🔗 Share this article

The most significant shock the cinema world has encountered in 2025? The return of horror as a leading genre at the UK film market.

As a style, it has impressively exceeded past times with a 22% rise compared to last year for the British and Irish cinemas: over £83 million this year, against £68 million the previous year.

“Last year, no horror film reached £10m at the UK or Irish box office. This year, five films have,” comments a cinema revenue expert.

The big hits of the year – a recent horror title (£11.4 million), Sinners (£16.2 million), the latest Conjuring installment (£14.98m) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54m) – have all stayed in the theaters and in the popular awareness.

Although much of the professional discussion focuses on the singular brilliance of renowned filmmakers, their triumphs suggest something shifting between audiences and the style.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘Even if you don’t like horror this is a film you need to see,’” states a film distribution executive.

“These productions twist traditional elements to craft unique experiences, resonating deeply with modern audiences.”

But outside of artistic merit, the consistent popularity of frightening features this year implies they are giving audiences something that’s highly necessary: therapeutic relief.

“Right now, there’s a lot of anger, fear and division that’s being reflected in cinema,” notes a horror podcast host.

“Scary movies excel at tapping into viewers' fears, amplifying them, allowing you to set aside daily worries and concentrate on the on-screen terror,” explains a prominent scholar of vampire and monster cinema.

Amid a real-world news cycle featuring conflict, immigration issues, political shifts, and climate concerns, witches, zombies and vengeful spirits connect in new ways with audiences.

“I read somewhere that the success of vampire movies is linked to economically depressed times,” says an actress from a popular scary movie.

“This symbolizes the way modern economies can exhaust human spirit.”

From film's inception, societal turmoil has shaped horror.

Scholars point to the boom of German expressionism after the WWI and the unstable environment of the 1920s Europe, with movies such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.

This was followed by the 1930s depression and Universal Studios’ Frankenstein and The Wolfman.

“Take Dracula: it depicts an Eastern European figure invading Britain, spreading a metaphorical infection that endangers local protagonists,” says a commentator.

“Thus, it mirrors widespread fears about migration.”

The boogeyman of border issues influenced the recently released folk horror The Severed Sun.

The creator explains: “I wanted to explore ideas around the rise of populism. Firstly, slogans like ‘Let’s Make Britain Great Again’, that harken back to some fantasy time when things were ‘better’, but only if you were a rich white man.”

“Also, the concept of familiar individuals revealing surprising prejudices in casual settings.”

Perhaps, the modern period of celebrated, politically engaged fright cinema began with a clever critique released a year after a polarizing administration.

It introduced a new wave of visionary directors, including several notable names.

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” recalls a creator whose project about a murderous foetus was one of the time's landmark films.

“In my view, it marked the start of a phase where filmmakers embraced wildly creative horror with artistic ambitions.”

This creator, now penning a fresh horror script, notes: “During the past decade, viewers have become more receptive to such innovative approaches.”

Simultaneously, there has been a reappraisal of the underrated horror works.

Earlier this year, a independent theater opened in a major city, showing obscure movies such as The Greasy Strangler, a classic adaptation and the 1989 remake of Dr Caligari.

The renewed interest of this “gritty and loud” genre is, according to the venue creator, a clear response to the algorithmic content pumped out at the box office.

“It’s a reaction to the sanitised product that’s coming out of Hollywood. You have a film scene that’s more tepid and more predictable. A lot of the mainstream films are very similar,” he says.

“In contrast [these alternative films] are a bit broken. It’s like they’ve erupted out of someone’s subconscious and been planted out there without corporate interference.”

Scary movies continue to upset the establishment.

“They have this strange ability to seem old fashioned and up to the minute, both at the same time,” says an authority.

Alongside the revival of the insane researcher motif – with two adaptations of a well-known story imminent – he predicts we will see fright features in the coming years reacting to our present fears: about tech supremacy in the near future and “supernatural elements in political spheres”.

In the interim, a biblical fright story a forthcoming title – which depicts the events of biblical parent hardships after the messiah's arrival, and features well-known actors as the holy parents – is set for release in the coming months, and will undoubtedly create waves through the Christian right in the America.</