🔗 Share this article

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

As a genre, it has impressively surpassed previous years with a annual growth of 22% for the UK and Ireland film earnings: £83,766,086 in 2025, compared with £68,612,395 in 2024.

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

The major successes of the year – Weapons (£11.4 million), another hit film (£16.2 million), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98m) and 28 Years Later (£15.54m) – have all stayed in the cinemas and in the public consciousness.

While much of the professional discussion highlights the singular brilliance of prominent auteurs, their achievements point to something shifting between audiences and the style.

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

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

But beyond artistic merit, the steady demand of spooky films this year suggests they are giving moviegoers 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,” remarks a respected writer of horror film history.

Amid a global headlines featuring war, border tensions, far-right movements, and environmental crises, 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,” says an star from a recent horror hit.

“The concept reflects how economic systems can drain vitality from individuals.”

Historically, public discord has always impacted scary movies.

Analysts highlight the rise of German expressionism after the first world war and the turbulent times of the post-war Germany, with films such as early expressionist works and a pioneering fright film.

Later occurred 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,” explains a historian.

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

The phantom of border issues influenced the just-premiered folk horror The Severed Sun.

Its writer-director clarifies: “I aimed to delve into populist rhetoric. Specifically, calls to restore a mythical past that favored a privileged few.”

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

Maybe, the present time of acclaimed, socially switched-on horror began with a brilliant satire launched a year after a contentious political era.

It ushered in a fresh generation of visionary directors, including a range of talented artists.

“It was a hugely exciting time,” says a creator whose film about a deadly unborn child was one of the era’s tentpole movies.

“I think it was the beginning of an era when people were opening up to doing a really bonkers horror film which had arthouse aspirations.”

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

Concurrently, there has been a revival of the underrated horror works.

In recent months, a nicke l venue opened in a major city, showing cult classics such as The Greasy Strangler, a classic adaptation and the late-80s version of Dr Caligari.

The fresh acclaim of this “gritty and loud” genre is, according to the theater owner, a direct reaction to the calculated releases pumped out at the cinemas.

“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 disrupt conventions.

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

Alongside the re-emergence of the insane researcher motif – with multiple versions of a classic novel upcoming – he forecasts we will see fright features in the near future reacting to our modern concerns: about artificial intelligence control in the near future and “supernatural elements in political spheres”.

In the interim, a biblical fright story The Carpenter’s Son – which depicts the events of holy family challenges after Jesus’s birth, and includes celebrated stars as the sacred figures – is scheduled to debut in the coming months, and will undoubtedly cause a stir through the Christian right in the United States.</