10 More Scariest Horror Movie Opening Credits
4. Under the Skin (2013)
Although director Jonathan Glazer's Zone of Interest is equally deserving of a place on this list, we are going to be slightly more purist with the definitions of horror, and settle instead for his adaptation of Michel Faber's Under the Skin. Built around an alien (Scarlett Johansson) who abducts, consumes, and hollows out people from the streets of Scotland, the film is darkly atmospheric and off-kilter from the outset.
Under the Skin begins pure black with offset, plain white credits, followed by a speck of light that opens out from the screen's centre to become an artificial glare. And artificial is the key word, as at it is not until the end of this sequence that we are in any way sure we're witnessing anything real or simulated, neatly reflecting the plot and themes of the movie.
Like watching the birth of the universe, the images move from abstract eclipses to nuclei and starry constructions, replete with an assemblage of discordant sounds, which hit the ear like mechanical components at work not unlike printers or typewriters, the bustle of a crowded subway and human voices repeating indistinct words and sounds.
Winding down on a match-cut between what appears to be a camera lens and an improbably vein-less brown human eye, the sequence concludes by switching abruptly to a sterile white screen with plain text announcing the feature's title. Consider us spooked.