the best of horror

Film Openings

Of the many horror film openings, there is only a handful that use the right techniques at the right times in order to grab the audience's full attention. \

As many of you may know, one of the most popular movies of 2017 was the movie, "IT," a terrifying clown, pennywise scaring little kids left and right. One of the reasons this movie was so successful was because the director did an amazing job at making certain choices in order to grasp the audience's attention from the start. This films film opening uses a variety of shots and camera movements along with making specific music choices to create a mysterious effect.  Even though the scene involves something fun and exciting like the little boy playing outside with happy non-diegetic music playing, the dim lighting contradicts this and shows the viewers that the scene will not end good, keeping them interested. The suspenseful music stops as soon as the audience is introduced to pennywise which implies that he must be important. The dark lighting throughout this opening  scene also adds on to the mysterious feeling that helps to keep the viewers on their toes.

"IT"

Another horror film opening I want to talk about is the movie "Scream".The beginning of this 1996 Wes Craven film gives off a carefree happy tone. As the film progresses you start to notice the darker tones and the eerie music. The pov shot of the main character also helps to establish the tone of the film.  Finally, the popcorn popping was a metaphor used to show the situation the character was in. When the scene was getting intense, there was smoke coming out of the popcorn. Overall this film opening was the most compelling because they did a great job at using different techniques to establish the tone of the film.

"Scream"