20 Horror Movie Openings That Are Practically Perfect
6. Saw II - The Venus Flytrap
The Saw franchise has many awesome introductory traps to its name. Saw III's Classroom Trap, Saw VI's Pound of Flesh game, Saw 3D's Public Execution Trap, Spiral's Subway Trap, but the best one of all? It's Saw II's beginning, which was so horrible but so effective all the same.
Here, a police informant named Michael (Noam Jenkins) is placed in what's called the Venus Flytrap. If he doesn't unlock the device, a nail-covered mask will slam shut on his face and kill him. The key, however, has been placed in the area behind his eye and in order to survive... he'll have to cut his own eye out. Nasty.
Harrowing and superbly directed, this sequence is brilliantly uncomfortable in every sense. Of course, poor Michael is ultimately killed by the trap and it's hard to imagine many people being able to do what he was asked to do in such a short space of time, making the whole thing even more stomach-churning.
Fun fact: this very scene actually made its way into one of the greatest TV shows of all time. In a season six episode of HBO's The Sopranos, Christopher Moltisanti (who's established as a massive horror fan) can be seen watching it on TV.