Between its box office numbers and pop culture footprint, The Substance has been one of the year's most unexpected success stories. MUBI's biggest release is also its most profitable, growing steadily through word of mouth and an aggressive campaign unafraid to highlight the picture's extreme body horror, its sheer grossness. Indeed, the Cannes Best Screenplay prizewinner is among the year's most-watched original films, having found its audience without the aid of IP recognition or all those shiny notions that excite Hollywood execs. In a world where genre bias wasn't a thing and snobbery didn't run rampant in film circles, one might expect Coralie Fargeat's provocation to factor heavily into the awards season. We don't live in that world.
While one might suppose The Substance's rhapsodies of aged and mutated flesh, exaggerated voluptuousness, and grandiose gore would score an easy Best Makeup & Hairstyling nomination, that's not a safe bet. As the genre most dependent on makeup effects and where technical innovations often manifest, horror should have a place of honor in the category. Sadly, it doesn't. It hardly ever did…
The Best Makeup & Hairstyling Oscar is one of the most recent prizes, having only been introduced as a competitive award in 1981. One of these days, we might go into the reasons for its creations at that particular time. Still, the vital thing to remember is that its first-ever winner was a gory horror movie – John Landis' An American Werewolf in London. For horror aficionados used to seeing their beloved genre ignored by AMPAS, it might have felt like a moment of validation. In retrospect, it surely feels like that, fleeting as it turned out to be. Since 1981, I can only count 11 movies that even tangentially can be classified as horror.
That's 11 out of 133 total titles honored with a nod for the Makeup prize, or roughly 8.3 % of the contenders. At least, horror is better represented if we apply the same statistical mindset to just the winners. Out of 42 victors (I'm not counting two Honorary Oscar recipients from before the category's existence), 6 could be defended as some flavor of horror. So, that's 14.3%, which is better. It's not great, but it's better. Here are they, the Spooktacular six, and where to watch them.
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) John Landis
- Rick Baker, special makeup effects designer and creator
Streaming on AMC+, the Criterion Channel, Tubi, Freevee, BBC America, and the Roku Channel. It's also available to rent on Apple TV, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store.
THE FLY (1986) David Cronenberg
- Stephan Dupuis, creature effects
- Chris Walas, creature effects
Streaming on AMC+, Hulu, Peacock, and the Criterion Channel. You can also rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, Spectrum On Demand, and the Microsoft Store.
BEETLEJUICE (1988) Tim Burton
- Ve Neill, makeup artist
- Steve La Porte, makeup artist
- Robert Short, effects makeup artist
Streaming on Max and Tru TV. You can also rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.
BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992) Francis Ford Coppola
- Michèle Burke, hair & makeup designer
- Greg Cannom, special makeup effects
- Matthew W. Mungle, special makeup application
Streaming on Fubo, Paramount Plus, and Pluto TV. You can also rent it from Amazon, Apple TV, and the Microsoft Store.
PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006) Guillermo del Toro
- David Martí, sfx makeup artist
- Montse Ribé, special effects makeup
Streaming on Tubi. You can also rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.
THE WOLFMAN (2010) Joe Johnston
- Rick Baker, special makeup effects
- Dave Elsey, creature effects creative supervisor
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video. It's also available to rent on Apple TV, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store.
And just for completism's sake, here are the five horror nominees that lost Hollywood's most coveted little golden man. I know I'm seriously stretching the definition of horror, but I want to be fair to Oscar voters. I also debated including Batman Returns and Ed Wood, among others, but those projects seemed in dialogue with genre imagery and flirting with their elements, sometimes leaning into other registers or more about horror rather than proper horror.
MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN (1994) Kenneth Branagh
- Paul Engelen, key makeup artist
- Carol Hemming, hair designer
- Daniel Parker, creature makeup
Streaming on MGM+ and Fubo TV. You can also rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store.
SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE (2000) E. Elias Merhige
- Ann Buchanan, hair & makeup designer
- Amber Sibley, prosthetic applier
Available to rent and purchase on Amazon.
THE CELL (2000) Tarsem
- Michèle Burke, specialty makeup designer & supervisor
- Edouard F. Henriques, key makeup artist
Available to rent on Amazon, Apple TV, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.
BORDER (2018) Ali Abbasi
- Pamela Goldammer, key special makeup effects artist
- Göran Lundström, makeup designer
Streaming on Tubi. It's also available to rent on Apple TV and the Microsoft Store.
PINOCCHIO (2019) Matteo Garrone
- Dalia Colli, key makeup artist
- Mark Coulier, special makeup effects artist
- Francesco Pegoretti, hair designer
Streaming on Hoopla and Kanopy. It's also available to rent on Apple TV and Amazon.
What are some horror movies you think deserve a Best Makeup Academy Award nomination?