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Within the world of modern movie-making, a fresh wave of creators is expanding the boundaries of the scary movie style. Ranging from social allegories to graphic fright-fests, these 8 movie-makers are creating memorable experiences that reimagine fear for a current generation.

Jordan Peele

The filmmaker behind Get Out has developed sharp symbolic tales examining the dangers, nuances, and conflicts of Black life in the US. Peele's impact is obvious from the multitude of copycats, with the finest of them guided by Peele himself through his studio.

Master of Historical Horror

A masterful uncoverer of the darkest pockets of the history, this filmmaker of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for finding the alien aspects of past epochs and presenting them free from contemporary alteration. His unholy historical explorations create doorways to psychosis, longing, and transcendence.

Jane Schoenbrun

The millennial director with their focus most attuned to the younger heartbeat, as attuned to the loneliness, and deep connections, of an internet-besotted age. Channeling concepts of relationships and mainstream entertainment by way of trans identity and the history of physical terror, creations such as I Saw the TV Glow plumb the strangest fissures of the self.

Damien Leone

Leone’s trilogy of Terrifier movies is this decade's great horror success story, proof that fan support can still produce true blockbusters from skillfully made microbudget bloodshed. Beyond the modern Jason or Freddy, insane poster boy Art the Clown is proof that the public’s thirst for violence – gratuitous, hilarious, unchecked – remains unslakable.

Rose Glass

Blurring the division between hallucination and reality, with her works Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, The director has built a gallery of intense women compelled to the edge by the strength of their devotion to twisted beliefs. Prone to fantastical grand finales that challenge simple understandings into doubt, her works remain – though not so much like a stone in your shoe than a nail in your sole.

Danny and Michael Philippou

Emerging from the primordial ooze of YouTube came a pair of filmmakers conquering the world with a trendy type of provocation. With their movies Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they staged atrocity exhibitions in between authentic portrayals of how current young people think. Film students pray to them as if they’re recently canonised heroes.

Arthouse Horror Pioneer

The director's sleek, allegory-driven blend of horror elements with independent flourishes gained her a top Cannes prize, the first time the event presented its top prize to a scary film. Holding the gore-stained standard of the New French Extremity, the Titane filmmaker delves into the desires of the alienated to remarkable outcome.

Na Hong-jin

One of the most intriguing filmmakers to come forth from Eastern cinema in modern times, the South Korean creator has crafted one jewel of folk horror (The Wailing) and collaborated on another (The Medium). Paced with supreme confidence and exact tonal control, his films converts mainstream formulas into terrifying, novel forms.

These filmmakers signify the diverse and creative future of the horror genre, pushing the limits of fear into fresh realms.