10 Horror Movies That Lose You In The First 60 Seconds

10. Alien 3

Starting with the biggest movie on this list - one that took home nearly $160 million at the box office upon its 1992 release - Alien 3 had audiences gnawing at their fists thanks to its first few minutes.

For all the promise of Aliens' closing moments, where we were told that the survivors of that film were heading to Earth, that all turned out to be utter bullsh*t. And not just did the ending of Aliens put Ripley, Hicks, Newt and Bishop on a course for Earth, but the early trailers for Alien 3 outright stated - via voiceover - that the action of this threequel was to take place on mankind's home planet.

That Alien 3 didn't feature Earth whatsoever is a major bone of contention amongst franchise fans to this day, but that third feature's opening minutes are even more frustrating. With audiences emotionally attached to Hicks and Newt, Alien 3 did the unthinkable and killed them off - offscreen, no less! - in its first sequence.

Explaining how the escape pod of Aliens crash-landed at the Fury 161 foundry, Hicks and Newt were lazily killed in said crash. Android Bishop just about survived that accident, and Ripley obviously made it through the crash in order to lead the narrative of Alien 3, but offing those other two hugely popular characters is arguably the biggest misdemaour made by Alien 3.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 26th Nov 2022

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