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In the realm of contemporary movie-making, a fresh cohort of artists is expanding the boundaries of the horror film category. From societal metaphors to graphic fright-fests, these eight movie-makers are crafting lasting experiences that reimagine terror for a current generation.

Jordan Peele

The creator behind Get Out has crafted spring-loaded metaphors delving into the risks, complexities, and conflicts of Black life in the United States. His impact is evident from the abundance of copycats, with the best within them supported by Peele himself via his production company.

Robert Eggers

A masterful excavator of the darkest recesses of the past, this director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for finding the alien aspects of distant history and presenting them devoid of modern-day revisionism. His sinister time machines unlock gateways to insanity, craving, and elevation.

Jane Schoenbrun

The modern creator with their focus most attuned to the generation’s spirit, as aware of the isolation, and significant relationships, of an digitally-obsessed era. Weaving themes of relationships and pop culture by way of gender transition and the legacy of body horror, films such as I Saw the TV Glow delve into the most unsettling cracks of the self.

Damien Leone

Leone’s three-part saga of Terrifier features is this era's great scary movie triumph, proof that word of mouth can still create genuine hits from well-executed low-budget gore. Not just the modern slasher icon, deranged icon Art the Clown is proof that the viewers' craving for blood – over-the-top, humorous, unchecked – remains unslakable.

Blurrer of Realities

Blurring the boundary between delusion and the real world, with her movies Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, Glass has built a portfolio of intense protagonists driven to limits by the depth of their dedication to warped values. Prone to surreal grand finales that challenge straightforward understandings into doubt, her films stay with you – though not so much like a pebble in your footwear than a nail in your sole.

Danny and Michael Philippou

Emerging from the humble origins of YouTube arose a team of siblings conquering the world with a current brand of shock. With their movies Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they presented violent spectacles in between credible depictions of how modern teenagers act. Aspiring directors look up to them as if they’re newly canonised heroes.

Julia Ducournau

The director's polished, metaphor-forward blend of scary movie conventions with independent touches gained her a Palme d’Or, the initial instance the Cannes Film Festival awarded its top prize to a terror movie. Bearing the blood-soaked banner of the extreme cinema wave, the Titane creator delves into the desires of the isolated to spectacular result.

Na Hong-jin

A member of the most exciting artists to emerge from Asia in the past decade, the Seoul-based creator has directed one gem of folk horror (The Wailing) and co-written a second one (The Medium). Paced with supreme confidence and exact mood management, his movies transposes mainstream formulas into frightful, original styles.

These eight creators represent the diverse and creative path of the horror genre, pushing the edges of fear into new dimensions.