10 Horror Movies That Open With One Amazing Kill

The Changeling opens with a composer called John Russell vacationing with his wife and daughter when their car breaks down in the snow. Rather than getting worked up, John makes light of the situation and jokes with his family, highlighting his playful side. 

Even though it's nice to see these characters making the best of a bad situation, it's safe to assume things are soon going to take a turn for the worse. (It is a horror film, after all.)

Looking for assistance, John walks towards a phone booth, while his wife and daughter have a snowball fight. As John makes the call, the camera zooms in on an oncoming truck behind him. When a car comes from the other side, John eyes it cautiously, while monitoring his family. The car begins to slide in the ice, causing it to block the truck's path.

In that moment, John realises the only way for the truck to avoid crashing is to swerve in the direction of his family. As John looks on in horror, the camera cuts to his wife throwing snow in slow motion, emphasising her innocent nature.

Rather than showing the wife and daughter's deaths directly, the camera lingers on John's face as his entire world collapses before him.

The rest of The Changeling is deeply unsettling, but nothing hits as hard as this heart-wrenching moment.