Would the answer be a NO? :/
I think the main reason for a possible reality of this would be that movies still very much require tons of money to make, thus a patron (studio or producer). Leading to more complicated ideas never even seeing the light of day in film form
For example the explosion of indie-produced horror games has shown that if the people making the game have free reign they may indeed show something more interesting.
While there have been some nice horror films the last few years (It Follows, The Babadook, imo also Lord of Tears despite many issues), i wouldn't really term them as cerebral.
No, it would certainly not be a "NO".
It completely depends on what you think the genre "horror" entails.
There are many "intellectual" (I suppose you mean intellectually stimulating? don't really see how a movie in itself can be intellectual) horror movies that work on completely different levels:
Lynch's Eraserhead is a masterpiece of dense symbolism and a movie that has more interpretations than it has fans. This movie is worth it to be watched for its ingenious sound and setting design alone, but is also an interesting look into the directors mind itself, more so than almost any other Lynch movie I would say.
Tarkovski's Solaris, probably one of the greatest sci-fi (horror or not is questionable, it definitely fits well in psycho-horror) movies of all time imo and raises the question of what constitutes memory, consciousness, life. It also has gorgeous imagery and is simply mindblowing from a cinematic pov.
Kubrick's Shining has to be mentioned. Even on the surface level this film is intricate, but then you go on to see Kubricks commentary on the genocide of the natives and once you go really deep down the rabbit hole you start to see themes of the federal reserve and the gold standard, the mystery of the twins and many others.
Ingmar Bergman's Hour of the Wolf is still one of the scariest films ever to me, but it's also one of the most intelligently made psycho horror flicks. Touches on madness, the subconscious, the fine line between dream and reality, features occult rituals, necrophilia, pedocide, hallucinations.. What more could you want?
If you are looking for a more recent one, there are "intellectual" horror flicks, too. By far the greatest one was a recommendation from a forum member actually: Under My Skin. Just a fantastic movie, everyone should see it. I won't go into detail since I don't want to spoil it for you. If you're looking for a challenging horror movie, well, you've found it. Easily one of the best movies of this decade.
On Halloween I saw "The Witch", great commentary on the family in puritanist (?) New England and the idea of sin.
Worth mentioning: Von Trier's Antichrist, Almost all Hitchcock, all of Jan Svankmejer's horror movie output.
). Very good colours, though. Vivid and dreamlike. A bit as in the latter console horror game, Clocktower!
