10 Horror Movies That Cleverly START With Huge Twists

The opening sequence of A Nightmare on Elm Street arguably doesn't get nearly enough credit for how nimbly it toys with audience expectations.

Given that the very first character we're introduced to is teenager Tina Gray (Amanda Wyss) as she wakes up from a Freddy Krueger-laced (Robert Englund) nightmare, it certainly feels like she's going to be the movie's protagonist.

Yet that all changes a few scenes later, when Tina is again terrorised by Freddy in her dreams, this time resulting in her being brutally murdered in her bedroom.

At this point the protagonist role shifts to Tina's friend Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who becomes the real heroine of not only this movie but, of course, the wider Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

It's easy to take this switcheroo for granted today so many decades removed from the movie's release, but for anyone not in the know, it's a genuinely surprising twist on an initial viewing.