10 Scariest Horror Movie Opening Credits

7. The Exorcist

The Exorcist Opening Credits
Warner Bros.

When you think back on the scariest bits of The Exorcist there's a good chance that the opening credits aren't going to register. And that makes sense - it's The Exorcist; in scares alone it gets trumped easily by later scenes. That doesn't mean they aren't creepy, though.

The opening moments of William Friedkin's iconic horror picture encapsulate its exact brand of chills excellently, opening - in the 2000 re-cut - on an unassuming image of suburbia at night before cutting to a statue of the Virgin Mary, followed immediately by Jack Nitzsche's theme screeching jarringly into focus. The opening sequence of The Exorcist as seen in the 2000 extended edition is one of great contrast - an ominous-looking dwelling, fenced off from the city backdrop, winds down for the night, all the while city life continues undisturbed; a couple walk by arm in arm and cars pass by, unaware of the ancient evil lurking right next to them.

Completing the sequence are the credits themselves as seen in the 1973 theatrical release - blood-red lettering fading in over a pitch-black background, giving way to the blistering heat of the Iraq desert, a land steeped in history that again intimates the power and age of the evil set to come.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.