“Horror films don’t create fear. They release it,” legendary filmmaker Wes Craven, the man behind Scream, once said. Could that be the reason why, despite its past as a relatively niche genre, it’s now common for some horror titles to rake similar amounts at the box office as tentpole films?
This year is particularly solid – scary movies have accounted for 17 per cent of US ticket purchases this year – up from 11 per cent in 2024 and 4 per cent a decade ago, according to Reuters. Horror has seen a 79 per cent growth in admissions year-on-year in Australia, according to cinema advertising group Val Morgan.
To learn more about the link between horror films, political and social upheaval, and anxiety management, watch the video below.
The genre’s first Golden Age is widely considered to have been the 1930s, when classics including Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932) were unleashed. That decade was also a significant time of social and political upheaval and unrest. It’s hard not to see the modern-day parallels.
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But does it not seem counterintuitive to deal with anxiety by purposely making yourself scared? Multiple studies disagree. Watch the video above to see why.
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