An Open Letter to the Academy

Dear Academy,

With the 84th Academy Circle-Jerk approaching, it seems the perfect time to have a proper sit down and chat about your problem with horror films.

Let’s face it: much as we love them, you just don’t take horror films as seriously as other genres. Yes, they often get a cursory nomination for one of those “There’s an Oscar for that?” awards, like sound design, a few token Best Visual Effects and Best Make-up nominations, and even Best Song (How did Ghostbusters not win? How? You bastards), but only a handful of horror films have been recognised for their direction, their scriptwriting, their performances. The Exorcist is a notable exception, garnering nominations for pretty much everything and winning two, as are Deliverance and, to a lesser extent, Carrie. I will make a completely cursory reference to Silence of the Lambs, because it did so well in the Oscars, to sate those who bull-headedly maintain that it’s a horror film, but it’s not, okay? It’s just not.

So why is it that horror films often fare so poorly at the Oscars and with the critics in general? If we look at recent results, almost every film that has won an award has not been a film, but a Film (imagine it said in Christopher Lee’s voice). You like nothing more than fawning over some issue-based, deadly serious Film (The Hurt Locket, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby) when your DVD collection probably consists of a Dumb and Dumber disc tucked discreetly inside the Beautiful Mind box. You’ve forgotten what the basis of a film IS- it’s entertainment. First and foremost, a film should entertain you. And you can’t possibly say that horror doesn’t do that- the audience figures would beg to differ. In 1976, three horror films appeared in the top twenty highest-grossing films of that year. And were they fairly represented in the Oscars? Were they hell. Sissy Spacek lost out to Faye Dunaway in Network, for Christ’s Sake.

If we reel back in time by a few decades, we can see that this wasn’t always the case. You used to like horror- you used to love it. Frankenstein (1931) was released to both critical and popular acclaim, and to this day is considered one of the best films, ever, period. In 1934, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde won Best Actor. In 1940, Rebecca won Best Picture, and was nominated for director, actor and actress (how a film which did not have the best director, the best actress or the best actor was deemed best film is beyond me, but you’re hardly known for your consistency or logic). 1954, Rear Window for Best Director. 1960, Psycho for the same. Alright, so it’s hardly a deluge of hardcore horror, but horror films and films that were considered disturbing in general (like film noirs) were still being considered as a legitimate genre.

Horror films fall from critical grace seems to coincide with the rise of slashers. The lazy answer to this statistic is to say that horror film directors simply resorted to idle schlock and poor storylines in order to attract huge audiences hungry for gore. But that simply isn’t true. Dawn of the Dead, released in 1978, a comment on fears about the overly consumerist society at the time, has been hailed as a classic since it’s release but failed to get any notable awards. Similarly, The Blair Witch Project, almost unable to move under the lashings of hearty praise poured on it’s (highly deserving) head since it’s released got nothing. More recently, The Host was a sly critisicm of America and it’s warfare, while Julia’s Eyes tackled the problems of visual impairment.  You need to open your eyes and see that it’s not all campy Snowman rape scenes. It’s not all reverse bear traps and gurning Paris Hilton. Horror films can be intelligent- they can be as intelligent as any other genre, while at the same time wildly entertaining and absorbing, even if you have to peel back the layers of gore to get there.

I didn’t want it to come to this, Academy, but it has; if you do not start taking horror seriously, we will be forced to have a showdown between our genre and all of yours. We’ve got Freddy Krueger, Micheal Myers, Billy Loomis, rapist shrubs, Leatherface and Tobe Hooper (especially Tobe Hooper). What’ve you got? Alexander Payne, Michelle Williams, and Sean bloody Penn. Bring it on.

Yours sincerely,

Louise