Horror movies have long been overlooked at the Academy Awards, but the 2026 Oscars marked a massive change for the genre. Sinners, Frankenstein, and Weapons were among the many motion pictures nominated at the Oscars. Together, these films garnered 26 nominations, the highest total seen from the horror genre in a single year.
2025 saw a considerable number of horror nominations thanks to The Substance, Nosferatu, and Alien: Romulus, but only a single award was won among those films. One year later, horror made a scary big comeback, as Sinners, Frankenstein, and Weapons racked up a whopping eight Academy Awards. Having achieved so many milestones, these three films solidified the artistic and groundbreaking potential of horror movies.
Sinners struck Oscar gold this year
Sinners made Oscars history long before the awards night. With his genre-bending horror film, director Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) scored a record-breaking 16 nominations, including for Best Picture. This broke the previous record of 14 nominations set by 1950’s All About Eve, with only Titanic and La La Land receiving as many nominations in the decades since.
While Coogler lost out on Best Picture for the second time, the writer-director won his first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with Sinners. Both Sinners and 2017’s Get Out are now the only horror films to ever win an Academy Award in this category.
Sinners went on to win three more Oscars throughout the night. This includes the award for Best Cinematography, with Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) becoming the first woman and the first Black person to win this award. Michael B. Jordan also won his first Oscar for Best Actor, having played not one, but two characters in Sinners: twin brothers Smoke and Stack.
In addition, composer Ludwig Göransson won his third Academy Award for Best Original Score, having previously won for Black Panther and Oppenheimer. Göransson’s victory made Sinners the third horror movie to win for Best Original Score after Jaws and The Omen.
Frankenstein electrified the Academy Awards
Director Guillermo del Toro has long been a top contender at the Oscars, having gained several nominations over the years and won Best Picture for 2017’s The Shape of Water. Del Toro continued this trend with his vibrant vision of Frankenstein, which received a shocking nine nominations.
This classic Gothic horror story has been adapted for film many times, and only three Frankenstein movies received at least one nomination: The Bride of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. These movies received a total of four nominations, mostly in technical categories such as sound and makeup.
However, del Toro’s Frankenstein received nominations in premiere categories, such as Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. With his nomination in the latter category, Jacob Elordi became the first actor to be nominated for playing the tragic and iconic Creature from Frankenstein.
At the end of the night, Frankenstein won the awards for Best Production Design (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau), Best Costume Design (Kate Hawley), and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey). This gave the film a total of three golden statues, an impressive total for a horror movie at the Oscars.
Weapons won with its secret weapon: Amy Madigan
Director Zach Cregger’s second horror film, Weapons, was one of the most profitable and acclaimed movies of 2025. However, the most notable aspect of Weapons has been Amy Madigan’s performance as Aunt Gladys, for which she walked away with the film’s only Oscar nomination. Madigan’s mysterious character became an instant icon as she went from wacky to wicked, tricking her way into people’s homes and taking control with her black magic.
With her win at this year’s Oscars, Madigan has become the second actor to win Best Supporting Actress in a horror movie. The first actor to win in this category is Ruth Gordon for playing the evil Minnie Castevet in Rosemary’s Baby, way back in the late ’60s. She and Michael B. Jordan also became two of the eight actors to win Oscars for performances in horror movies.
The success of Sinners, Frankenstein, and Weapons at the Oscars signals a growing shift in how horror movies are widely perceived. With so many wins and nominations, these three films have challenged the stigma surrounding horror movies for decades. At the same time, they have shown that more people are appreciating horror as a legitimate art form.
We have once again seen that horror films can be considered deep, sophisticated works of cinema and serious Academy Award contenders. Thanks to the winners at this year’s Oscars, the Academy may consider nominating more horror films in the near future. This should pave the way for the genre to find greater acceptance and success among mainstream moviegoers.