10 Horror Movie Openings That Surprised Us All

These days, any and all film fans worth their salt are well aware that Michael Myers' path of carnage and chaos began when he stabbed his sister to death when he was just six years of age. Still, upon a first watch of Halloween, there's no way to not be taken aback by that absolutely shocking revelation.

To John Carpenter and Debra Hill's immense credit, they set this reveal up brilliantly; only showing the action and murder from the killer's point of view, meaning it was a legitimate jaw-dropper when you realise you've been watching a cherub-faced child carry out such a brutal act.

By the time of Halloween's release in 1978, it was just a given that the antagonist of a movie would be, well, an adult. If not an adult, at least a deranged college kid in their late-teens. So, when Halloween had an angelic six-year-old as the perpetrator of its initial 'kill', it genuinely stops you in your tracks.

From there, Halloween would jump ahead 15 years to the night the 21-year-old Michael returned home and left Haddonfield reeling.