In recent years, this art has been all but lost, studios instead going for the shock kill rather than smart storytelling. You can certainly have both, but usually you end up with neither.
The following are some of the best openings of all time. Introductions to characters and themes that set the bar for decades. Let us know in the comment box below if there is one that you think should have been included.
Great Opening Scenes in Horror
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#15
THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
Frank and Freddy work at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse. Frank is the kind of guy that loves his wife and wants to be well liked too. Freddy is a young guy that is trying to get it together. All this comes across in the opening and it’s strictly through dialogue and body language. The humor is layered in carefully by use of musical queues as are the scares. By the time the opening credits roll you desperately want to know what’s gonna happy to these two guys.
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#14
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003)
What is the result when a seasoned music video director remakes a classic by a first time filmmaker? In this case, it’s awesome. From the tone to the dead seriousness of John Larroquette’s voice over (returning from the original), this film owns you. The set-up is smart and reinforces the true story aspect. No opening kill, just a foreboding set up. This doesn’t take away from Tobe Hooper’s classic, it builds upon it in the best and most respectful way.
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#13
VAMPIRE CIRCUS
Hammer Films was great at mood and creating a world but never better than they were with Vampire Circus. The film opens as if you are watching the end of a previous film. Much like the old series (and in turn, Indiana Jones), the film drops you into the action already in progress. Villagers are converging on a castle where a vampire is known to dwell. He has taken a young girl and plans to feed on her along with his beautiful disciple. I so fell in love with this that though the rest of the film was good, I always wanted that prequel. That story begs to be told. Perhaps someday.
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#12
RE-ANIMATOR
If you’ve never thought of Re-Animator as anything more than a fun horror film, you need to take another look. The film opens at Miskatonic University where Dr. Gruber is screaming from behind the door to his locked office. Police converge on the scene to find him on the floor screaming, a man with glasses kneeling beside him with a syringe in hand. The doctor rises and as his eyes begin to pulsate and then explode. Falling dead, a voice says “You killed him”, to the man in glasses. He replies; “No. I gave him life!” You now know everything you need to know about the movie you are about to see.
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#11
HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES
Captain Spaulding graces a TV screen with a local commercial for his roadside museum of monsters and mad men, while pushing his signature fried chicken. He is dressed as a clown and looks like he may have just gotten out of prison. Cut to Spaulding’s gas station and a late night conversation between him and a friend. Two would be robbers burst in and demand the cash. Little do they know that this clown is a bad ass as they get. Bullets fly but it’s the robbers that end up with their brains splattered across the floor. In the opening few minutes you get a clown with a gun killing people, two middle fingers, bludgeoning, numerous murderer references, and a conversation about Dr. Zeus and somebody’s ass. What an intro.
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#10
JAWS
The movie that made a generation afraid of the water begins at the beach at night. A couple head towards the water taking off their clothes along the way. They don’t even really know each other when the girl runs out into the water. The guy, drunk, passes out on the sand. You never see what it is that takes hold of her while she’s in the water, but you watch in horror as she is thrashed back and forth. When she slams into the buoy, you are almost relieved, but it isn’t over. Jaws mastered the art of anticipation from the very first scene. You knew the water wasn’t safe and for the rest of the movie, you shut your eyes when you heard that ominous score.
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#9
HORROR HOTEL
Horror Hotel begins with a bang, a witch on trial in Salem. Tied up and about to be burned, she is taunted by an angry crowd. The fog laden town is the ultimate Horror village, frozen in time. As she is set on fire and burns, we transition to Christopher Lee telling the story in a class room. It’s a nice transition and sets the stage for when student Nan Barlow enters the fog drenched town and finds it looking as if time has never moved on.
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#8
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS
A Baron peers out his castle window, watching the graveyard not far from him. In the mists blow, a shrouded figure arises in slow motion. The Baron informs us of the rules of a vampire as the figure heads toward the castle. Ready, he lies in wait, sword in hand. The Baron emerges to find the shroud on the floor, and a beautiful blonde vampire reaching out to him. Without hesitation, he cuts off her head. Beautifully shot and executed with restrained sexuality, the opening of The Vampire Lovers has few rivals in the gothic sub-genre.
