horror genre research

1. Taybah Shaikh
HOW POPULAR IS THE HORROR GENRE?

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.