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The largest shock the cinema world has encountered in 2025? The return of horror as a main player at the UK film market.

As a category, it has impressively surpassed past times with a 22% rise compared to last year for the UK and Ireland film earnings: over £83 million this year, against £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 (£16.2m), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98 million) and 28 Years Later (£15.54 million) – have all hung about in the multiplexes and in the popular awareness.

While much of the expert analysis highlights the unique excellence of prominent auteurs, their triumphs point to something shifting between viewers and the genre.

“Viewers often remark, ‘This is a must-see regardless of your genre preferences,’” explains a film distribution executive.

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

But apart from artistic merit, the consistent popularity of spooky films this year implies 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,” says 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,” remarks a prominent scholar of horror film history.

Against a global headlines featuring conflict, immigration issues, political shifts, and climate concerns, witches, zombies and vengeful spirits connect in new ways with filmg oers.

“It’s been noted that vampire cinema thrives during periods of economic hardship,” says an star from a recent horror hit.

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

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

Scholars highlight the rise of early cinematic styles after the the Great War and the turbulent times of the 1920s Europe, with features such as early expressionist works and a pioneering fright film.

This was followed by the Great Depression era 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,” says a academic.

“Thus, it mirrors widespread fears about migration.”

The phantom of migration inspired the recently released supernatural tale The Severed Sun.

The creator 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.”

Arguably, the current era of acclaimed, socially switched-on horror started with a brilliant satire launched a year after a polarizing administration.

It sparked a fresh generation of horror auteurs, including several notable names.

“That period was incredibly stimulating,” comments a filmmaker whose project about a violent prenatal entity was one of the era’s tentpole movies.

“I think it was the beginning of an era when people were opening up to doing a really bonkers horror film which had arthouse aspirations.”

The director, currently developing another scary story, continues: “In the last ten years, public taste has evolved to welcome bolder horror concepts.”

At the same time, there has been a reconsideration of the genre’s less celebrated output.

Recently, a new cinema opened in London, showing obscure movies such as The Greasy Strangler, a classic adaptation and the modern reinterpretation of Dr Caligari.

The fresh acclaim of this “gritty and loud” genre is, according to the venue creator, a straightforward answer to the calculated releases churned out at the cinemas.

“It counters the polished content from big producers. The industry has become blander and more foreseeable. Numerous blockbusters share the same traits,” he says.

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

Scary movies continue to challenge the norm.

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

Besides the re-emergence of the deranged genius archetype – with multiple versions of a classic novel imminent – he predicts we will see scary movies in the coming years addressing our present fears: about AI’s dominance in the years ahead and “supernatural elements in political spheres”.

At the same time, a religious-themed scare film The Carpenter’s Son – which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s struggles after the nativity, and features celebrated stars as the divine couple – is set for release soon, and will undoubtedly send a ripple through the Christian right in the United States.</