10 Movies That DEMAND Your Attention Immediately

As opening scenes in horror movies go, it's extremely tough to top the delirious, expectation-defying prologue to Wes Craven's Scream.

While much has been said about Craven's canny decision to cast Drew Barrymore as the film's first victim Casey Becker - who dies at roughly the 10-minute mark - this gripping, pulse-quickening opening is so much more than a mere feat of shock value.

Right from the first moment, where the phone rings and Casey picks up, we're intrigued by the mysterious, unfamiliar, some might say sexy voice on the other end.

Opening a horror film with a series of phone calls isn't exactly the norm, immediately throwing off audiences who expected a more typical, generic slasher film introduction.

Furthermore, our loquacious caller talks horror movies with Casey, revealing the film's self-aware bent early, before things soon turn sinister when the caller reveals he's close by.

The rest of the sequence is both gut-wrenchingly tense and a shocking departure from the expected, but it all begins with the compelling simplicity of a strange voice on the end of a phone asking the iconic question, "Do you like scary movies?"