20 Greatest Opening Scenes In Horror Movie History
2. When A Stranger Calls (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOmAKZBj-RoThe Movie: Another film derived from the classic folk legend of The Babysitter And The Man Upstairs, a psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.
The Opening Scene: While babysitting, Jill (Carol Kane) answers the phone and hears, ominously, "Have you checked the children?" At first, she logically thinks that it's their father just checking in, but nope. Of course, she should know the difference between the loving father she has met before and the creepy, foreign voice of a stranger. After notifying the police, Jill is told that the calls are coming from inside the house.
The idea that someone is watching and waiting to cause harm to you at night is a universal fear that is tapped into brilliantly. The unnerving slow build is punctuated by some truly skin-crawling voiceover work ("What do you want?" "Your blood....alllll over me") and a climax that brings one of the scariest of urban legends to terrifying life.