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The biggest surprise the movie business has encountered in 2025? The return of horror as a main player at the UK film market.

As a category, it has impressively exceeded past times with a 22% year-on-year increase for the UK and Irish box office: £83.7 million in 2025, versus £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 big hits of the year – Weapons (£11.4m), another hit film (£16.2m), the latest Conjuring installment (£14.98m) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54m) – have all stayed in the cinemas and in the public consciousness.

While much of the professional discussion focuses on the unique excellence of prominent auteurs, their successes indicate something shifting between moviegoers 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 film distribution executive.

“Such movies experiment with style and format to produce entirely fresh content, connecting with viewers on a new level.”

But apart from creative value, the consistent popularity of spooky films this year implies they are giving moviegoers something that’s greatly desired: catharsis.

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

“Scary movies excel at tapping into viewers' fears, amplifying them, allowing you to set aside daily worries and concentrate on the on-screen terror,” says a respected writer of horror film history.

Against a global headlines featuring conflict, immigration issues, political shifts, and climate concerns, supernatural beings and undead creatures connect in new ways with viewers.

“It’s been noted that vampire cinema thrives during periods of economic hardship,” says an star from a successful fright film.

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

Since the early days of cinema, social unrest has influenced the genre.

Analysts point to the rise of early cinematic styles after the WWI and the chaotic atmosphere of the early Weimar Republic, with features such as classic silent horror and the iconic vampire tale.

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

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

“Thus, it mirrors widespread fears about migration.”

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

The filmmaker 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 current era of praised, culturally aware scary films commenced with a sharp parody launched a year after a polarizing administration.

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

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” says a creator whose film about a murderous foetus was one of the time's landmark films.

“I believe it initiated a trend toward eccentric, high-concept horror that aimed for artistic recognition.”

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.”

Simultaneously, there has been a reappraisal of the genre’s less celebrated output.

Recently, a independent theater opened in a major city, showing underground films such as The Greasy Strangler, a classic adaptation and the modern reinterpretation of the expressionist icon.

The re-appreciation of this “raw and chaotic” genre is, according to the cinema founder, a direct reaction to the calculated releases pumped out 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 states.

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

Fright flicks continue to disrupt conventions.

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

Besides the return of the mad scientist trope – with several renditions of a well-known story imminent – he anticipates we will see scary movies in 2026 and 2027 addressing our current anxieties: about tech supremacy in the near future and “monstrous metaphors in power structures”.

At the same time, a biblical fright story The Carpenter’s Son – which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s struggles after Jesus’s birth, and includes famous performers as the holy parents – is planned for launch in the coming months, and will undoubtedly create waves through the faith-based groups in the America.</