20 Greatest Opening Scenes In Horror Movie History

The Movie: During the early ‘90s the horror genre was floundering: all the major franchises had pretty much run out of steam by this point, and a fresh, smart perspective was sorely needed. Enter Wes Craven, who, following his successful Nightmare On Elm Street meta-fantasy New Nightmare, created a new horror franchise that took to task the tired genre tropes everyone was thoroughly tired of watching.

The Opening Scene: Many viewers went into Craven’s superb horror satire not sure quite how far the director was going to take his skewering of genre conventions, such that when Drew Barrymore showed up in the opening scene of the film, most assumed that she was safe, and probably just her no-name boyfriend would end up with his entrails hanging out.

Instead, the actress’s character winds up strung from a tree before the title card even reads out, creating a brilliant atmosphere of unpredictability that carries throughout the rest of the proceedings.