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The biggest surprise the movie business has encountered in 2025? The resurgence of horror as a dominant force at the UK box office.

As a style, it has remarkably surpassed earlier periods with a 22% year-on-year increase for the UK and Irish box office: £83,766,086 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,” notes a box office editor.

The major successes of the year – Weapons (£11.4 million), another hit film (£16.2m), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98m) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54m) – have all remained in the multiplexes and in the popular awareness.

Although much of the expert analysis focuses on the unique excellence of renowned filmmakers, their achievements point to something shifting between viewers and the genre.

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

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

But apart from artistic merit, the consistent popularity of horror movies this year indicates they are giving audiences something that’s greatly desired: therapeutic relief.

“Right now, there’s a lot of anger, fear and division that’s being reflected in cinema,” notes 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 vampire and monster cinema.

Against a global headlines featuring geopolitical strife, enforcement actions, extremist rises, and ecological disasters, supernatural beings and undead creatures connect in new ways with audiences.

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

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

Historically, public discord has always impacted scary movies.

Analysts point to the boom of early cinematic styles after the first world war and the unstable environment of the 1920s Europe, with movies such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and the iconic vampire tale.

Later occurred the 1930s depression 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.

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

The phantom of immigration inspired the newly launched folk horror The Severed Sun.

The filmmaker elaborates: “I aimed to delve into populist rhetoric. Specifically, calls to restore a mythical past that favored a privileged few.”

“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?’”

Arguably, the current era of acclaimed, socially switched-on horror began with a brilliant satire launched a year after a divisive leadership period.

It sparked a fresh generation of innovative filmmakers, including a range of talented artists.

“It was a hugely exciting time,” comments a filmmaker whose movie about a deadly unborn child 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.”

This creator, now penning a fresh horror script, notes: “During the past decade, viewers have become more receptive to such innovative approaches.”

Concurrently, there has been a revival of the underrated horror works.

In recent months, a new cinema opened in a major city, showing cult classics such as The Greasy Strangler, The Fall of the House of Usher and the modern reinterpretation of Dr Caligari.

The renewed interest of this “raw and chaotic” genre is, according to the venue creator, a straightforward answer to the calculated releases churned out at the box office.

“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 explains.

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

Horror films continue to upset the establishment.

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

Besides the re-emergence of the insane researcher motif – with multiple versions of a literary masterpiece imminent – he anticipates we will see horror films in 2026 and 2027 responding to our current anxieties: about tech supremacy in the near future and “monstrous metaphors in power structures”.

At the same time, “Jesus horror” a forthcoming title – which depicts the events of biblical parent hardships after Jesus’s birth, and features well-known actors as the holy parents – is planned for launch soon, and will certainly cause a stir through the religious conservatives in the United States.</