Since the first Oscars in 1929, only eight horror films have received a coveted best photo nomination. That includes this year’s kink The fabric.
According to the Yahoo Best Picture Leaderboard, it is unlikely that Fabric Has the SAP to take the main prize home. Only one horror film has ever done that – The silence of the lambs – And that was more than three decades ago. But the body horror film starring Demi Moore may still have an influence on the academy.
In The substance, Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, an actress who has been fired from her job with a fitness TV program on her 50th birthday. She injects herself with a mysterious substance that offers a better version of herself, and goes to extreme length to regain the worship that her younger person experiences from Hollywood elites.
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Zoran Samardzija, Professor Film and Television at the Columbia College Chicago, Yahoo Entertainment told that the satirical character of Fabric Perhaps what appealed to Academy voters in the “tradition of other non-horror” Oscar-nominated films that criticize the show business, such as Sunset Boulevard And Mulholland Drive.
“It assumes the mistreatment of women,” Samardzija said. ‘Fabric Is very grotesque, but it has satirical element that makes it more highbrow. “
Horror films are not often recognized by the Oscars – a surprise for some, because acting skills, smart plot construction and unique visuals require to make something convincing frightening. That is not a sign that there is something intrinsically wrong with the genre.
A scene The fabric. (Mubi/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Samardzija said the Oscars now prefer dramas above all other genres. That includes comedies, although they often won during the early years of the award ceremony. When the number of nominees of the best photo increased every year from five to 10 in 2009, it also opened the door for more genres to receive distinctions. Yet since then there have only been three horror best photos: Black Swan, go out And The fabric.
There is a long history of horror performance at the Oscars, and only four women have ever won the best actress for a horrorol: Ruth Gordon for Rosemary’s baby Bates for Kathy Bates in 1969 Mass Foster Foster in 1990 for The silence of the lambs in 1991 and Natalie Portman for Black Swan In 2010. That is a part of what makes Demi Moore’s leader status so attractive in this year’s race, while gathering prizes on the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards and the SAG Awards.
What distinguishes Moore from other horror actresses to win those awards is how bizarre and exaggerated Fabric is. Towards the end of the film, viewers were flooded in Body Horror full of Gore and Chaos, deviating from the four best actress-winning versions that came earlier.
Demi Moore in Fabric. (Mubi/Courtesy Everett Collection)
“I think Fabric is probably the most visceral graphic horror film ever nominated, “Samardzija said, adding that his strength could come into the eyes of the academy of” the power of Demi Moore’s version. “
It helps that Moore, who has been a household name for decades, is loved by Hollywood and receives what many see as long -awaited praise. Samardzija said that some of the top prizes at the Oscars have a “lifelong performance aspect” that regards the work of a nominated instead of the only single version for which they are specifically recognized.
In her Golden Globe Acceptance speech, Moore said that a producer told her 30 years ago that she was a ‘popcorn actress’, giving her the feeling that a price win ‘was not something I could have’.
“I celebrate this as a marker of my wholeness and love that drives me and for the gift to do something that I love and is reminded that I belong,” she said. Her speech became viral and built Momentum for her victories during the price season.
Even if Moore does not win the Oscar and Fabric Go home empty -handed, it still earned an unexpected $ 77 million at the checkout. Horror is currently the fastest growing film genre, which has doubled its market share from 4.87% in 2013 to 10.08% in 2023, according to the industrial data service of the figures. It also had a great year in 2024, with critical and theatrical successes such as Nosferatu, Longlegs And Smile 2.
Horror-Centric streaming service Shudder opens the door for independent and small Studiogenre films to find a larger audience, Samardzija said.
The niche genre of body horror can also become more popular as people try to replicate the success of Fabric – Whether distributors start to see that the public can tolerate and enjoy that level of Gore. Body Horror Flick Together was one of the most sold acquisitions at the Sundance Film Festival 2025.
“There is enough profitability in the genre that it never dies,” Samardzija said, and horror gave the same indestructible feature that often gave his most sinister villains. Moore and Fabric Have the genre steeped in with a new life.
