The 10 Most Shocking Opening Scenes In Horror, According to Reddit

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Apr 19, 2022

I’m not exactly sure when the shocking opening sequence became a horror mainstay, but there’s no arguing they’re an important storytelling tool in our favorite genre. I think horror audiences want to see what a film can do right out of the gate; a violent and stressful thesis of sorts. And since the days of Hitchcock, there have been shocking introductions. When it comes to a collection of the best ones, it’s tough to know where to start (aside from Scream). Lucky for us, Redditor Web_Wonderful is asking the Internet’s front page for the most terrifying and shocking opening sequences horror has to offer. And Reddit has come through.

The opening scene from the following list that I find to provide the heaviest emotional blow is the first section of Ari Aster’s Midsommar. The first ten minutes of this film feel like its own—very frightening—stand-alone narrative. While I like Midsommar as much as the next hipster, those first moments are what really transcends the title into something greater than standard gloomy 2010s trendy horror. It’s an unflinching and traumatic exploration of grief and death. And there’s hardly anything else like it out there. Like the fine folk at Reddit, I think this is one of the few horror opening scenes to really give Scream a run for its money.

Here are horror’s top 10 most shocking opening scenes, according to Reddit:

  1. Scream
  2. Midsommar
  3. Sinister
  4. I Saw the Devil
  5. Ghost Ship
  6. Suspiria (1977)
  7. Ichi the Killer
  8. When A Stranger Calls (1979)
  9. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
  10. Final Destination 2

Another title from the above list to give an undeniably classic opening shock sequence is Dark Castle’s Ghost Ship. Unlike Dark Castle’s House on Haunted Hill and 13 Ghosts projects, Ghost Ship doesn’t really stand the test of time, and has never really ascended into the realms of early-2000s shlock classic. However, the opening kill scene in Ghost Ship is well worth the price of admission.

Ghost Ship opening scenes

Lastly, which opening scene in horror would you have added to this list? Maybe that club sequence from The Collection, for example? Let me know on Twitter via @joshkorngut. I’m always around to chat all things horror!

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