10 Horror Movie Opening Fakeouts We All Fell For

7. The Ring

The Ring 2002
DreamWorks

While clearly a version of this scene also takes place in the 1998 original Ring - commonly referred to as Ringu - it's the 2002 US remake which gets the nod here for just how darn intense it is with its opening fakeout. Well, technically fakeouts, for the film offers up a couple of such moments.

As The Ring starts, teenage girls Katie and Becca are having a sleepover. Bored of TV, Becca starts to regale her friend with the tale of a cursed video tape which, if watched, will cause you to die in seven days. Spooked by this story, an emotional Katie explains how she watched the tape in question one week ago, as she then starts to struggle for breath.

Just as the audience thinks Katie is about to bite the bullet, it turns out she's just messing with Becca. That's the first fakeout. Putting the chills down both girls' spine, though, the phone coincidentally rings at that very moment and we have the revelation that, yes, Katie really did watch the video tape in question.

When a scared Becca answers the house phone and passes it to Katie, we're again expecting the worst, only for it to be Katie's mother on the other end of the phone. That'd be the second fakout. From there, the TV turns itself on three times, water appears from nowhere, and eventually Katie does get killed by a mysterious, unseen presence.

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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.