Ur Favourite Opening/Title Sequences in Horror (Page 1 of 2)

I'll throw the first one that came into mind out there, Scream. Yeah, it's kind of obvious but lets be honest it's so awesome!

I've always loved the opening credits for Night of the Demons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XRKv-3mJEI

and Trick 'r Treat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0u76vkWFec

As far as opening scenes, it's hard to compete with Suspiria.

And I forgot about 28 Days Later. Love that entire opening sequence.

Last edited by Ms.Gorefiend (2012-09-02 14:45:50)

Of course there's also The Suicide Club opening sequence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyV3VD3pBiU

And... just for fun... here's the most mesmerising and hauntingly beautiful opening to any horror film in the history of everything ever. Ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc__w6_8KF8

It's an old adage in screenwriting that you have ten minutes to pull the viewer in and establish your lead characters, the tone and the "world" the story takes place in.  As such, these are the ones I think do so most successfully:

Night of the Living Dead - the classic sister and brother bickering at the graveyard opening.  "They're coming to get you, Barbara..."  It establishes the nature of the threat the characters will be facing and Johnny's death ominously tells you that nobody in the movie is safe.

Dawn of the Dead - the chaotic TV station sequence followed by a solid 5-10 minutes of non-stop violence as the SWAT team raids the project building expertly foreshadows the even more "all hell's broken loose" finale.  Everything you need to know about the movie is given to you in those first 10-15 minutes.  The only thing it doesn't hint at is the humor which will come later; Romero instead opted to let the humor unfold as the message became more apparent.

Day of the Dead - the eerie "Hellooooooo?" opening punctuates the hopelessness the characters struggle with throughout the movie, not to mention it delivers one of my all-time favorite Savini zombies, Dr. Tongue.

Scream - like Az said, killing off a major star right off the bat was a shocker.  Plus the sequence was suspenseful as hell and ended with a nicely gory (though trimmed for the MPAA) "money shot."  The killer quizzing his victim on pop culture horror films also established the hip, referential nature of the story as well.  It wanted you to know that for a change, you're watching a movie about characters how have actually SEEN horror films, and, perhaps, actually know they're in one.

Suspiria - only Argento would hammer you over the head with a violent, gory but oh-so-aesthetically pleasing double murder like this.  We meet our heroine and are then shown the vicious nature of the evil awaiting her.  A bravura opening sequence.

The Exorcist - the near wordless opening sequence with Father Marin in the desert establishes the heavy mood and tone of the film, establishes Father Marin's familiarity with the demon Pazuzu and shows us that Marin is old, and tired, and might not be up to the challenge he'll later face.

Alien -- most pundits refer to this flick as a haunted house in space, and it's the opening sequence which is why.  Ridley Scott takes us on a journey through the ship, establishing the location, letting us see all the dark nooks and crannies perfect for some sinister force to hide in and spring out of.  It also establishes a sense of claustrophobia and suggests that there is no escape.

That'll do for now.  Or else I'd be on this all night.

^^^ I didn't care a great deal for Zombieland, but two things I did like about it: Woody Harrelson, and that killer opening credits sequence.

Ah, man, don't tell me you're one of those blindly obediant Megadeth fans who hate on Metallica simply for being Metallica!  Both bands are great!  Can't we all just get along?

I would have to go with Suspiria for best opening sequence.  The music, The eerie rainstorm, and the brutal murders were incredible!

Phenomena has a pretty good opening also.

Well, see, that's actually an interesting question to me.  Way back in the mid-90s when the extended version of Dawn first became available (a double VHS set) I read an interview with Romero where he pretty much disowned it.  The distributor and all the ads were hailing it as the director's cut, but Romero claimed the theatrical version actually IS the director's cut.  Remember, back then Romero edited his own films, so the version that was released to theaters was his own final edit.  It was exactly the movie he wanted to be seen. 

So the director's cut you mentioned isn't really the director's cut, it's just an extended cut.  And while the brief additional Pilato scenes are enjoyable enough, most of the other added material are just poorly executed gore, squib or feeding shots, and deserved to be edited out of Romero's final cut IMO.

Oh, by the way -- if you really want to see a flick with a lot of Pilato in it, track down a copy of the movie Effects from 1980.  Pilato stars in it, and it was made by a group of filmmakers who cut their teeth working on Romero films.  It's an interesting little flick about filmmakers who may or may not be making a real snuff film, and features a disturbingly realistic (but completely staged) "snuff film" reel, made for the film by Tom Savini, who also co-stars in it.

Never noticed that was a film also. Only read the manga.

Surely there is nothing better than hearing Vincent Prize reciting a poem at the start of a movie. ala The Raven

Last edited by Vasquez (2012-09-03 05:11:20)