10 Best Movies Where We Meet The Villain First
5. Jaws
As far as iconic thrillers go, there aren’t many bigger than Jaws. It can be said without hyperbole, that it is surely one of the most famous movies in the history of cinema, with one of the most famous ever villains.
As the title suggests, at the center of the movie is the great white shark that causes havoc in and around the waters of Amity Island. It sparked a fear of sharks and the ocean in an entire generation, not least because of how the shark itself was portrayed.
The opening scene of the movie proves just what a master of suspense Steven Spielberg is. As Chrissie and her very drunk companion go skinny dipping, the former finds herself in the water alone, until she is joined by the shark, who proceeds to tear her limb from limb.
The scene is shot in such a way that there is no clear glimpse of the big bad, and even though the audience is well aware that it is a shark, and knows what a shark looks like, this only adds to the terror. Sometimes the scariest thing a director can do to build up such a villain is to portray the idea of them first, allowing viewers to initially torture themselves with their own imagination.