Halloween may be over, but as the latest release in the Scream franchise gets set to hit cinemas across the globe, horror fanatics are in a frenzy as scary movies once again become the talk of the big screen.
But what makes the perfect horror flick? Is it perfecting the iconic villain like Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers? Is it the suspenseful soundtrack? The amount of gore and the kills that come with it? Or is it as simple as having characters that you identify with, relate to, believe in and care about?
Whatever you believe, it is hard to deny that a killer opening scene can often be the precursor for a perfect horror film. It can set the tone for the whole plot and is an essential part of any self respecting horror.
But which scary films have the best opening scenes?
Here are 10 of the best opening scenes from horror movies, as ranked by respected film review site Rotten Tomatoes.
9. 28 Days Later (2002)
Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later has become a British horror classic over the past two decades. Its opening scene sees Cillian Murphy's character Jim wake from a coma while in hospital, before he begins to wonder around the London landscape. The empty streets and eerie atmosphere set up a perfect zombie horror hit. Photo: Peter Mountain/Dna/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock
10. Scream 2 (1997)
Another entry for Ghostface as Scream 2 shoots into our list. How do you top the opening to the original? Easy, show us the original opening again, but this time as a film-within-a-film and adhere to the original plan of killing off one of your biggest stars, Jada Pinkett Smith, who is watching the movie in the cinema within the opening minutes of the movie. Bloody and brilliant. Photo: Creative Commons 2.0