Taybah Shaikh

HOW POPULAR IS THE HORROR GENRE?

BFI STATISTICAL YEARBOOK

Box Office results for the top 20 films released in the UK and Ireland 2014

According to this table, the horror genre is not the most popular genre. This is shown as as the top 20 films are in order of Box Office Gross (£million). In the top 20 there are no horror films listed, with fantasy and adventure taking the lead. However, films such as ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Maleficent’ are on the list, Although the genre of these are thriller and fantasy, they both contain elements and themes of the horror genre.

Box Office results for the top 20 UK qualifying films released In the UK and Ireland 2014

Although fantasy and fiction takes the lead again in this list, the film ‘Dracula Untold’ makes number 17. This shows that with association to the UK, the horror genre is more popular. On the other hand, with association to the US, the horror genre is not as popular.

Films with an above average audience in the 25-34 age group, 2014 top 20 films and top UK films

The 25-34 age group share of top 20 and top UK audience(%) is 18. The age group % of films total audience for the film ‘Dracula Untold’ is 31. This is significantly above average and also makes the top of this list. This shows that for this age group audience, the Horror genre is the most popular.

Film preferences by gender 2014 top 20 films and top UK films

Among the top 20 films on this list, none of the films are specifically within the horror genre. However, many of the films are within the sci-fi, thriller and fantasy genres that include themes of Horror. According to this information, these films are most popular among the other genres, and are preferred by male audiences.

Films released in th UK and Ireland by genre 2014

On this list, the film ‘Annabelle’ (Horror) is placed in the lower half. However, it has a stable number of releases suggesting that it does have popularity. The upper half of the list consists of films within the thriller and sci-fi genres. These films such as ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘Gone Girl’ have elements of the Horror genre in them. Overall films such as these are shown to be much more popular than films within the Romance, Music and Documentary genres.

Conclusion

Overall, the Horror genre is not the most popular genre according to the BFI Statistical Yearbook. However, when associated with the Uk, this genre is more popular than when associated with other countries including the US. The horror genre is the most popular film genre within the audience aged 25-34 and is more popular amongst males. Generally, the horror genre and horror related genres (thriller, scifi, adventure) are more popular than genres such as romance and musicals.