🔗 Share this article

The most significant shock the film industry has encountered in 2025? The resurgence of horror as a dominant force at the UK box office.

As a category, it has notably exceeded previous years with a 22% year-on-year increase for the UK and Irish box office: over £83 million this year, versus £68,612,395 in 2024.

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

The major successes of the year – a recent horror title (£11.4 million), Sinners (£16.2m), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98 million) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54m) – have all remained in the multiplexes and in the public consciousness.

Although much of the expert analysis centers on the singular brilliance of prominent auteurs, their achievements indicate something changing between audiences and the category.

“Many have expressed, ‘You should watch this even if horror isn’t your thing,’” says a film distribution executive.

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

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,” observes a horror podcast host.

“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,” explains a respected writer of horror film history.

In the context of a global headlines featuring conflict, immigration issues, political shifts, and climate concerns, supernatural beings and undead creatures resonate a bit differently with viewers.

“It’s been noted that vampire cinema thrives during periods of economic hardship,” says an performer from a recent horror hit.

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

Historically, public discord has always impacted scary movies.

Scholars highlight the rise of early cinematic styles after the WWI and the unstable environment of the post-war Germany, with films such as early expressionist works and a pioneering fright film.

Subsequently came the economic crisis of the 30s and classic monster movies.

“The classic example is Dracula: you get this invasion of Britain by someone from eastern Europe who then causes this infection that gets spread in all sorts of ways and threatens the Anglo-Saxon heroes,” explains a academic.

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

The boogeyman of migration shaped the just-premiered rural fright a recent film title.

Its writer-director 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 modern period of celebrated, politically engaged fright cinema began with a sharp parody launched a year after a polarizing administration.

It ushered in a recent surge of horror auteurs, including a range of talented artists.

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” comments a filmmaker whose movie about a deadly unborn child 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: “Over 10 years, audiences’ minds have been opening up to much more of that.”

At the same time, there has been a reappraisal of the underrated horror works.

Earlier this year, a nicke l venue opened in a major city, showing cult classics such as a quirky horror title, a classic adaptation and the 1989 remake of the expressionist icon.

The renewed interest of this “rough and rowdy” genre is, according to the venue creator, a straightforward answer to the calculated releases produced at the cinemas.

“This responds to the sterile output from major studios. Today's cinema is safer and more repetitive. Many popular movies feel identical,” 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.”

Horror films continue to disrupt conventions.

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

Besides the revival of the deranged genius archetype – with two adaptations of a classic novel on the horizon – he forecasts we will see fright features in the coming years responding to our current anxieties: about artificial intelligence control in the years ahead and “monstrous metaphors in power structures”.

At the same time, a religious-themed scare film a forthcoming title – which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s struggles after the messiah's arrival, and features celebrated stars as the holy parents – is scheduled to debut in the coming months, and will undoubtedly create waves through the Christian right in the US.</