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The largest shock the cinema world has encountered in 2025? The resurgence of horror as a dominant force at the UK film market.

As a genre, it has impressively surpassed past times with a 22% rise compared to last year for the UK and Irish box office: £83.7 million in 2025, compared with £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 major successes of the year – a recent horror title (£11.4m), another hit film (£16.2m), the latest Conjuring installment (£14.98m) and 28 Years Later (£15.54m) – have all stayed in the multiplexes and in the popular awareness.

Even though much of the professional discussion centers on the singular brilliance of renowned filmmakers, their successes indicate something shifting between viewers and the style.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘Even if you don’t like horror this is a film you need to see,’” says a head of acquisition.

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

But apart from creative value, the consistent popularity of horror movies this year indicates they are giving cinemagoers something that’s highly necessary: catharsis.

“Currently, cinema mirrors the widespread anger, fear, and societal splits,” observes a genre expert.

“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 respected writer of vampire and monster cinema.

In the context of a real-world news cycle featuring conflict, immigration issues, political shifts, and climate concerns, ghosts, monsters, and mythical entities resonate a bit differently with viewers.

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

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

Historically, public discord has always impacted scary movies.

Scholars highlight the surge of German expressionism after the first world war and the turbulent times of the 1920s Europe, with films such as classic silent horror and the iconic vampire tale.

Subsequently came the 1930s depression and Universal Studios’ Frankenstein and The Wolfman.

“Consider the Dracula narrative: an outsider from the east brings a corrupting influence that permeates society and challenges its heroes,” notes a historian.

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

The phantom of immigration influenced the newly launched rural fright The Severed Sun.

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.”

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

Perhaps, the modern period of praised, culturally aware scary films began with a clever critique released a year after a polarizing administration.

It introduced a new wave of horror auteurs, including various prominent figures.

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” recalls a director whose movie about a violent prenatal entity was one of the period's key works.

“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: “Over 10 years, audiences’ minds have been opening up to much more of that.”

Concurrently, there has been a reconsideration of the overlooked scary films.

Earlier this year, a nicke l venue opened in the capital, showing underground films such as a quirky horror title, a classic adaptation and the modern reinterpretation of Dr Caligari.

The renewed interest of this “rough and rowdy” genre is, according to the venue creator, a direct reaction to the formulaic productions pumped out at the theaters.

“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.

“Conversely, [such movies] appear raw. As if they emerged straight from the artist's mind, untouched by studio control.”

Scary movies continue to upset the establishment.

“These movies uniquely blend vintage vibes with contemporary relevance,” notes an authority.

Besides the return of the deranged genius archetype – with multiple versions of a classic novel imminent – he anticipates we will see horror films in the coming years addressing our present fears: about tech supremacy in the years ahead and “supernatural elements in political spheres”.

In the interim, a religious-themed scare film The Carpenter’s Son – which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s struggles after Jesus’s birth, and features well-known actors as the sacred figures – is scheduled to debut later this year, and will certainly create waves through the Christian right in the America.</