Horror movies are in fashion and living their best moment! What used to be a genre that hardly anyone approached and almost despised by the industry, today already represents 14.4% of the U.S. box office!
Today, horror has slipped into the center of the industry and the truth is, we love scary movies, who doesn’t?
Movies like Weapons, which has grossed 42.5 million dollars and has a 100% critical approval, are not an exception: they are proof that fear works! It works at the box office, it works on platforms and it always works as a business, because while other genres risk with budgets of more than 200 million, horror plays with much more modest figures and achieves equal or even more spectacular profits.
Low budget horror
The secret lies in that combination that studios love so much: low investment to make a lot of money. Most of these movies cost between 5 and 30 million, but if they connect with the audience, they explode. In addition, they lend themselves like no other genre to going viral. Why? Because fear generates conversation. It is shared. It is talked about. It is screamed. And if on top of that you can watch it at home and get scared without anyone looking at you weird, even better!
Streaming platforms have been the ideal breeding ground for this explosion. Watching one of these movies from the couch, with the lights off, is almost part of the ritual. You don’t need a packed cinema or a giant screen to have a bad (or good, depending how you see it and how much you like it) time!
Fewer sequels, more new ideas
Another thing that has changed: not everything revolves around the same old sagas anymore. Yes, at the time Halloween or A Quiet Place worked very well, but what is now pulling the wagon are original stories. Scripts that don’t need superheroes or cheap effects, just a good idea, a bit of well-measured tension and a couple of well-placed scares.
In 2024 alone, six horror movies surpassed 50 million in worldwide gross. And for 2025 there are already 29 new releases scheduled. It is clear that the horror train is going at full speed… although not everyone is sure it will keep up that pace!
Aren’t we overdoing the scares?
Some are already talking about the dreaded horror glut, or in other words: an overdose. If the market becomes saturated, if formulas start repeating or meaningless scares are chained together, the audience might get tired. But we know that is not going to happen, fear always generates curiosity, and as long as there is curiosity, there is a market!
A reflection of the times
It is no coincidence that horror is experiencing a boom right now. It has always been a genre very attached to what happens in society. In the 30s, with the Great Depression, the classic monsters appeared. In the 70s, marked by Vietnam and Watergate, The Exorcist or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre emerged. During the pandemic, it came back strong. And today, in the middle of strikes, doubts about the future of cinema and the impact of artificial intelligence, fear is back in fashion. It’s as if, in times of uncertainty, we needed to be scared of something that is at least controlled, don’t you think?
And if the future of horror lies in AI?
Well like everything, artificial intelligence is already starting to show its face in the genre. From cheaper special effects to scripts partly built from collective fears. Technology could give horror another push, helping it experiment without losing its essence: showing us, without filters, what unsettles us. Who knows!
Fear sells, and now more than ever
Horror has always had its place, but now that place is a huge hall with a view to success. Hollywood, which is looking for how to reinvent itself in an increasingly uncertain market, has found in fear a lifeline. And it doesn’t seem willing to let it go.
Our top 10 scary movies 😉
- The Ring (2002)
- 28 Days Later (2002)
- Saw (2004)
- [REC] (2007)
- Paranormal Activity (2007)
- The Conjuring (2013)
- It Follows (2014)
- Hereditary (2018)
- A Quiet Place (2018)
- Midsommar (2019)