🔗 Share this article

The biggest surprise the movie business has encountered in 2025? The comeback of horror as a main player at the British cinemas.

As a genre, it has remarkably outperformed earlier periods with a annual growth of 22% for the UK and Irish box office: £83.7 million in 2025, versus £68 million the previous year.

“Previously, zero horror films made £10 million in the UK or Ireland. Currently, five have surpassed that mark,” says a box office editor.

The big hits of the year – a recent horror title (£11.4 million), another hit film (£16.2m), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98m) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54m) – have all hung about in the multiplexes and in the public consciousness.

While much of the professional discussion centers on the singular brilliance of renowned filmmakers, their triumphs suggest something changing between moviegoers and the category.

“Many have expressed, ‘You should watch this even if horror isn’t your thing,’” states a head of acquisition.

“Films like these play with genre and structure to create something completely different, and that speaks to an audience in a different way.”

But apart from creative value, the ongoing appeal of spooky films this year suggests they are giving cinemagoers 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.

“The genre masterfully exploits common anxieties, magnifying them so that everyday stresses fade beside the cinematic horror,” remarks a prominent scholar of vampire and monster cinema.

Amid a current events featuring conflict, immigration issues, political shifts, and climate concerns, witches, zombies and vengeful spirits connect in new ways with filmg oers.

“It’s been noted that vampire cinema thrives during periods of economic hardship,” states an actress from a popular scary movie.

“It’s the idea that capitalism sucks the life out of people.”

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

Scholars point to the rise of German expressionism after the the Great War and the turbulent times of the post-war Germany, with features such as early expressionist works and the iconic vampire tale.

Later occurred the Great Depression era and iconic horror characters.

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

“So it reflects a lot of anxieties around immigration.”

The boogeyman of immigration influenced the newly launched folk horror The Severed Sun.

Its writer-director explains: “My goal was to examine populist trends. For instance, nostalgic phrases promising a return to a 'better' era that excluded many.”

“Secondly, the idea that you could be with someone you know and then suddenly they blurt out something round the dinner table or in a Facebook post and you’re like, ‘Where did that come from?’”

Maybe, the current era of celebrated, politically engaged fright cinema commenced with a clever critique debuted a year after a contentious political era.

It sparked a fresh generation of innovative filmmakers, including a range of talented artists.

“Those years were remarkably vibrant,” says a filmmaker whose film about a violent prenatal entity 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.”

The same filmmaker, who is writing a new horror original, adds: “In the last ten years, public taste has evolved to welcome bolder horror concepts.”

At the same time, there has been a revival of the genre’s less celebrated output.

Earlier this year, a nicke l venue opened in London, showing cult classics such as a quirky horror title, a classic adaptation and the 1989 remake of Dr Caligari.

The renewed interest of this “rough and rowdy” genre is, according to the cinema founder, a clear response to the calculated releases pumped out at the box office.

“It counters the polished content from big producers. The industry has become blander and more foreseeable. Numerous blockbusters share the same traits,” he says.

“On the other hand, [these indie works] feel imperfect. They seem to burst forth from deep creativity, free from commercial constraints.”

Horror films continue to disrupt conventions.

“Horror possesses a dual nature, feeling both classic and current simultaneously,” says an specialist.

Besides the return of the insane researcher motif – with multiple versions of a well-known story on the horizon – he anticipates we will see fright features in the coming years addressing our current anxieties: about artificial intelligence control in the years ahead and “supernatural elements in political spheres”.

In the interim, “Jesus horror” The Carpenter’s Son – which narrates the tale of biblical parent hardships after the nativity, and features famous performers as the sacred figures – is scheduled to debut in the coming months, and will certainly send a ripple through the faith-based groups in the US.</