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Across the realm of contemporary cinema, a new cohort of visionaries is stretching the boundaries of the horror film genre. Ranging from social metaphors to visceral fright-fests, these 8 movie-makers are creating memorable journeys that redefine dread for a modern generation.

Jordan Peele

The creator of Get Out has crafted pointed allegories examining the perils, subtleties, and paradoxes of Black existence in the America. Peele's influence is clear from the abundance of followers, with the finest of them nurtured by the director by way of his production company.

Master of Historical Horror

A masterful explorer of the darkest pockets of the bygone eras, this filmmaker of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu excels in finding the alien elements of historical periods and presenting them without contemporary alteration. His dark journeys into the past open portals to psychosis, craving, and transcendence.

Jane Schoenbrun

The contemporary creator with their finger closest to the younger heartbeat, as sensitive to the loneliness, and significant relationships, of an internet-besotted age. Filtering ideas of relationships and popular media by way of trans experiences and the history of body horror, creations such as I Saw the TV Glow plumb the eeriest fissures of the psyche.

Damien Leone

The director's trilogy of Terrifier films is this century’s great scary movie success story, proof that word of mouth can still generate true successes from well-executed low-budget violence. Beyond the new Jason or Freddy, insane poster boy Art the Clown is evidence that the viewers' thirst for violence – over-the-top, humorous, unchecked – remains insatiable.

Rose Glass

Blurring the division between delusion and actuality, with her movies Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, The director has assembled a collection of powerful female characters driven to extremes by the depth of their devotion to distorted beliefs. Prone to imaginative climaxes that challenge simple readings into suspicion, her films linger – though not so much like a stone in your footwear than a nail in your sole.

Danny and Michael Philippou

From the early beginnings of YouTube came a duo of brothers conquering the film industry with a zeitgeisty style of controversy. With their movies Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they staged atrocity exhibitions in between realistic depictions of how today’s young people act. Cinema enthusiasts look up to them as if they’re recently canonised saints.

Julia Ducournau

Her polished, symbolism-rich fusion of horror elements with art film touches gained her a Palme d’Or, the first time the Cannes Film Festival awarded its highest honor to a scary film. Carrying the viscera-flecked standard of the New French Extremity, the Titane creator delves into the desires of the isolated to spectacular outcome.

Asian Horror Visionary

A member of the most intriguing filmmakers to arise from the Asian continent in the past decade, the South Korean creator has crafted one jewel of traditional terror (The Wailing) and co-written another (The Medium). Arranged with total certainty and precise mood management, his movies transforms conventional structures into horrifying, unique shapes.

These filmmakers embody the varied and innovative future of scary cinema, pushing the limits of fear into new dimensions.