10 Scariest Opening Sci-Fi Movie Scenes Ever

The film adaptation of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone is a series of vignettes, each handled by a different filmmaker. They all range in tone, from Joe Dante's cartoonish adaptation of "It's a Good Life" to Steven Spielberg's overly sentimental "Kick the Can" to the best: George Miller's smake of the famous William Shatner-starring episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet."

But each individual short mostly hold their own well (Spielberg's is the most disappointing). And the cold open is fantastic.

It's unlikely anyone would expect Dan Aykroyd's name on a list like this (unless we were talking about Nothing But Trouble), but alas, he and comedian Albert Brooks are driving down a dark, winding road late at night. Brooks starts to play little games, speeding up and turning off the headlights, scarring his passenger.

Then he pulls over, Aykroyd asking him, "Wanna see something really scary?"

Turning his head away from the camera, he returns as a hideous monster, eating Brooks as the infamous narration begins and the titles role. It's scary, it's funny, and it sets the perfect tone for a film that jumps from laughter to abject terror.

So well-executed, the scare is even called back at the film's end.