10 Horror Movie Opening Fakeouts We All Fell For

10. Stage Fright

Directed by Michele Soavi, 1987's Stage Fright centres on a locked-down theatre terrorised by an owl-masked killer known as the Night Owl. So, when the film opens with the Night Owl slaughtering a prostitute in an alley, you rightfully think you've been fully introduced to this murderous beast.

What happens next comes properly out of left-field, though, for as the locals start to investigate the blood-curdling screams of this poor woman, the Night Owl jumps over their heads and starts a bonkers dance routine.

Yep, it then becomes apparent that what we've actually watched was merely a group of actors rehearsing a musical production based around the Night Owl. We're then introduced to the bulk of our key players, before the tyrannical director of this musical insists that the cast and crew stay late for yet another run through of certain scenes - even after one of them is killed for real!

Unbeknownst to our central characters, the theatre doors are locked, they're without a key, and the dead bodies begin to amass as an escaped lunatic - and former actor - has donned the Night Owl outfit as part of his latest murder spree.