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#7
EVIL DEAD II
This Sam Raimi-directed cult classic wastes no time. Beginning with the history of the Necronomicon, we learn that it is written in blood and bound in human flesh. Flying skulls and creatures appear from a vortex. The book moves with the help of stop motion, with a red sea and sky behind it. It sets a mood that is nightmarish though heightened. You are gripped from the very first frame, before you see that Ash survived and the ensuing madness. It was different than anything else in horror and still stands the test of time.
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#6
THE FOG
A pocket watch hangs in the darkness as John Houseman speaks. Nothing particularly scary at first. Just an old man telling a story to a bunch of kids. Simple. No big deal, right? Wrong. The opening of The Fog highlights the forgotten art of storytelling, the power of voice, and the effectiveness of mood. Just a man, his words, and the eyes of children. Masterful.
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#5
FRIDAY THE 13th PART 6: JASON LIVES
Friday the 13th films have never been the most atmospheric films around. They all pretty much relied on the forest for chills. That all changed with Part 6. Eerie perfection. Tommy Jarvis, now a man, heads to the cemetery where Jason is buried. He has some left over issues. After digging up the body and stabbing it with a metal post, lightning strikes and reanimates the maggot infested Jason. This is the moment Jason truly becomes supernatural and faces off against his greatest adversary, Tommy Jarvis. It is a moment unmatched and it is only the first 10 minutes!
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#4
HELLRAISER
Opening up in a Middle Eastern marketplace, we see the Lament Configuration. The surroundings are reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the scene could play out in a similar fashion, but it doesn’t. After a bargain is struck, the mysterious man takes the box and performs a ritual with it. The box opens and chains shoot out of it. We don’t even know what we’ve just witnessed, but we can’t look away. A filthy house sits empty, somewhere in another dimension perhaps, a demon scrounges through the chunks of meat on the floor. It finds a piece of face! We then see that it is reassembling the face that has been ripped apart. Is it the man’s face? Who is this demon? Are they in the house? We had to know.
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#3
SCREAM
The film that changed horror for decades to come and whose effects are arguably still in effect. The opening scene is actually an homage to psycho in structure, only cranked up to eleven. Casey Becker is home alone and popping some popcorn. The phone rings and the voice on the other end begins to taunt her, quizzing her about horror films. The playful banter turns serious and you can hardly believe your eyes when it kicks to the next level. Many people waited for Casey to return by the end of the film thinking or hoping that she was in on it or held captive. That was the power of Scream’s opening scene, it violated your comfort zone and left you hoping for an impossible lie for the next 90 plus minutes.
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#2
HALLOWEEN
Where to begin? You are looking through the eyes of a killer as he stalks his victims. You walk through the house, seeing what he sees at every turn. You are dressed as a clown and find a mask to complete your outfit. You reach in the kitchen drawer and pull out a large kitchen knife. You walk upstairs and find a half-naked girl sitting at a vanity. She turns and screams your name: MICHAEL! You know her and you don’t care. After stabbing her repeatedly, you walk downstairs. A car drives up and stops you. The people in the car get out and take off your mask. You are a little boy. Maybe common place now to see a kid killing, but then, it was horrific. Regardless of real world events. Halloween still has impact from the opening scene.
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#1
BLACK SUNDAY
Maybe the greatest introduction in history. A stark opening so dark and oppressive, it has never been matched. Mario Bava’s 1960 masterpiece “The Masque of Satan” aka “Black Sunday”. Black hooded men have a witch tied up in what could only be described as a killing field. The witch, unapologetically praises Satan and defies her captures. She swears vengeance on them before having a metal mask place on her face and hammered in. The scene is beautifully shot, heavy in tone and absolutely unforgettable.
