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The biggest jump-scare the movie business has witnessed in 2025? The return of horror as a main player at the British cinemas.

As a category, it has remarkably exceeded past times with a annual growth of 22% for the UK and Irish box office: over £83 million this year, versus £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 cinema revenue expert.

The big hits of the year – a recent horror title (£11.4 million), another hit film (£16.2 million), The Conjuring Last Rites (£14.98 million) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54 million) – have all remained in the cinemas and in the audience's minds.

Although much of the professional discussion focuses on the unique excellence of renowned filmmakers, their triumphs point to something changing between audiences and the category.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘Even if you don’t like horror this is a film you need to see,’” explains a film distribution executive.

“Such movies experiment with style and format to produce entirely fresh content, connecting with viewers on a new level.”

But outside of creative value, the ongoing appeal of frightening features this year implies they are giving audiences something that’s greatly desired: therapeutic relief.

“These days, movies echo the prevalent emotions of rage, anxiety, and polarization,” observes a horror podcast host.

“Scary movies excel at tapping into viewers' fears, amplifying them, allowing you to set aside daily worries and concentrate on the on-screen terror,” remarks a respected writer of classic monster stories.

Against a current events featuring geopolitical strife, enforcement actions, extremist rises, and ecological disasters, witches, zombies and vengeful spirits strike a unique chord 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.”

From film's inception, societal turmoil has shaped horror.

Scholars highlight the surge of German expressionism after the first world war and the unstable environment of the early Weimar Republic, with features such as early expressionist works and the iconic vampire tale.

Subsequently came the economic crisis of the 30s 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 historian.

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

The boogeyman of migration shaped the just-premiered folk horror The Severed Sun.

Its writer-director clarifies: “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.”

Perhaps, the modern period of celebrated, politically engaged fright cinema commenced with a clever critique debuted a year after a divisive leadership period.

It ushered in a new wave of visionary directors, including several notable names.

“It was a hugely exciting time,” says a filmmaker whose project about a violent prenatal entity 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.”

Concurrently, there has been a revival of the overlooked scary films.

Earlier this year, a new cinema opened in the capital, showing cult classics such as The Greasy Strangler, a classic adaptation and the 1989 remake of Dr Caligari.

The renewed interest of this “rough and rowdy” genre is, according to the cinema founder, a straightforward answer to the formulaic productions produced 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 explains.

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

Scary movies continue to challenge the norm.

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

Besides the revival of the mad scientist trope – with several renditions of a classic novel imminent – he forecasts we will see scary movies in 2026 and 2027 responding to our present fears: about artificial intelligence control in the years ahead and “vampires living in the Trump tower”.

Meanwhile, “Jesus horror” a forthcoming title – which depicts the events of holy family challenges after Jesus’s birth, and stars well-known actors as the divine couple – is scheduled to debut later this year, and will undoubtedly send a ripple through the Christian right in the United States.</