10 Scariest Opening Sci-Fi Movie Scenes Ever

Notorious white supremacist and horror writer H.P. Lovecraft hated Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and had trouble keeping it to himself. Almost on a lark, he set about creating his own character who obsesses over re-animating the dead. Herbert West, Re-Animator was meant as parody.

Thankfully, director Stuart Gordon was in on the joke, adapting the stories into Re-Animator. Most of the film is tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top violence. Even little touches, like a poster for The Talking Heads during a sex scene, becomes significantly funnier upon rewatching it, and star Jeffrey Combs has since become a quirky icon for horror aficionados.

That said, the opening scene is no joke. It lets viewers know two things: first, this is going to be a violent ride, and second, it's probably going to push a few boundaries. The film begins at the University Zurich, thundering outside, a man in a labcoat screaming in agony. As authorities burst in the locked office door, the doctor's blood-covered face spasms, his eyes bulging before exploding out of his head.

"You killed him," a nurse says.

"No," replies West. "I gave him life."

Cue the rip-off of the Psycho theme. Cue one of the most entertaining horror films of the decade.