these movie openings will send chills
down your spine
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we're
counting down our picks for the top ten
opening scenes in horror movies
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for this list we're looking at the most
scary and memorable scenes that take
place at the beginning of horror movies
number 10 above the line ghost ship we
can all remember how boring and
inescapable it felt to be the only child
in a gathering of adults
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so in this American Australian horror
flick when we see a kid sitting solo at
the side of a dance floor while ballroom
music plays and everyone else dances we
all feel her pain in the proscenium
stove even when she quickly goes from
being the sole child to the sole
survivor however
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we can't help but also feel her horror
after she becomes surrounded by people
who have all just literally been cut in
half number nine first person first
victims Friday the 13th the violent end
these two camp counselors meet in the
First Friday the 13th is all the more
visceral because it's juxtaposed with an
innocent and inspirational song
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as the first of many people who pay the
price for an old debt the fact that they
did absolutely nothing wrong
makes this opening all the more powerful
we weren't doing anything we were just
messing taking a first-person point of
view director Sean s Cunningham allowed
us to see the action through the eyes of
the killer and have us recoil at the
unraveling murders while empathizing
with the victims and a brilliant twist
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number 8 peace no more Dawn of the Dead
there's nothing more relaxing and
comforting than lying in bed with a
loved one I thought maybe you don't know
what the girls are or something what
miss date night in the 2004 remake of
George a Romero's 1978 classic
an unsuspecting couples piece is
disturbed while they're in the comfort
of their own home
and we're sure they never would have
foreseen that one of them would soon be
dead and the other would be plunged into
a nightmarish
and shocking world updating and slightly
improving on the original done of the
deads opening
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which showed chaos in a news station
Zack Snyder's version instead lets us
get a bit personal with one of the main
characters and then takes us to the
action in the streets
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number seven industry kills a Nightmare
on Elm Street at first we're not quite
sure what's happening at the beginning
of this supernatural slasher horror
there's heavy breathing and we see
blades attached to a glove
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and at that point we know we've been
plunged into a world of death and hatred
we're not alone
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there's a woman clad in a nightgown
running down a corridor and a sheep what
we do know for sure is there's a sense
of foreboding and those strange noises
followed by those blades is unlike
anything we've seen or heard before
number six fuzz out the ring I got a
better one me have you heard about this
videotape that kills you when you watch
it
serving the dual purpose of setting up
the concept of the film you're about to
see and as soon as it's over your phone
ranks someone knows you've watched it
and what they say is you will die in 70
days while also revealing that the curse
is all too real what's your problem
that's watched the Rings opening moments
also don't fail to bring the scares
you're just trying to scare me never
expressly showing anything really it
really is a tape
the flashes of a face drained of life
are more than enough to alarm viewers
into having to see what's about to
unfold in front of them
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number five man no more twenty eight
weeks later are you gonna cook you
favorite again most of us would like to
think that when our family is in peril
we'd stand up for them and put our own
lives at risk to ensure their safety
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however most of us have never had to
face that moment of truth
a man who never even appears to consider
looking out for anyone but himself
serves as our window into the action in
the opening moments of this
post-apocalyptic sci-fi flick suffice it
to say this scene leaves our hearts
pounding and our emotions raw
in short it's got everything that horror
fans watch scary movies for
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number four coming of age Carrie
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this one combines two of the elements
that have come to be most associated
with the horror genre nudity and fear in
a completely different way seeing a
scared and vulnerable young woman mocked
and ostracized during such a universal
moment in her life is a typical of a
genre that's usually male-dominated
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startling and unforgettable there are
few scenes in film history that stick
with horror fans more than the first few
minutes of carry number three Family
Matters Halloween alone are we Michaels
around someplace
making his way through the house and
stopping only in the kitchen to armed
himself with a butcher knife Michael
seems to know just where to go to find
his way to his ultimate prey yeah
stopping along the way to grab a toy
with an arm that seems all too small he
attacks a woman who seems to know him
to the surprise of moviegoers he's
ultimately revealed to be the kid
brother of the newly dead victim Michael
this shocking revelation of the killer's
identity sets us up to realize that
anything is possible in this horror
classic
number two let's play a game scream
hello yes
is this an opener based around a game of
horror related trivia questions well I'm
getting ready to watch a video oh just
some scary movie like scary AHA screams
first few minutes are definitely for
horror fans and were brought to us by
one of the biggest horror fans and
filmmakers in modern cinema Wes Craven's
you call me early on in the scene the
deadly repercussions of an incorrect
answer are shown when a poolside victim
paced the ultimate price for um escape
and at the scenes end most of us can't
refrain from putting ourselves in the
shoes of her parents listening on the
phone to their daughter being ruthlessly
killed
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and incapable of doing anything about it
before we unveil our top pick here are a
few honorable mentions
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number one skinny dip skinny dead jaws
what's your name again
Chrissy where are we going swimming
going to the beach is a pilgrimage made
by millions every summer there seems to
be a tenuous agreement that if we stay
close to land then the ocean's predators
won't bother us but thanks to jaws which
shows us a helpless woman going from
laughing to utter terror in a matter of
seconds a generation of movie fans was
terrified of going in the water if that
isn't the calling card of the most
effective horror movie opening of all
time we don't know what is do you agree
with our list what's your favorite
horror movie opening for more
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