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The biggest jump-scare the film industry has encountered in 2025? The comeback of horror as a leading genre at the UK box office.

As a genre, it has remarkably exceeded previous years with a 22% year-on-year increase for the UK and Ireland film earnings: over £83 million this year, versus £68 million the previous year.

“Previously, zero horror films made £10 million in the UK or Ireland. Currently, five have surpassed that mark,” says a film industry analyst.

The major successes of the year – a recent horror title (£11.4 million), another hit film (£16.2m), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98 million) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54 million) – have all stayed in the theaters and in the public consciousness.

Even though much of the professional discussion highlights the singular brilliance of prominent auteurs, their achievements point to something changing between moviegoers and the genre.

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

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

But apart from aesthetic quality, the ongoing appeal of spooky films this year implies they are giving audiences something that’s greatly desired: therapeutic relief.

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

In the context of a real-world news cycle featuring geopolitical strife, enforcement actions, extremist rises, and ecological disasters, supernatural beings and undead creatures connect in new ways with audiences.

“Some research suggests vampire film popularity correlates with financial downturns,” 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.

Experts reference the rise of European artistic movements after the WWI and the chaotic atmosphere of the post-war Germany, with movies such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and the iconic vampire tale.

Later occurred the Great Depression era and classic monster movies.

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

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

The boogeyman of border issues inspired the just-premiered rural fright The Severed Sun.

Its writer-director 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?’”

Maybe, the current era of praised, culturally aware scary films started with a brilliant satire released a year after a divisive leadership period.

It sparked a recent surge of innovative filmmakers, including a range of talented artists.

“Those years were remarkably vibrant,” says a creator whose movie about a murderous foetus was one of the period's key works.

“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.”

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

In recent months, a new cinema opened in the capital, showing cult classics such as The Greasy Strangler, a classic adaptation and the 1989 remake of the expressionist icon.

The renewed interest of this “raw and chaotic” genre is, according to the cinema founder, a straightforward answer to the calculated releases churned out at the theaters.

“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 says.

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

Fright flicks continue to upset the establishment.

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

In addition to the revival of the mad scientist trope – with several renditions of a well-known story imminent – he anticipates we will see horror films in the near future reacting to our modern concerns: about artificial intelligence control in the years ahead and “monstrous metaphors in power structures”.

Meanwhile, a biblical fright story The Carpenter’s Son – which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s struggles after Jesus’s birth, and includes celebrated stars as the divine couple – is set for release later this year, and will definitely create waves through the religious conservatives in the US.</