioned Sigourney's performance in Snow White: A Tale of Terror. The subdued comedy of Snow White and the Dwarves was 1 part Looney Toons, and one part Shoe Gaze Prom. I think That "Ever After" vibe was ahead of it's time, so it wasn't embraced (unlike all the films that copied it, which did great) but it's entirely Sigourney Weaver's emotional turmoil and deep hatred for this girl, who is the only person on Earth that could use her large blue eyes and quivering bottom lip to steal away the Witch's last desperate opportunity to avoid dying a penniless hag...so much hate that Weaver easily descends into body horror with loud cracking bones for a humped forward back, and boiling skin that settles into a face that looks like molten, bubbling meteorite rock her performance drove it firmly into horror. Aside from Sigourney, it was a RomCom in the classic sense, which contrasts Weaver's skill because, her performance alone, drastically changed the film's entire genre

Thank you so much for mentioning Dee Wallace. Stick that exact same performance in a drama and she'd have been a lock for a nomination. Perkins is excellent in Psycho but he's even better in Psycho II IMO. His character is a lot more fleshed out and multi-dimensional, and he nails it. Either way, he should have been nominated for at least ONE of those films. Norman Bates is about as iconic as it gets. Karloff really should have won several. Check out his supporting performance in The Body Snatcher, which is pure brilliance and was easily the best of that year. Billie Whitelaw in The Omen is unfairly overlooked. That performance exudes menace, but in a polite, mannered way that's extremely unnerving. Never seen a performance quite like that before. She's intimidating as hell even with a smile on her face. Deborah Kerr and Martin Stephens (one of the best child acting performances you will ever see) in The Innocents. Always found the bias against horror films ridiculous and completely unfair.

Spot on for Dee Wallace in Cujo..You're 100% right, she was beyond good...My choice for snub: Veronica Cartwright for The Birds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien and Witches of Eastwick!

Mia Farrow was so good in Rosemary's Baby that it didn't feel like a performance at all. Mark Duplass was great in 2014's Creep.

I was really hoping you were going to mention James Karen for his hilarious, whacked out performance in Return of the Living Dead. So damn good! And please, don't say you would remove Jane Alexander in Testament for Dee Wallace. Alexander was heartbreaking in that movie, and I've never been able to get her amazing performance out of my head.

I love your substitution of Jeff Goldbum for William Hurt's nom for Children of a Lesser God...I love Hurt, VERY much...but that's just how good Goldblum was in The Fly. Totally concur w u on this.

I think Lupita Nyongo in Us is much better than her Oscar winning performance in 12 Years a Slave considering that her dual roles in Us is more complex and memorable than her starring as one of the slaves from 12 Years a Slave. Not to mention that Nyongo has much more screen time in Us than 12 Years a Slave. I do agree that Lupita Nyongo should have been nominated over Saoirse Ronan from Little Women.

It would be great if you did a video about comedic performances that deserved nominations.

I know his role was too small for an actual nomination but Brad Dourif's performance in Exorcist 3 is awe inspiring and Oscar worthy acting.

Although it wasn’t technically from a ‘horror movie,’ I’d say that Margaret Hamilton/The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz (1939) should’ve been nominated for Best Supporting Actress. That performance has lasted through the ages & is miles ahead of some of the roles nominated that year.

Agreed on Toni Colette and Dee Wallace. Hereditary freaked me out. What a concept. Cujo is one of my favorite King movies.