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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Editorial

The Guardian view on a bumper crop of horror: scary times call for even scarier films

Film still: Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in “Frankenstein” directed by Guillermo del Toro. Photo Credit: Ken Woroner / Netflix
Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in Guillermo del Toro’s film. Photograph: Ken Woroner/Netflix

It should surprise no one to learn that 2025 is being hailed as a golden year for horror films. All horror movies are a reflection of their time, and ours are pretty scary.

Tech dystopianism means that Frankenstein’s monster has become a byword for AI, while Bram Stoker’s Dracula has always drawn on a dark strain of English xenophobia. So it is no coincidence that these 19th-century gothic villains, stars of the earliest horror films in the 1920s and 30s, are back in cinemas with new adaptations from directors Guillermo del Toro and Luc Besson. Maggie Gyllenhaal is bringing out another Frankenstein, The Bride!, next year.

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