{'It’s like they’ve erupted out of someone’s subconscious': how horror came to possess today's movie theaters.

The biggest shock the cinema world has experienced in 2025? The return of horror as a dominant force at the UK film market.

As a style, it has impressively outperformed past times with a 22% rise compared to last year for the UK and Irish box office: £83,766,086 in 2025, versus £68.6 million last year.

“In the past year, not a single horror movie hit £10 million in UK or Irish theaters. Now, five have achieved that,” says a cinema revenue expert.

The major successes of the year – Weapons (£11.4 million), another hit film (£16.2 million), the latest Conjuring installment (£14.98 million) and 28 Years Later (£15.54 million) – have all stayed in the multiplexes and in the audience's minds.

While much of the expert analysis centers on the singular brilliance of certain directors, their successes point to something evolving between viewers and the category.

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

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

But outside of artistic merit, the consistent popularity of frightening features this year indicates they are giving moviegoers something that’s much needed: therapeutic relief.

“Right now, there’s a lot of anger, fear and division that’s being reflected in cinema,” observes 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,” explains a respected writer of horror film history.

In the context of a current events featuring geopolitical strife, enforcement actions, extremist rises, and ecological disasters, witches, zombies and vengeful spirits resonate a bit differently with viewers.

“I read somewhere that the success of vampire movies is linked to economically depressed times,” says an performer from a successful fright film.

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

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

Analysts highlight the rise of European artistic movements after the WWI and the chaotic atmosphere of the 1920s Europe, with films such as early expressionist works and the iconic vampire tale.

This was followed by the 1930s depression and Universal Studios’ Frankenstein and The Wolfman.

“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,” notes a commentator.

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

The boogeyman of migration shaped the newly launched folk horror a recent film title.

The filmmaker 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 praised, culturally aware scary films began with a clever critique debuted a year after a divisive leadership period.

It introduced a recent surge of horror auteurs, including various prominent figures.

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” says a filmmaker whose film about a murderous foetus was one of the era’s tentpole movies.

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

The director, currently developing another scary story, continues: “Over 10 years, audiences’ minds have been opening up to much more of that.”

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

Recently, 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 the expressionist icon.

The re-appreciation of this “rough and rowdy” genre is, according to the cinema founder, a direct reaction to the algorithmic content churned out at the box office.

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

“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.

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

Besides the return of the deranged genius archetype – with several renditions of a well-known story imminent – he anticipates we will see horror films in 2026 and 2027 reacting to our current anxieties: about tech supremacy in the years ahead and “vampires living in the Trump tower”.

At the same time, a religious-themed scare film The Carpenter’s Son – which narrates the tale of holy family challenges after the nativity, and stars famous performers as the sacred figures – is scheduled to debut later this year, and will definitely cause a stir through the Christian right in the US.</