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The biggest surprise the cinema world has encountered in 2025? The comeback of horror as a leading genre at the UK box office.

As a category, it has notably outperformed earlier periods with a 22% year-on-year increase for the UK and Ireland film earnings: £83.7 million in 2025, against £68.6 million last year.

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

The top performers of the year – a recent horror title (£11.4 million), another hit film (£16.2 million), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98m) and 28 Years Later (£15.54m) – have all hung about in the multiplexes and in the public consciousness.

While much of the industry commentary focuses on the standout quality of renowned filmmakers, their triumphs indicate something changing between viewers and the category.

“Viewers often remark, ‘This is a must-see regardless of your genre preferences,’” explains a content buying lead.

“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 artistic merit, the ongoing appeal of spooky films this year implies they are giving moviegoers something that’s much needed: catharsis.

“These days, movies echo the prevalent emotions of rage, anxiety, and polarization,” notes a film commentator.

“Horror films are great at playing into people’s anxieties, while at the same time exaggerating them. So you forget about your day-to-day anxieties and focus on the monster on the screen,” says a prominent scholar of vampire and monster cinema.

Against a real-world news cycle featuring geopolitical strife, enforcement actions, extremist rises, and ecological disasters, ghosts, monsters, and mythical entities strike a unique chord with audiences.

“It’s been noted that vampire cinema thrives during periods of economic hardship,” says an performer 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 reference the surge of German expressionism after the WWI and the unstable environment of the 1920s Europe, with movies such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and the iconic vampire tale.

Subsequently came the economic crisis of the 30s and iconic horror characters.

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

“Therefore, it embodies concerns related to foreign influx.”

The phantom of immigration influenced the newly launched supernatural tale 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.”

“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 present time of acclaimed, socially switched-on horror started with a sharp parody released a year after a divisive leadership period.

It introduced a new wave of visionary directors, including various prominent figures.

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” recalls a creator whose project about a violent prenatal entity was one of the era’s tentpole movies.

“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: “During the past decade, viewers have become more receptive to such innovative approaches.”

At the same time, there has been a revival of the overlooked scary films.

In recent months, a nicke l venue opened in London, showing cult classics such as The Greasy Strangler, The Fall of the House of Usher and the late-80s version of Dr Caligari.

The re-appreciation of this “gritty and loud” genre is, according to the cinema founder, a direct reaction to the calculated releases churned 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 states.

“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,” observes an specialist.

Besides the return of the insane researcher motif – with several renditions of a literary masterpiece upcoming – he anticipates we will see scary movies in 2026 and 2027 reacting to our current anxieties: about tech supremacy in the years ahead and “monstrous metaphors in power structures”.

At the same time, a biblical fright story The Carpenter’s Son – which narrates the tale of biblical parent hardships after the nativity, and stars famous performers as the holy parents – is planned for launch in the coming months, and will certainly create waves through the Christian right in the America.</