10 Horror Movie Opening Fakeouts We All Fell For
4. Scream 4
The Scream series is one famed for its impactful opening moments which set the stage for what's about to come.
In Wes Craven's iconic 1996 original Scream, jaws were left on the floor as headline attraction Drew Barrymore's Casey Becker was butchered less than 15 minutes into the film. For Scream 2, a screening of Stab sees Phil Stevens and Maureen Evans memorably offed in a packed movie theatre. And with Scream 3, series mainstay Cotton Weary was the heavy hitter who bit the bullet.
With Scream 4, Craven opted to go in a slightly different direction for that film's opening, delivering two fakeouts to keep horror hounds on their toes.
That 2011 picture opens with Sherrie and Trudie doing the usual dance with Ghostface; receiving creepy phone calls, checking outside the house, then being attacked and killed in quick fashion. Then, we pan out to reveal that we've actually been watching the in-universe Stab 6.
From there, we find Anna Paquin's Rachel and Kristen Bell's Chloe as the ones watching Stab 6 and berating the awful state of horror. Tired of her pal's ranting, Chloe shockingly plunges a knife into the gut of Rachel... before we see that this is all actually part of Stab 7.
In the "real" world of Scream, Jenny and Marnie are watching Stab 7 - until Ghostface comes a-calling to fully launch Scream 4.