10 Most Harrowing Opening Scenes In Horror Movies

Gathering a reputation as one of the most disturbing and brutal films to spawn from a genre that's since become known as New French Extremity, Pascal Laugier's Martyrs is not for the faint of heart.

Containing plenty of torture of both the mental and physical variety, the film follows Lucie (Mylène Jampanoï) on a personal quest to get revenge on those responsible for torturing her relentlessly as a child. The film then takes a sharp left turn into yet even more depravity when Anna (Morjana Alaoui), Lucie's only friend, discovers a trap door in the abusers' home.

Given Martyr's unpleasant subject matter, it's only fitting that its opening sequence prepares viewers for the terrors they can expect.

Following a brief exposition sequence in which we see a young and battered Lucie escape her captors, Martyrs begins with a regular family having breakfast together. It's just another Sunday morning to them - and then the doorbell rings.

The father answers to find Anna, who immediately shoots him dead with a shotgun before mercilessly gunning down the rest of the family. The violence is abrupt, blunt, and visceral. It's a perfect representation of the upcoming carnage which only gets worse from here.