12 Movie Openings That Totally Trolled Audiences

Adapted from Daniel Handler's highly successful, unusually dark children's series of the same name, 2004's A Series of Unfortunate Events is not a movie without its flaws. That said, whilst the flick may soften the mean-spirited apathy and aporia which made the original novels so beloved, it does benefit from a classic villainous performance from Jim Carrey.

Shpick and shpan indeed.

Amongst the uneven adaptation's other highlights is the opening sequence, a scene which pulls a truly audacious troll for a family film.

This sardonic kid’s flick opens as a cutesy kids animated movie, committing to this joke long enough to feature a full set of beautiful stop motion credits… Before abruptly pulling a record scratch bait-and-switch trick and introducing its real, and real dark, story.

It's a neat trick designed to warn young viewers and their parents that this is far from a typical family film, and as imperfect as the finished product is it's hard not to admire this sort of daring.