10 Opening Movie Scenes NOTHING Like The Rest Of The Film
4. The Exorcist
Sometimes polar opposite opening scenes are used for intentionally contrasting effect, and that's certainly true of William Friedkin's horror masterpiece The Exorcist.
The movie's 10-minute prologue sequence takes place in northern Iraq as Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) takes part in an archaeological dig which uncovers an artefact of the demon Pazuzu, and at the end of the sequence Merrin also encounters a larger statue of Pazuzu.
It's made abundantly clear that Merrin is extremely disturbed by the figures, and yet this part of the movie doesn't have any direct connection to Regan's (Linda Blair) subsequent possession in Georgetown, as takes up the rest of the story.
The prologue certainly acquaints us with the notion of an evil demonic presence and Merrin's familiarity with it, but from its sun-kissed aesthetics through to its uniquely chilly atmosphere, it's really nothing like the rest of the film.