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Within the landscape of current filmmaking, a fresh generation of artists is expanding the limits of the horror category. Ranging from social allegories to visceral fright-fests, these eight directors are crafting unforgettable journeys that redefine fear for a new generation.

The Mind Behind Get Out

The director of Get Out has created sharp allegories exploring the perils, nuances, and conflicts of Black existence in the United States. His effect is obvious from the multitude of copycats, with the finest within them supported by the director via his production company.

Master of Historical Horror

A skilled excavator of the most obscure pockets of the history, this filmmaker of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for finding the foreign aspects of historical periods and showing them free from modern-day reinterpretation. Eggers' unholy journeys into the past open portals to psychosis, desire, and transcendence.

Voice of a Generation

The modern creator with their focus most in touch with the generation’s heartbeat, as attuned to the isolation, and meaningful bonds, of an internet-besotted age. Filtering themes of relationships and pop culture via gender transition and the legacy of body horror, works such as I Saw the TV Glow explore the strangest fissures of the identity.

Damien Leone

The director's three-part saga of Terrifier features is this era's great scary movie success story, evidence that word of mouth can still produce true hits from expertly crafted small-scale violence. Not just the next horror villain, deranged figure Art the Clown is proof that the public’s desire for violence – over-the-top, hilarious, unbridled – remains insatiable.

Blurrer of Realities

Merging the line between delusion and reality, with her works Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, The director has created a portfolio of intense female characters compelled to limits by the strength of their dedication to twisted values. Known for surreal grand finales that question straightforward understandings into question, her films linger – though not so much like a rock in your shoe than a sharp object in your foot.

Danny and Michael Philippou

Emerging from the primordial ooze of YouTube arose a duo of filmmakers conquering the cinema landscape with a zeitgeisty brand of shock. With their films Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they created violent spectacles in between authentic portrayals of how today’s young people behave. Aspiring directors look up to them as if they’re newly made saints.

Julia Ducournau

The director's sleek, symbolism-rich combination of horror elements with art film touches won her a Palme d’Or, the historic moment the event presented its top prize to a scary film. Bearing the viscera-flecked standard of the New French Extremity, the Titane creator explores the cravings of the alienated to remarkable result.

Na Hong-jin

Among the most thrilling artists to arise from Eastern cinema in modern times, the Seoul-based director has crafted one masterpiece of mythical fear (The Wailing) and co-written one more (The Medium). Paced with total confidence and exact atmosphere crafting, his work transposes mainstream formulas into terrifying, novel forms.

The listed directors represent the wide-ranging and innovative future of the horror genre, pushing the boundaries of terror into new realms.