10 Horror Movie Openings That Surprised Us All

by Andrew Pollard

1. Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday

sons of anarchy finale jax confession
FX

Behind that shower curtain is a window, and out of that window lies waiting the quite marvellous destruction of Jason Voorhees.

For many long-time Friday the 13th fans, 1993's Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is the hands-down worst entry in the entire F13 series.

Famously, this is the Friday the 13th picture that barely features the physical form of Jason Voorhees. Instead, a solid 90% of Jason Goes to Hell's 88-minute run time features the 'spirit' of Jason being passed from person-to-person, meaning Voorhees is physically represented by whichever body has said spirit in it.

The Final Friday is an awful, awful movie that bears minimal resemblance to anything else in the franchise, yet the one thing that this ninth Friday the 13th offering does have going for it is a fantastic opening sequence that is genuinely a massive shock.

Starting off like your standard Friday the 13th movie, we see Jason stalking a generic pretty young woman who happens to be alone in a cabin near Camp Crystal Lake. Soon, the chase is on, as this vulnerable, terrified girl runs through woodland as she desperately tries to escape the clutches of her hockey mask-clad assailant.

It's there, we find out this woman is a planted FBI agent designed to lure Jason out into the open, where a SWAT team promptly blows him to pieces.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 and Presenter, 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 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.