20 Greatest Opening Scenes In Horror Movie History

16. The Ring (2002)

The Movie: Hideo Nakata’s original story of a reporter investigating the gruesome deaths that revolve around a strange video tape created waves across the entire horror industry, becoming one of the most successful Japanese films of all time. Inevitably, Hollywood jumped on board to produce a remake of The Ring as quickly as possible, prompting initial groans, but ultimately proving to be a rather wise decision.

The Opening Scene: The setup here may be simple, but the way director Gore Verbinski ratchets up the tension is remarkably effective. After deftly setting up the movie's core conceit with a spooky story told between teenage friends in a suburban home, a succession of strange events lead up to one of the most terrifying almost-reveals in film history.

This scene sets things properly in motion. From there, the mood starts off oppressively grim, descends into a melancholic downer quality, and, in the scariest use of a television since Poltergeist, ends in an incredibly unhappy fashion.