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

As a category, it has impressively outperformed previous years with a 22% year-on-year increase for the UK and Ireland film earnings: over £83 million this year, against £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), another hit film (£16.2 million), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98m) and 28 Years Later (£15.54 million) – have all remained in the theaters and in the audience's minds.

While much of the professional discussion highlights the standout quality of renowned filmmakers, their successes indicate something evolving between moviegoers and the genre.

“Many have expressed, ‘You should watch this even if horror isn’t your thing,’” 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 beyond artistic merit, the ongoing appeal of spooky films this year indicates they are giving moviegoers something that’s much needed: therapeutic relief.

“Currently, cinema mirrors the widespread anger, fear, and societal splits,” says 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 prominent scholar of vampire and monster cinema.

In the context of a current events featuring geopolitical strife, enforcement actions, extremist rises, and ecological disasters, supernatural beings and undead creatures connect in new ways with viewers.

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

Experts point to the surge of early cinematic styles after the WWI and the unstable environment of the 1920s Europe, with films such as early expressionist works and a pioneering fright film.

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

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

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

The phantom of border issues inspired the newly launched supernatural tale a recent film title.

The filmmaker explains: “My goal was to examine populist trends. For instance, nostalgic phrases promising a return to a 'better' era that excluded many.”

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

Arguably, the modern period of praised, culturally aware scary films commenced with a clever critique debuted a year after a divisive leadership period.

It sparked a new wave of horror auteurs, including a range of talented artists.

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” comments a filmmaker whose movie about a murderous foetus 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 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 overlooked scary films.

Earlier this year, a new cinema opened in London, showing underground films such as The Greasy Strangler, The Fall of the House of Usher and the modern reinterpretation of the expressionist icon.

The fresh acclaim of this “gritty and loud” genre is, according to the venue creator, a clear response to the formulaic productions churned 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.

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

Scary movies continue to disrupt conventions.

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

In addition to the return of the deranged genius archetype – with two adaptations of a classic novel imminent – he predicts we will see scary movies in the near future reacting to our modern concerns: about artificial intelligence control in the coming decades and “vampires living in the Trump tower”.

In the interim, “Jesus horror” a forthcoming title – which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s struggles after Jesus’s birth, and stars celebrated stars as the sacred figures – is set for release later this year, and will definitely create waves through the faith-based groups in the United States.</