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Across the world of contemporary movie-making, a fresh wave of creators is pushing the edges of the horror film style. Ranging from societal commentaries to visceral thrillers, these eight movie-makers are creating unforgettable adventures that redefine terror for a new generation.

The Mind Behind Get Out

The filmmaker of Get Out has created spring-loaded allegories delving into the risks, complexities, and conflicts of Black existence in the US. His influence is evident from the multitude of imitators, with the best among them nurtured by Peele himself by way of his studio.

Master of Historical Horror

An expert uncoverer of the most obscure pockets of the history, this director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for uncovering the unfamiliar facets of past epochs and presenting them free from present-day reinterpretation. His unholy historical explorations create doorways to psychosis, craving, and transformation.

Voice of a Generation

The contemporary filmmaker with their pulse most attuned to the younger spirit, as aware of the solitudes, and significant relationships, of an online-focused age. Weaving ideas of relationships and pop culture by way of gender transition and the history of corporeal fear, films such as I Saw the TV Glow plumb the most unsettling fractures of the identity.

Damien Leone

The director's three-part saga of Terrifier features is this century’s significant scary movie triumph, evidence that fan support can still produce true hits from expertly crafted small-scale gore. More than the new Jason or Freddy, insane poster boy Art the Clown is proof that the public’s craving for blood – over-the-top, humorous, unchecked – remains insatiable.

Rose Glass

Merging the division between hallucination and reality, with her movies Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, The director has created a collection of powerful female characters compelled to limits by the intensity of their commitment to twisted ideals. Given to surreal endings that challenge straightforward understandings into suspicion, her works remain – though not so much like a stone in your shoe than a sharp object in your foot.

YouTube Sensations

Emerging from the humble origins of online video arrived a team of filmmakers conquering the cinema landscape with a trendy style of controversy. With their movies Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they created violent spectacles in between credible portrayals of how today’s youth behave. Aspiring directors idolize them as if they’re newly made heroes.

Julia Ducournau

Her refined, allegory-driven blend of scary movie conventions with art film touches gained her a top Cannes prize, the initial instance the Cannes Film Festival gave its highest honor to a horror picture. Carrying the blood-soaked standard of the extreme cinema wave, the Titane creator explores the desires of the isolated to remarkable effect.

Na Hong-jin

A member of the most intriguing artists to arise from Eastern cinema in the past decade, the South Korean director has directed one gem of traditional terror (The Wailing) and collaborated on one more (The Medium). Paced with total certainty and meticulous mood management, his films transforms conventional structures into horrifying, original forms.

The listed filmmakers embody the varied and creative path of scary cinema, driving the boundaries of terror into unexplored dimensions.