Why 2025 is a scarily good year for horror movies
為什麼 2025 年是恐怖電影的黃金一年
Sony Pictures 索尼影業《我知道你去年夏天做了什麼》是好萊塢最新上映的恐怖大片
Lights down, armrest gripped, teeth clenched - just an average evening at the cinema for a horror film fan.
燈光暗下，手緊握扶手，牙關緊咬——對一個恐怖片迷來說，這只是電影院裡一個普通的夜晚。
The genre is having a great year in 2025, with the top three examples - Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines and 28 Years Later - taking a total of £41.3m ($55.6m) in the UK.
2025 年，這類電影將迎來輝煌的一年，其中排名前三的《罪人》、《死神來了：血族》和《28 年後》在英國共收入 4,130 萬英鎊（5,560 萬美元）。
That's compared with £39.5m ($53m) for the nine biggest horrors released throughout last year, according to Box Office Mojo.
相較之下， 根據 Box Office Mojo 的數據 ，去年上映的九部最恐怖片的票房為 3,950 萬英鎊（5,300 萬美元）。
In North America, scary movies have accounted for 17% of ticket purchases this year - up from 11% in 2024 and 4% a decade ago, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.
根據路透社報道， 在北美，恐怖電影今年佔電影票房的 17%，高於 2024 年的 11% 和 10 年前的 4%。
"Right now it feels like we're in the renaissance of horror," Chase Sui Wonders, one of the stars of I Know What You Did Last Summer (IKWYDLS), tells BBC Newsbeat.
「現在感覺我們正處於恐怖片的復興時期，」《我知道你去年夏天干了什麼》（IKWYDLS）的主演之一蔡斯·隋文靜 (Chase Sui Wonders) 告訴 BBC 新聞節拍。
"Everyone's going to theatres watching horror movies."
“每個人都去電影院看恐怖電影。”
The small screen's also helping to switch us on to new releases.
小螢幕也幫助我們了解新片。
According to data provided by TikTok, there's been an rise in horror-related videos globally on the app in the past 12 months.
根據 TikTok 提供的數據，過去 12 個月，該應用程式上全球範圍內的恐怖相關影片數量有所增加。
It said 10.7m people used the horror hashtag - an increase of 38% - while HorrorTok rose 40% to 2.6m.
報告稱，有 1,070 萬人使用了恐怖標籤，成長了 38%，而 HorrorTok 的使用人數則增加了 40%，達到 260 萬人。
The tags aren't exclusively used on movie-related content, but TikTok said it had noticed a spike in videos using them during the Cannes Film Festival in May.
這些標籤並非專門用於電影相關內容，但 TikTok 表示，它注意到在 5 月的坎城影展期間使用這些標籤的影片數量激增。
While the figures for the past year could suggest a horror explosion, long-time fans argue the popularity hasn't crept up on us out of nowhere.
儘管過去一年的數據可能預示著一次恐怖的爆炸式增長，但長期的粉絲們認為，這種受歡迎程度並不是憑空而來的。
Ash Millman, a journalist and presenter who specialises in covering horror, says the genre's success has been more of a slow-burn than a jump-scare.
專門報道恐怖片的記者兼主持人阿什米爾曼 (Ash Millman) 表示，恐怖片的成功更多的是慢慢醞釀的，而不是突然驚嚇。
Over the last 10 years, she says, it's been gathering more critical and commercial success.
她說，在過去的十年裡，這部電影獲得了越來越多的評論和商業上的成功。
She says the success of artier efforts such as Hereditary, from studio A24, and crowd pleasers from horror specialists Blumhouse.
她認為，A24 電影公司出品的《遺傳厄運》等藝術性更強的作品以及恐怖片專家 Blumhouse 出品的大眾喜愛的作品都取得了成功。
But Ash does admit that this year has been a particularly good one for fans.
但阿什承認，今年對粉絲來說是個特別好的一年。
"It's got a bit of everything for everyone," she says.
“這裡為每個人提供了各種各樣的東西，”她說。
"We have sequels, then amazing new things like Sinners.
「我們有續集，然後還有像《罪人》這樣令人驚嘆的新作品。
"I do think we're going to be talking about 2025 for years to come."
“我確實認為我們在未來幾年都會談論 2025 年。”
Ash points out that the genre has constantly been fed by producers of smaller-scale indie productions, but the number of major releases this year is notable.
阿什指出，這一類型電影一直以來都受到小規模獨立製作人的推崇，但今年上映的大片數量卻引人注目。
"I think blockbuster horror has become a thing again," she says.
"People want to go to the cinema, they want to see it on the big screen, they want to be scared."
Sony PicturesSince the Covid-19 pandemic, when streaming films at home increased, Hollywood has been struggling to get people back into cinemas.
Horror movies, which tend to be relatively cheap to make, seem to be bucking the trend, and IKWYDLS is the latest big studio release hoping to do the same.
Its director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson tells Newsbeat the feeling of watching with an audience is hard to replicate on your sofa.
"I think it's the collective experience of being scared," she says.
"It's so fun. Everybody wants to go to the movies with their friends and jump and scream and have a good time."
IKWYDLS is a retread of the cult 1997 slasher movie about a group of friends who agree to cover up a tragic accident, only to be pursued a year later by an anonymous killer known as the Fisherman.
The original came out in October - the traditional "spooky season" window for big horror releases.
But IKWYDLS cast member Jonah Hauer-King says he thinks the new version won't feel out of place in July.
"Counter-intuitively, though it is frightening and scary, there is something feel-good about this kind of film," he says.
"It doesn't take itself too seriously and it is a bit of a wild ride, so it feels like a summer popcorn film with the scares and with the thrills."
Ash MillmanJonah thinks there is also a deeper reason for the appeal of horror, too.
"I think at the moment people want to go to the cinema for a bit of escapism, forget about things and have a bit of fun," he says.
Ash agrees, and says times of "chaos and uncertainty" in the wider world tend to boost the genre.
"I think that's always a big festering ground for horror to make statements," she says.
"I feel like horror is a reflection of society but gives us a bit of control over it.
"Usually you see people kind of battling against a great evil and overcoming it in blockbuster horror, where we get a nice wrapped-up ending.
"And I think that's a really nice form of escapism and a way of kind of moving past these horrible things going on in the world."
