I have noticed that there are five main, recurring themes: making prequels, sequels or remakes, the depiction or involvement of religion within the narrative, a return to period horrors set in the medieval period or old England for a gothic horror feel, supernatural horror with an emphasis on ghost tales and also on mental illness and the skewed perspectives of those who are psychologically damaged. 
Organised religion is reflected in some of the films released or due to release this year. These have mainly presented a view of militarized men of religion. In the current political climate, with many wars, this may reflect many people turning to faith in order to understand. However this portrayal could also have a more sinister meaning and be an indication of the world's current fear of religion in its extremism. Although, these films such as 'The Rite' and 'Priest', show religion fighting against demonic evils such as spirits and vampires. This could be a distinction being made between organised religion and extremism, which is represented through the battle between the 'good' priest fighting the 'bad' demons that have invaded the society of the film. The narratives involve themes of war and religion (particularly seen in 'Priest') which could also be a parallel with the War on Terror currently in the news.
Films based in Medieval periods or faux medieval periods, where inspiration is drawn only from the styling of the horror's world, and in time frames associated with gothic horror, for example 'The Woman in Black' an adaptation of a classic gothic horror. These patterns highlight the cyclical nature of the film genre. Scriptwriters have returned to old conventions to create fear because audiences have become overly familiar with modern conventions and are no longer entirely frightened by them. A social point about the advantage of these period plots is that characters are more easily isolated or put in vulnerable situations due to their lack of technology. Writers must resort to literary devices and cliches in order to cut off modern protagonists such as power cuts, dead mobile batteries and loss of service.The increase number of remakes, prequels and sequels are not uncommon within any film genre. These films build on an already successful enterprise or franchise using a winning narrative formula which meets audience expectation.
The increased interest in mental illness plotlines builds on the fear of losing your own identity; being unable to trust yourself and hallucinations or tricks of the mind. Being unable to distinguish reality from pretend is a main theme of these films and tricking the audience by positioning them alongside this character is another narrative twist. Even in the modern world and particularly outside the scientific fields, the brain is still largely not understood and mystery is the breeding ground for horror. Psychological illness allows the protagonist to be terrorised by targeted personal fears. These individuals' stories, however, still retain the element of 'it could happen to anyone' and that you wouldn't know if you also were mentally ill. The irrational behaviour shown in films such as 'The Ward' and 'Shutter Island' is often linked to psychopaths which subconsciously creates tension and fear.
Ghosts and the supernatural present the idea of the fear of the unknown; possibly being a reflection of the War on Terror, which is the fight against an idea not a united movement of people and is thereby undefined or intangible. Ghosts represent that which, seemingly, can not be destroyed or killed. They are also, occasionally, linked to mental illness, as they are shown to be created by the paranoia of the mind. One popular ghost film franchise recently started is 'Paranormal Activity'.
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