10 More Scariest Horror Movie Opening Credits

Ethan Hawke and horror production company Blumhouse go together like blood and guts, and Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone continues to show that, even well over a decade after they first broke ground together, this pairing is still capable of producing bankable horror for modern audiences.

Working with design studio Filmograph, Derrickson crafted a killer opening credits sequence using a blend of archival footage, edited shots, and an alarm-like electronic score that descends and rises, all establishing the film's mystery and horror cred. The imagery of the sequence centres on missing person posters, empty streets, and injured children, accompanied by a shrill score masking sounds mimicking children's moans and screams. And the retro design, which employs sepia and vintage overlays and other post-production effects, captures not just the late-'70s setting, but the pre-digital implications of the horrors that await.

Of all the most chilling credits out there, this one is perhaps the most comprehensive in establishing its film's plot, style, tone, and aura of tension, the latter of which permeates our journey into the world of the Grabber (Hawke), a psychotic child abductor who locks his captives in a room under his house with the titular black phone.