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Across the realm of contemporary filmmaking, a innovative generation of creators is expanding the boundaries of the horror film genre. Ranging from societal allegories to visceral fright-fests, these eight movie-makers are creating unforgettable experiences that reshape dread for a current era.

The Mind Behind Get Out

The creator of Get Out has developed sharp symbolic tales exploring the risks, subtleties, and contradictions of Black existence in the US. His impact is clear from the abundance of imitators, with the top within them guided by Peele himself via his production company.

Robert Eggers

An expert explorer of the darkest pockets of the past, this filmmaker of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for uncovering the unfamiliar aspects of historical periods and depicting them devoid of modern-day alteration. Eggers' dark time machines open portals to madness, desire, and transformation.

Jane Schoenbrun

The contemporary director with their pulse most in touch with the younger spirit, as attuned to the solitudes, and deep connections, of an online-focused era. Weaving concepts of relationships and mainstream entertainment through trans experiences and the tradition of body horror, works such as I Saw the TV Glow plumb the eeriest fractures of the identity.

Damien Leone

Leone’s series of Terrifier movies is this century’s major scary movie success story, proof that fan support can still generate genuine successes from expertly crafted small-scale gore. More than the new horror villain, deranged figure Art the Clown is proof that the viewers' craving for gore – over-the-top, humorous, unrestrained – remains endless.

Rose Glass

Blurring the line between hallucination and the real world, with her works Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, The director has assembled a portfolio of driven female characters driven to the edge by the intensity of their commitment to warped values. Prone to fantastical climaxes that call straightforward readings into question, her works linger – though less like a pebble in your shoe than a spike in your foot.

Danny and Michael Philippou

Emerging from the primordial ooze of digital platform came a pair of siblings taking over the film industry with a trendy brand of controversy. With their films Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they created violent spectacles in between authentic representations of how modern teenagers behave. Aspiring directors pray to them as if they’re recently canonised icons.

Julia Ducournau

The director's polished, allegory-driven blend of genre trappings with arthouse touches gained her a Palme d’Or, the initial instance the festival awarded its premier award to a terror movie. Bearing the viscera-flecked banner of the extreme cinema wave, the Titane filmmaker explores the appetites of the alienated to spectacular effect.

Asian Horror Visionary

One of the most intriguing filmmakers to emerge from the Asian continent in recent years, the South Korean director has directed one masterpiece of mythical fear (The Wailing) and collaborated on one more (The Medium). Structured with total confidence and exact mood management, his work transforms Hollywood templates into horrifying, novel forms.

The listed creators embody the varied and innovative future of scary cinema, propelling the edges of terror into new dimensions.