15 Greatest Opening Credit Sequences In Movies
2. The Devil's Rejects
Rob Zombie has a wonderful grasp of using music in his films. From House of 1000 Corpses, 31, Lords of Salem and Halloween, he has proven time and time again that he is not just the master of grisly horror, he also has this uncanny ability to fit into his films some truly amazing songs, many of which are light, easy listening tunes you wouldn't associate with the genre he works in.
The opening of The Devil's Rejects picks up seven months after the events of House of 1000 Corpses, wherein Sheriff John Wydell gears up with a posse of deputies to perform a raid on the infamous Firefly house.
But rather than giving the audience an epic showdown and a dragged-out series of exposition, Rob Zombie decides to show the Firefly Family's fates over a montage, with The Allman Brothers Band's "Midnight Rider" playing as Mother Firefly is arrested, and villainous siblings Otis and Baby escape. The song continues to play even as Otis and Baby kill a driver, steal their car, and drive off in an attempt to reach freedom.
It's brilliantly done, and allows the rest of the film time to focus on the pair as they become fugitives. It's stylish, quick, clever and haunting, and a perfect set-up to a fantastic film.