What is the greatest horror opening of all time? (Spoilers)

[spider-neil]

In my humble opinion it’s Halloween. It’s a total shocker.

Honourable mentions for
Jaws
Scream

[ChainsawJedi]

Yeah, the reveal at the end of Halloween's opening scene is great but in terms of making the audience feel immediately uneasy, I'll say the opening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is the greatest opening to a horror film. John Larroquette's deadpan delivery as he recounts the events of August 18th 1973 convinces the viewer that what is about to unfold truly happened. And that feeling stays with the audience for the duration of the movie.

[DR Herbert West]

Halloween. Chain Saw is a close second.

Underrated opening:

Hellraiser

[spider-neil]

Fright Night 80s

Awesome Hitchcock-esque Rear Window opening

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

Underrated opening:

Hellraiser

Yes! Absolutely.

I'll add Child's Play (1988) along with A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as well. Also can't forget From Dusk Till Dawn.

[j_sazin]

Scream comes to mind first because it's so engaging, but yeah- TCM '74 with the spoken recounted events is one of the more disturbing ones.

[RYJAPE21]

Gotta go with Halloween (1978).

Honorable mentions:

When a Stranger Calls
Scream
IT (1990/2017)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
TCM (1974)
Zombie
Suspiria (1977)

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by RYJAPE21

Gotta go with Halloween (1978).

Honorable mentions:

When a Stranger Calls
Scream
IT (1990/2017)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
TCM (1974)
Zombie
Suspiria (1977)

IT (2017) is a great shout.

[An4h0ny]

Not the g.o.a.t. but The Hitcher does a great job with its opening sequence.

[Steedeel]

Jaws
Halloween
Carrie
Scream
It follows
Ghost ship (rubbish movie though)
TTCM
Final Destination 2 and 3
When A Stranger Calls
I.T
The Conjuring
Cube
28 Weeks Later
Dawn Of The Dead remake.
The Twilight Zone: The Movie

[d1360]

I like The Shining. The atmosphere, the music, makes me think I am a ghost chasing the car with not good intentions at all.

[EvaDK]

Yeah, The Shining for me too. It's the score that really evokes the dread foreboding atmosphere, informing the audience of what that they are about to endure.

For similar reasons, I also think the pre-titles opening of Ari Aster's Midsommar is incredible. When the titles came up in the theater, I was already shaking in my seat.

[spider-neil]

Each to their own but a car driving to a hotel is the greatest horror opening of all time?

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

Each to their own but a car driving to a hotel is the greatest horror opening of all time?

The amount of praise Kubrick's Shinning get is extremely undeserved considering it's a flat boring bare-bones take on the book.

[Mikezilla3k]

Anyway, I think Alien 3 wins this thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htdK962TQ1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2J8QmyaCUE

[stvn1974]

The Thing

"Hey, why are they shooting at that poor dog? Those bastards."

[Zivouhr]

Interesting topic.

How important is the opening scene for a horror film if it's a slow building horror film like The Shining or Hereditary, Salem's Lot or Pet Sematary? The opening is often meant to give a sense of initial comfort many times, with just a hint of creepiness to suggest something isn't quite right. In Exorcist for example, that opening is in the desert where people are digging for old statues. After zooming in on the evil statue, we are shown the house where Regan lives with her mother, and they hear a noise in the attic, which is dismissed as a rat/mouse. So not much of a horror intro there for one of the arguably most effective horror movies around.

At the same time, are effective horror openings important? They can be, yes. They can set the tone of what the heroes are in for or will face. So right away, the viewer knows what to prepare for later in the film.

If I had to think of a good opening for a horror film that goes beyond the credits, I'll go with Tourist Trap. When the guy is wheeling the flat tire to the Tourist Museum in the day time, and enters the room after hearing someone inside. Once inside, all hell breaks loose, as

[Show spoiler]possessed, bizzare mannequins rise to life, laughing hysterically all around him. He bolts for the window, but something shatters it, creating shards all over. Then he grabs the door, puts his hand through a gap to open it, but is being held by something, and he's stuck to the door. Suddenly, the cabinet behind him opens up, shaking wildly, as a hollow bar pole bounces around on the shelf, then flies through the air, jabbing right through his back. Complete silence, with only the stream of blood dripping from the pole of his back, the guy frozen in the pain of dying.

Tourist Trap ( 1979 ) - clip - YouTube

[BladeRunner2007]

So many great horror openings that provide so much information and set the tone and atmosphere perfectly, while captivating you from the very first second. These are my favorites:

Halloween (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Day of the Dead (1985)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Jaws (1975)
The Shining (1980)
Suspiria (1977)
The Fog (1980)
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Scream (1996)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The Thing (1982)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Evil Dead II (1987)
Army of Darkness (1992)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Black Christmas (1974)
Phenomena (1985)
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Planet Terror (2007)

[RFK]

Bava's Black Sunday had such expressive black and white gothic imagery and the spiked mask of satan pounded onto Barbara Steele's face was so gruesome for it's time that it has been forever burned in my memory. As a second choice Argento's Suspiria opens the film with a climax level murder sequence that's almost as good.

[Panson]

Get Out (2017)