Horror has been a heavy-hitter for a while, but it’s not just new and exciting projects that are bringing in audiences. Classic horror themes are having a renaissance, with films like Nosferatu and Frankenstein being major hits. There’s more to come in 2027, with one of the most anticipated being Robert Eggers Werwulf.
Werwulf and the Threat of Beasts
Werwulf , starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, and Willem Dafoe, is bringing another classic horror monster back.
Set in 14th-century England, the plot follows the story of a town that’s being terrorized by a beast. The werewolf – or werwulf, given the dialogue is in Middle English – looks set to be bigger and more primal than many other versions, adding to the fear factor.
Throughout history, wolves have always been synonymous with fear. Dracula by Bram Stoker features wolves, and refers to them as “the children of the night”, while The Grey features a pack of wolves that act as a supernatural force. Even stories like The Three Little Pigs also touch on the threat of wolves.
Modern examples in iGaming take inspiration from this. Huff and Puff explained the same story but with a new edge, featuring a mansion instead of houses made out of straw, wood and brick. Then there’s video games like The Quarry, taking a classic slasher story and adding in a modern version of a werewolf threat.
Victorian Psycho – A Return of the Gothic
Victorian Psycho also builds on the foundation of an old threat. Winifred has a dark past and psychopathic compulsions, and as staff at the estate where she works begin to disappear, people soon realise that something is wrong. It’s a very simple idea, but it takes horror back to its gothic roots. The slow-burn style and heavy use of shadows and doom create tension throughout, rather than relying on excessive gore or jump scares.
Examples like this show that the age of over-the-top jump scares is now over, and that audiences are becoming fatigued by excessive blood and gore. By shifting the focus to more real and identifiable threats, and by making those threats feel relatable even in the modern world, classic horror has a solid foundation to build a new resurgence.
