"First impressions are everything. Whether it be a first date, a job interview, or meeting your significant other’s rogues gallery of eccentric family members, first impressions tell people who you are and what you are about. The same is true with films. In an age where moviegoers have one eye on their phone and one eye on the silver screen, movies need to quickly inform audiences why their particular tale is worth an audience’s time and (in the case of horror) sanity. Before we know a narrative’s particulars, those opening scenes—or a film’s cold open—inform the audience of what is to come. This could be traditional terror or, even more importantly, evoke the tonal direction a creative is striving for with their work.
Here are five of the most compelling contemporary cold opens in horror…"
- Sinister
- Longlegs
- It Follows
- Midsommar
- The Empty Man
The opening of Longlegs and the first 30 or so minutes were really engaging.
!I especially liked the scene where Nick Cage shows up in the detective’s house after she ran out to look for him.!<
The rest of the movie felt to me like it faltered pretty hard, unfortunately. One notable scene towards the end was chilling, but the narrative kind of fell apart for me. I’m curious what other people thought.
I’ve seen It Follows and don’t even remember the opening. So I guess I probably don’t agree with that one (just rewatched it and, yep, seems like pretty standard opening fare for a horror movie–nothing special). I also didn’t think Midsommar’s was really special, but it is at least a bit unusual.
Sinister had a very memorable opening, on the other hand. I’ll have to check out The Empty Man (and Longlegs when it’s available).
Edit: Nevermind. The Empty Man is only on Apple and Fubo and I don’t subscribe to those, nor do I want to.
I watched it on Amazon Prime recently if that’s any use. (Just checked, it’s still available to rent or buy).
