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Within the realm of contemporary movie-making, a new wave of artists is expanding the boundaries of the horror film genre. From societal metaphors to graphic chillers, these eight movie-makers are creating unforgettable adventures that redefine terror for a current age.

The Mind Behind Get Out

The filmmaker of Get Out has developed sharp metaphors exploring the dangers, subtleties, and paradoxes of Black existence in the US. Peele's influence is obvious from the abundance of copycats, with the best within them supported by Peele himself by way of his production company.

Master of Historical Horror

A masterful uncoverer of the darkest corners of the bygone eras, this director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for uncovering the unfamiliar aspects of past epochs and depicting them devoid of present-day reinterpretation. His dark time machines unlock gateways to madness, craving, and transcendence.

Voice of a Generation

The contemporary creator with their focus most attuned to the younger pulse, as aware of the solitudes, and deep connections, of an internet-besotted era. Channeling ideas of connection and mainstream entertainment via gender transition and the legacy of body horror, works such as I Saw the TV Glow explore the most unsettling fissures of the identity.

Damien Leone

Leone’s series of Terrifier films is this era's major horror success story, proof that audience buzz can still generate true hits from expertly crafted small-scale violence. More than the modern horror villain, psychotic icon Art the Clown is evidence that the audience's craving for gore – gratuitous, comical, unbridled – remains insatiable.

Rose Glass

Obscuring the division between fantasy and the real world, with her films Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, The director has built a collection of driven women driven to limits by the depth of their commitment to distorted values. Given to surreal climaxes that call straightforward understandings into doubt, her movies stay with you – though not so much like a rock in your footwear than a sharp object in your sole.

YouTube Sensations

From the primordial ooze of online video came a duo of brothers dominating the film industry with a current brand of provocation. With their movies Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they presented shocking displays in between credible portrayals of how current teenagers behave. Cinema enthusiasts idolize them as if they’re recently canonised heroes.

Arthouse Horror Pioneer

The director's refined, symbolism-rich blend of genre trappings with independent flourishes earned her a Palme d’Or, the first time the Cannes Film Festival awarded its premier award to a horror picture. Carrying the gore-stained standard of the French horror movement, the Titane filmmaker indulges the desires of the disconnected to stunning outcome.

Na Hong-jin

Among the most thrilling filmmakers to emerge from Eastern cinema in modern times, the South Korean director has directed one gem of traditional terror (The Wailing) and co-written a second one (The Medium). Structured with total confidence and precise mood management, his films converts mainstream formulas into horrifying, unique forms.

These creators embody the varied and creative future of horror, driving the boundaries of dread into new dimensions.