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Within the landscape of modern filmmaking, a new generation of creators is pushing the limits of the horror film style. Ranging from cultural metaphors to graphic fright-fests, these 8 movie-makers are producing lasting journeys that reimagine dread for a modern age.

Jordan Peele

The filmmaker of Get Out has crafted spring-loaded metaphors examining the dangers, complexities, and conflicts of Black existence in the US. His impact is clear from the multitude of followers, with the best within them supported by the director through his studio.

Master of Historical Horror

An expert excavator of the darkest recesses of the history, this filmmaker of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu excels in revealing the unfamiliar aspects of historical periods and showing them devoid of contemporary revisionism. Eggers' sinister time machines open portals to psychosis, desire, and elevation.

Voice of a Generation

The millennial creator with their finger most attuned to the millennial pulse, as aware of the loneliness, and deep connections, of an internet-besotted time. Filtering concepts of connection and pop culture by way of trans experiences and the legacy of physical terror, works such as I Saw the TV Glow explore the eeriest fractures of the identity.

Gore Maestro

Leone’s series of Terrifier films is this century’s significant horror success story, testament that word of mouth can still produce genuine hits from expertly crafted low-budget gore. Beyond the modern horror villain, insane figure Art the Clown is confirmation that the audience's craving for blood – gratuitous, humorous, unbridled – remains insatiable.

Blurrer of Realities

Blurring the line between delusion and the real world, with her films Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, Glass has built a collection of powerful women compelled to the edge by the strength of their devotion to distorted beliefs. Given to imaginative grand finales that call simple interpretations into doubt, her movies stay with you – though not so much like a pebble in your footwear than a spike in your sole.

YouTube Sensations

Emerging from the primordial ooze of online video came a duo of filmmakers conquering the film industry with a zeitgeisty type of provocation. With their works Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they staged atrocity exhibitions in between realistic representations of how today’s young people behave. Cinema enthusiasts look up to them as if they’re newly canonised icons.

Julia Ducournau

The director's sleek, metaphor-forward combination of genre trappings with independent flourishes won her a prestigious award, the first time the festival awarded its top prize to a horror picture. Holding the blood-soaked banner of the French horror movement, the Titane creator delves into the cravings of the disconnected to remarkable effect.

Asian Horror Visionary

Among the most exciting artists to come forth from Asia in the past decade, the Korean creator has crafted one gem of folk horror (The Wailing) and collaborated on a second one (The Medium). Structured with total certainty and meticulous tonal control, his movies transposes conventional structures into terrifying, original forms.

The listed creators represent the diverse and innovative future of scary cinema, driving the boundaries of terror into fresh territories.