10 Great Opening Scenes In Otherwise Terrible Horror Movies
It's all downhill after this.
Making a good first impression is always important especially when it comes to movies. These openings need to hook the audience's interest while setting the general tone and themes of the film. We've seen this in the famous shark attack in Jaws or the pre-title sequences found in the James Bond franchise.
For the horror genre, this is very crucial as most of these films are often short in runtime so it is necessary to make an impact right away or risk losing your viewers. There are instances, however, when the film succeeds in giving us a great opening but falls flat for the rest of the duration. Beginning so good that they end up being out of place and you wonder how it belongs in the same movie. Great openings such as these can disappoint viewers as the rest of the film never reaches the highs it began.
Keep note that there will be spoilers inbound with scenes described in full detail. At the same time, the criteria for 'terrible' here will be the poor critic reviews or the fan reception it got.
10. The Collection
The Collector is one of the films that capitalized on the torture porn craze that began with Saw and Hostel. In fact, it first began as a prequel to the Saw series but was later reworked into its own movie.
Though nowhere as impactful as its inspirations, the film's sequel, The Collection, has one of the most over-the-top openings in horror history that makes it almost worth the price of admission.
The sequel opens with three friends entering a nightclub to have some fun. Inside, the partygoers are being watched by The Collector above them. When one of the trio leaves after seeing her boyfriend cheating on her, she heads to a secluded room and activates a box that releases Arkin, the protagonist of the previous film. Soon after, a CGI tracking shot of wires and gizmos triggers a trap of spinning blades. The device descends on the dance floor and begins chopping everyone inside into a million pieces with blood and limbs flying everywhere. Think the opening of Ghost Ship but with the subtlety of a Mortal Kombat fatality.
In less than a few minutes, The Collection has racked up a huge body count. Despite the negative reception, the film manages to deliver an opening that won't be leaving the viewers' minds anytime soon.