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Within the realm of contemporary filmmaking, a innovative generation of artists is pushing the edges of the horror film genre. Ranging from cultural metaphors to intense thrillers, these 8 movie-makers are creating memorable journeys that reimagine terror for a current age.

The Mind Behind Get Out

The director behind Get Out has crafted spring-loaded symbolic tales examining the perils, complexities, and paradoxes of Black existence in the United States. Peele's impact is clear from the sheer number of followers, with the top among them guided by the filmmaker by way of his Monkeypaw.

Robert Eggers

A masterful explorer of the least known corners of the bygone eras, this filmmaker of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu specializes in revealing the unfamiliar facets of past epochs and presenting them free from modern-day revisionism. His sinister time machines create doorways to madness, desire, and transformation.

Voice of a Generation

The millennial filmmaker with their pulse closest to the generation’s spirit, as attuned to the loneliness, and deep connections, of an online-focused age. Filtering themes of bonding and pop culture via trans identity and the legacy of body horror, films such as I Saw the TV Glow plumb the eeriest fractures of the identity.

Gore Maestro

Leone’s trilogy of Terrifier movies is this century’s major horror triumph, evidence that word of mouth can still create genuine blockbusters from expertly crafted low-budget violence. Not just the new Jason or Freddy, insane poster boy Art the Clown is confirmation that the public’s craving for violence – over-the-top, comical, unchecked – remains insatiable.

Rose Glass

Blurring the line between delusion and the real world, with her movies Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, The director has built a collection of intense protagonists pushed to the edge by the strength of their devotion to warped ideals. Known for imaginative climaxes that challenge easy readings into question, her movies linger – though not so much like a rock in your shoe than a nail in your foot.

Danny and Michael Philippou

From the humble origins of YouTube arrived a pair of filmmakers taking over the film industry with a current style of shock. With their works Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they presented violent spectacles in between authentic portrayals of how today’s youth behave. Cinema enthusiasts idolize them as if they’re recently declared heroes.

Julia Ducournau

The director's polished, metaphor-forward fusion of horror elements with arthouse touches won her a top Cannes prize, the initial instance the event awarded its top prize to a scary film. Holding the viscera-flecked standard of the French horror movement, the Titane creator delves into the appetites of the alienated to remarkable effect.

Na Hong-jin

One of the most exciting talents to arise from Eastern cinema in modern times, the South Korean filmmaker has crafted one jewel of traditional terror (The Wailing) and co-written another (The Medium). Arranged with total certainty and meticulous mood management, his work transposes Hollywood templates into horrifying, unique shapes.

These eight filmmakers embody the diverse and creative direction of scary cinema, propelling the boundaries of fear into new territories.