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Across the world of modern movie-making, a fresh wave of artists is pushing the edges of the horror film category. From social commentaries to visceral fright-fests, these 8 movie-makers are producing lasting experiences that reshape terror for a modern generation.

The Mind Behind Get Out

The creator of Get Out has created sharp metaphors delving into the dangers, nuances, and conflicts of African American experience in the US. His impact is obvious from the abundance of followers, with the top within them nurtured by Peele himself via his Monkeypaw.

Robert Eggers

A masterful explorer of the least known recesses of the bygone eras, this director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for finding the foreign elements of distant history and showing them free from present-day revisionism. Eggers' dark historical explorations open portals to psychosis, craving, and transcendence.

Voice of a Generation

The modern creator with their pulse closest to the younger spirit, as sensitive to the solitudes, and significant relationships, of an internet-besotted age. Channeling concepts of relationships and popular media via gender transition and the history of corporeal fear, creations such as I Saw the TV Glow explore the eeriest fractures of the psyche.

Damien Leone

The director's trilogy of Terrifier features is this century’s great scary movie achievement, evidence that word of mouth can still create bona fide blockbusters from well-executed microbudget gore. More than the modern horror villain, deranged poster boy Art the Clown is confirmation that the audience's desire for violence – over-the-top, hilarious, unrestrained – remains insatiable.

Blurrer of Realities

Obscuring the boundary between fantasy and the real world, with her works Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, Glass has built a collection of driven women compelled to the edge by the strength of their commitment to twisted beliefs. Known for surreal endings that call easy understandings into question, her movies remain – though less like a stone in your footwear than a spike in your sole.

YouTube Sensations

Emerging from the primordial ooze of online video came a duo of filmmakers dominating the world with a zeitgeisty type of provocation. With their movies Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they created violent spectacles in between credible depictions of how today’s teenagers act. Film students idolize them as if they’re recently canonised icons.

Julia Ducournau

The director's polished, symbolism-rich blend of genre trappings with independent touches earned her a prestigious award, the first time the event presented its premier award to a scary film. Bearing the blood-soaked flag of the French horror movement, the Titane creator delves into the cravings of the isolated to remarkable effect.

Na Hong-jin

A member of the most intriguing artists to come forth from Eastern cinema in modern times, the South Korean filmmaker has directed one jewel of mythical fear (The Wailing) and collaborated on one more (The Medium). Arranged with supreme certainty and meticulous tonal control, his movies transposes conventional structures into horrifying, unique styles.

The listed directors signify the diverse and innovative future of horror, driving the limits of terror into unexplored dimensions.