I originally published this list on the celebrity gossip site, Oh No They Didn’t. You can see my original post here. I have modified this post somewhat.
While the Academy is notorious for snubbing genre films, occasionally those in the sci-fi/horror will receive acknowledgment for their contribution to cinema. This past year, the critically acclaimed sci-fi film Arrival received eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Arrival is based on “The Story of Your Life,” which was written by celebrated science fiction author Ted Chiang. You can read the Nebula-award winning short story in Chiang’s superb collection, Stories of Your Life and Others.
That one of my favorite stories was able to come alive so beautifully on the screen and nominated for Best Picture got me thinking: What other sci-fi and horror stories (emphasis on horror, because that’s my favorite) have become Oscar noms and wins? Let’s find out in my non-exhaustive list and add some books to our To Be Read shelf!
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)
FILM ADAPTATION: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1931.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: In this harrowing tale of good and evil, the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll develops a potion that unleashes his secret, inner persona—the loathsome, twisted Mr. Hyde.
NOMINATED: Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Cinematography; Best Adaptation Writing
WON: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Fredric March
OP’s Note: For a twist on the tale, check out the novel Mary Reilly, which is told from the perspective of Dr. Jekyll’s housemaid.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
FILM ADAPTATION: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1945.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: [A] fashionable young man sells his soul for eternal youth.
NOMINATED: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Art Direction- Interior Decoration; Best Cinematography
WON: Best Cinematography
NOTABLE BOOK QUOTE: “You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”
Psycho (1959)
FILM ADAPTATION: Psycho, 1960.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: It was a dark and stormy night when Mary Crane glimpsed the unlit neon sign announcing the vacancy at the Bates motel.
NOMINATED: Best Director; Best Supporting Actress; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction – Set Decoration
WON: n/a
OP’s Note: The audiobook version, read by Paul Michael Garcia, is BONE CHILLING!
The Birds (1952)
FILM ADAPTATION: The Birds, 1963.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: [T]he birds become hostile after a harsh winter with little food — first the seagulls, then birds of prey, and finally even small birds — all turn against mankind.
NOMINATED: Best Special Effects
WON: n/a
OP’s Note: Daphne du Maurier’s gothic novel Rebecca was also adapted by Hitchcock, and won an Oscar for Best Picture and Best Cinematography!
Rosemary’s Baby (1967)
FILM ADAPTATION: Rosemary’s Baby, 1968.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, an ordinary young couple, settle into a New York City apartment, unaware that the elderly neighbors and their bizarre group of friends have taken a disturbing interest in them. But by the time Rosemary discovers the horrifying truth, it may be far too late!
NOMINATED: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
WON: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Ruth Gordon
OP’s Note: Author Ira Levin wrote many books-turned-films, including The Stepford Wives.
The Exorcist (1971)
FILM ADAPTATION: The Exorcist, 1973.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: The deceptively simple story focuses on Regan, the 11-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C.; the child apparently is possessed by an ancient demon. It’s up to a small group of overwhelmed yet determined humans to somehow rescue Regan from this unspeakable fate.
NOMINATED: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actress; Best Supporting Actor; Best Supporting Actress; Writing Adapted Screenplay; Best Cinematography; Best Film Editing; Best Production Design; Best Sound Mixing
WON: Best Writing Adapted Screenplay; Best Sound Mixing
OP’s Note: The Exorcist is the first horror film to ever be nominated for a Best Picture.
Jaws (1974)
FILM ADAPTATION: Jaws, 1975.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: The classic, blockbuster thriller of man-eating terror that inspired the Steven Spielberg movie and made millions of beachgoers afraid to go into the water.
NOMINATED: Best Picture; Best Film Editing; Best Original Dramatic Score; Best Sound
WON: Best Film Editing; Best Original Dramatic Score; Best Sound
NOTABLE BOOK QUOTE: “Look, Chief, you can’t go off half-cocked looking for vengeance against a fish. That shark isn’t evil. It’s not a murderer. It’s just obeying its own instincts. Trying to get retribution against a fish is crazy.”
Carrie (1974)
FILM ADAPTATION: Carrie, 1976.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: One night at her senior prom, Carrie was scorned and humiliated just one time too many, and in a fit of uncontrollable fury she turned her clandestine game into a weapon of horror and destruction…
NOMINATED: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role
WON: n/a
OP’s Note: Carrie; Stand by Me; Misery; The Shawshank Redemption; and The Green Mile are all Stephen King stories turned Oscar nominated films! Kathy Bates won Best Actress for Misery in 1991.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
ADAPTATION: Blade Runner, 1982.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: [Rick] Deckard’s assignment–find [the rogue androids] and then…”retire” them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn’t want to be found!
NOMINATED: Best Art Direction – Set Decoration; Best Effects, Visual Effects
WON: n/a
OP’s Note: Arrival’s director, Denis Villenueve, will be directing the upcoming sequel, Blade Runner 2049. He will also be directing a new adaptation of the sci-fi classic, Dune!
The Silence of the Lambs (1974)
FILM ADAPTATION: Silence of the Lambs, 1991.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: There’s a killer on the loose who knows that beauty is only skin deep, and a trainee investigator who’s trying to save her own hide. The only man that can help is locked in an asylum. But he’s willing to put a brave face on – if it will help him escape.
NOMINATED: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Sound Mixing; and Best Film Editing.
WON: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor; Best Actress; Best Adapted Screenplay (THE BIG FIVE!)
OP’s Note: This is the third horror film to be nominated for Best Picture – and the FIRST and only to win, a title it still holds to this day.
Dracula (1897)
FILM ADAPTATION: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: Count Dracula, a tragic, night-dwelling specter who feeds upon the blood of the living, and whose diabolical passions prey upon the innocent, the helpless, and the beautiful. But Dracula also stands as a bleak allegorical saga of an eternally cursed being whose nocturnal atrocities reflect the dark underside of the supremely moralistic age in which it was originally written — and the corrupt desires that continue to plague the modern human condition.
NOMINATED: Best Costume Design; Best Sound Editing; Best Makeup; Best Art Direction/Set Direction
WON: Best Costume Design; Best Sound Editing; Best Makeup
OP’s Note: Dracula is probably the most well-known text in vampire literature, but almost 80 years earlier John W. Polidori penned the genre-defining story The Vampyre (1819), available via Project Gutenberg.
The Children of Men (1992)
FILM ADAPTATION: Children of Men, 2006
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.
NOMINATED: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cinematography; Best Film Editing.
WON: n/a
OP’s Note: Did you know? Lead actor Clive Owen made uncredited contributions to the script.
SOURCES:
GRAPHICS: Myself, modifying creative commons images from http://www.freepik.com.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Night has taken away the flowers of our windows by Hamed Masoumi, retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamedmasoumi/2913135536/ Used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/).
BOOKS/FILMS: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: 1, 2. The Picture of Dorian Gray: 1, 2. Psycho: 1, 2. The Birds: 1, 2. Rosemary’s Baby: 1, 2. The Exorcist: 1, 2. Jaws: 1, 2. Carrie: 1, 2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: 1, 2. The Silence of the Lambs: 1, 2. Dracula: 1, 2. Children of Men: 1, 2.
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