10 Opening Horror Movie Scenes That Changed Everything

7. Final Destination

Bride of Chucky Tiffany Jennifer Tilly
New Line Cinema

The opening sequence of Final Destination changed horror, in that it introduced audiences to a concept that would spawn a five-movie franchise, with a sixth film currently waiting to go into production once the SAG-AFTRA strike comes to an end.

Of course, that concept was an opening scene where a tragic disaster takes place, numerous people lose their lives, and then it's revealed what we've just seen is merely a premonition from one of our central characters. From there, this character manages to stop themselves and certain others from being a part of this disaster - proving the premonition to be true - and these 'survivors' are then stalked by the Grim Reaper for having cheated death.

As for the opening scene that introduced us to this staple of the Final Destination series, it's the mid-air explosion of Volée Airlines Flight 180, as seen in a premonition by Devon Sawa's Alex Browning. For those who Alex managed to stop boarding this flight, they're then killed in ways that mildly mimic elements of their 'deaths' from his premonition; something else which became a theme of the franchise.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.