10 Horror Movie Opening Fakeouts We All Fell For

8. Deep Blue Sea

Deep Blue Sea
Warner Bros.

Watching Deep Blue Sea for the first time, you're aware that this Renny Harlin-helmed picture is about a bunch of scientifically-altered super-smart sharks running rampant in and around an ocean-set research facility. As such, the opening moments of the film play out in a way that absolutely has you expecting to see the first carnage of this 1999 offering.

That opening finds two generic young couples partying on a private boat out in the middle of nowhere. How do we know they're partying? Why, that's because they spout horrendous lines such as "now this is a party" over and again.

As the mood darkens and something bangs on the bottom of their boat, it doesn't take long before a gnarly mako shark bursts through the vesel, knocking all four characters into the water. With the shark circling back around, going in for the kill, and literally showing its teeth, Deep Blue Sea is expected to soon notch up a tone-setting opening scene kill, ala Jaws.

Only that doesn't happen.

From out of nowhere, restraining darts are fired into the creature, with it revealed that Thomas Jane's Carter Blake has miraculously, silently arrived on the scene to capture the escaped shark.

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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.