10 Horror Movies With Spine-Chilling Opening Sequences

There are few places in the world as isolated as a boat. Whilst the opening of 2002's Ghost Ship paints a cruise as a lavish affair full of song, dance, and fine company, the guests and crew soon learn their fate to be as inescapable as the titular ship.

Shown off in a bright golden hue, the passengers of MS Antonia Graza enjoy a soiree of live music and exquisite cuisine as a young girl sits alone, bored by the festivities. Although she happily accepts the captain's offer of a dance, her joining in would be short-lived, as an unseen hand pulls a lever to tighten a wire cord across the ship's bow. With the wire's tension building, the colour palette shifts to an icy blue before the wire snaps and hurtles through the assembled crowd.

The action pauses for a brief second as shock spreads around the deck, only to be cut, quite literally, by the revelation that the wire has bisected everybody aboard except the little girl.

Few tonal shifts have existed in cinematic history to match the shock of Ghost Ship, as happy dancers transform into chunks of blood and organs in the blink of an eye. While the ensuing movie was poorly received at best, those first five minutes remain a firm classic.