🔗 Share this article

In the landscape of modern cinema, a innovative generation of artists is pushing the boundaries of the scary movie genre. From social allegories to graphic thrillers, these eight filmmakers are producing memorable journeys that reimagine dread for a new age.

Jordan Peele

The creator behind Get Out has developed sharp metaphors delving into the dangers, complexities, and contradictions of Black existence in the US. His influence is evident from the abundance of copycats, with the best of them nurtured by the filmmaker by way of his production company.

Robert Eggers

A masterful uncoverer of the least known recesses of the history, this filmmaker of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and Nosferatu is known for revealing the foreign aspects of distant history and presenting them free from modern-day revisionism. His sinister journeys into the past unlock gateways to insanity, longing, and transcendence.

Voice of a Generation

The millennial director with their pulse most attuned to the younger spirit, as aware of the solitudes, and deep connections, of an digitally-obsessed age. Filtering concepts of relationships and pop culture by way of trans identity and the tradition of corporeal fear, films such as I Saw the TV Glow plumb the strangest cracks of the self.

Gore Maestro

The director's series of Terrifier features is this era's great scary movie achievement, proof that fan support can still generate bona fide hits from expertly crafted microbudget violence. Not just the new slasher icon, psychotic figure Art the Clown is proof that the viewers' desire for violence – over-the-top, humorous, unchecked – remains unslakable.

Blurrer of Realities

Merging the boundary between delusion and reality, with her films Saint Maud and Love Lies Bleeding, Glass has assembled a portfolio of driven female characters pushed to the edge by the strength of their dedication to warped values. Prone to fantastical endings that question simple interpretations into suspicion, her works linger – though not so much like a pebble in your shoe than a nail in your foot.

Danny and Michael Philippou

From the humble origins of digital platform came a pair of siblings dominating the cinema landscape with a trendy brand of shock. With their films Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, they presented atrocity exhibitions in between credible representations of how current youth act. Aspiring directors pray to them as if they’re recently made saints.

Julia Ducournau

The director's sleek, symbolism-rich blend of horror elements with independent styles won her a top Cannes prize, the historic moment the event gave its premier award to a horror picture. Holding the viscera-flecked banner of the French horror movement, the Titane director explores the desires of the alienated to remarkable effect.

Na Hong-jin

A member of the most exciting filmmakers to come forth from Asia in the past decade, the South Korean filmmaker has directed one masterpiece of mythical fear (The Wailing) and co-written a second one (The Medium). Paced with total certainty and precise atmosphere crafting, his films converts mainstream formulas into frightful, unique shapes.

The listed filmmakers signify the wide-ranging and creative future of scary cinema, pushing the limits of dread into new dimensions.