The one movie genre Liam Neeson wants nothing to do with: “It’s just my taste”
Historically, there is one genre that is always snubbed at awards shows, seen as unserious, unartistic, and that stereotype clouds critics from seeing its worth, so it’s really no wonder when even stars like Liam Neeson seem to have fallen for the misconception.
In 2026, the Oscars will be in its 98th year, close to a century of celebrating the best films of the year with cinema’s highest accolade, and seeing so many generations of talent, changes in tastes, and advancements in movie-making; however, in that entire time, only one horror movie has ever won ‘Best Picture’, which was in 1991 with The Silence of the Lambs.
While actors and directors in the world of horror might get nods or win in other categories, horror is routinely snubbed from the world of ‘Best Picture’, and it’s not that before and since 1991, there have been no good horror movies. In that time, we’ve seen the release of iconic pictures within the genre, like Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho in 1960, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining in 1980, or the hyper-influential Night of the Living Dead in 1968, and even in modern times, there have been some truly incredible horror movies, like Midsommar or Get Out, but still, no trophy.
The question of why comes down to a long history of stereotypes; initially, horror was seen as amateur because, really, it was. It felt like a cinematic offshoot of pulp fiction that was cheap, substanceless and getting by on shock and scandal alone, and hence wasn’t considered real art in the way other genres were.
There’s also definitely a personal element to it, as while plenty of people love horror movies, there are a lot of scaredy-cat cinema goers that won’t go anywhere near them, meaning that it’s hard to track horror amongst more broad genres that bring the masses in.
Part of the problem is that clearly actors themselves have fallen into the belief that horror is a write-off, with Neeson being one of them, as the Irish actor, who has done just about everything else, has said he categorically will never do a horror movie.
“I’m a big believer in writers and the script. That’s the foundation stone, no matter what the genre,” he said about his general openness to all projects before slamming the door, “Except horror. I won’t do horror.”
He chalks his reasoning up to purely personal preference, stating to Variety, “As a kid, I would have loved it—the early Dracula films and Frankenstein, all that stuff, the Hammer movies, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing. But no, it’s just my taste.” However, it feels like a futile line, really.
Neeson has played everything: he’s been the villain, the romantic lead, the historic figure, the comic relief and even played in some high-intensity action movies that surely exist in around the same world as horror. As such, leaning into violence and thrills surely isn’t too far away from gore and jump scares, but Neeson’s defiance is exactly the issue with why horror remains so underappreciated.
At a time when the genre is thriving more than ever, with movies like The Substance, Sinners, Weapons, and so many other great modern horrors speaking to a world that is exciting and evolving, Hollywood’s biggest players surely need to get with the programme and give it a chance.
