10 Most Shocking Film Openings
GATA recommends 10 titles that will stick in your psyche, due to their impactful openings, music and imagery.
1. FUNNY GAMES (Michael Haneke-1997)
Haneke is no stranger to utilising the power of shock within his films, and this intro proves no different, as from the second Funny Games starts it never lets up. The scene begins softly with the sunny, serene shots of the family of principal characters driving through the calm countryside, listening to their selection of operatic cds.
No sooner has the viewer become acquainted with this alluring atmosphere are we jolted out of the cosy setting and are confronted with the bold, blood-red title credits ‘FUNNY GAMES’ matched with the grindcore style song ‘Bonehead’ by Naked City, serving as an emblematic punch to the gut, leaving us on edge for the rest of the film.
2. IRREVERSIBLE (Gaspar Noé-2002)
Gaspar Noé has said in interviews that he thinks it is almost impossible to shock viewers today, but many who watch his films would disagree. Irreversible, arguably his most renowned film, is both praised and revered for its innate ability to both shock and disturb audiences. The film opens with the flickering credits (a common artistic signature from the flicker-film fanatic) and is accompanied by Thomas Bangalter’s low droning sound before Benoit Debbie’s dizzying camerawork brings us into the room of an old man, who Noé fanatics were shocked to find was the lead character from his previous work I Stand Alone.
The man goes on to detail his past crimes, and talks of how “time destroys all things”, aptly framing the film and its heavy thematic focus on time, especially as we come to discover its use of reverse chronology to tell this tale. We stay with this old man for some time before we are plunged into the chaos of a gay club ‘Rectum’, where the central characters commit a graphic act of revengous murder. The disorientating camera work coupled with the dark red lighting and thumping bass of the club quickly set the viewer ill at ease as we only go further into the depths of this traumatic storyline.
3. ANTICHRIST (Lars Von Tier-2009)
Antichrist opens with one of cinema’s most hauntingly memorable sex scenes. However, as we are invited to watch the lead characters passionate exchange, von Trier gradually teases us with a series of images which begin to lead the viewer to believe that the actual act of unsimulated sex is not the primary focus of the opening; A teddy bear. A stirring baby monitor. And then, the couple’s child.
The scene cuts frequently between the black and white shots of the couple and their young child before we are met with the horrifying realisation that the toddler has made his way to their apartment window and is now balancing precariously on the ledge. We are left to sit here for a moment, with only the serene score of Kristian Eidnes Anderson to ease our beating hearts, before the toddler drops from the ledge to the snowy ground below. This shocking juxtaposition of both imagery and music leave the viewer in a state of almost disbelief to what they have just witnessed, setting the stage for the horrors in store.
4. THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (Yorgos Lanthimos-2017)
Without a moment of dialogue, we are plunged into complete darkness for the first minute of The Killing of a Sacred Deer, slowly being teased with the soft melody of Franz Schubert's chorus "Jesus Christus schwebt am Kreuze". Just as the viewer has settled into this still, are we stuck with the visceral image of a beating heart in someone’s open chest.
Lanthimos used real footage of an open heart surgery (which acting lead Colin Farrel was actually present for), to immediately confront the viewer and let us know this is not your typical blockbuster drama which you are about to watch.
5. LE HAINE (Mathieu Kassovitz-1995)
“Easy for you to gun us down! All we got is rocks!” Le Haine wastes no time in conveying its message to the viewer: Rebellion. The film begins with a powerfully thoughtful opening consisting of raw stock footage from riots in a Parisian banlieue following the murder of a young teen by police officers, immediately providing spectators with a bigger picture of the message this film is aiming to deliver, further imploring the spectator to reflect by dedicating it to “To those who died while this film was being made”.
It then leads into a parable about a man who fell from a skyscraper… and kept telling himself “so far so good”… finishing with the powerful line that ‘it’s not how you fall that matters. It’s how you land’, as a cocktail molotov is dropped onto a still image of the earth, swiftly disrupting this calm, as the sound of a gunshot brings us into the main plot.
6. SUSPIRIA (Dario Argento-1977)
Like many of Dario Argento’s Giallo films, Suspiria opens with the full fanfare of Argento’s cinematic arsenal; colour, music, lighting, and of course striking cinematography. Argento immediately introduces us to the lead protagonist of the film, the unwitting Suzie Bannion, as she arrives at her destination in the airport.
The film cuts right to the point however in letting us know that something is awry, as no sooner do the airport doors open than she is met with a haunting gust of wind accompanied by Goblin’s eerie and now unmistakable title track, letting the viewer know that the horror has begun. Suzy Bannion is then driven in the rain through an eerily lit forest, escorted by chilling details such as reflections of faces before we are confronted with the first murder of the film.
7. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Stanley Kubrick-1968)
In 1968, Stanley Kubrick released his futuristic science-fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film begins by immediately plunging the viewer into complete darkness (nothingness) signifying the beginning of time, before the creation of consciousness of man. We are left to mull in this darkness escorted only by the epic soundtrack Also Sprach Zarathustra for over 3 minutes before we are finally met with an image of the sun rising above planet earth in space.
The sparse yet grand imagery accompanied by the timpani drum rolls totally succeed in making us feel small and insignificant, as the viewer hands over full power to the director before this 5-minute intro culminates and we begin our journey with the title: “The Dawn of Man”.
8. FRIDAY THE 13TH (Sean S. Cunningham-1980)
Holding a place as one of the most iconic slasher movies of the late 70s/80s, Friday the 13th lives up to its reputation with its textbook horror opening scene. The film opens on Camp Crystal Lake in 1958 and invites us into a sing-song at a kids camp cabin. However, we quickly realise that it’s not all smiles and songs, as the camera continuously cuts between the camp kids and POV shots of an intruder entering the quaint cabins.
The scene culminates when two of the camp kids sneak off to ‘fool around’, but ultimately leave themselves vulnerable and cornered as the protagonist, Jason X closes in - providing us with a horrifying POV of his shocking murder. The scene ends with a freeze and zoom on the victims face before we’re blasted with the capitalised FRIDAY THE 13TH title screen, matched with the just as frightening staccato strings.
9. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Stanley Kubrick-1971)
As the second Kubrick film on the list, A Clockwork Orange immediately cuts to the chase in introducing its unsettling characters and set design. The film opens with a signature ‘Kubrick Stare’ as we are provided with a dolly zoom of the main protagonist Alex and his gang of ‘droogs’ at the Korova Milk Bar. Alex’s (played by Michael McDowell) long unblinking stare directly into the camera unnerves viewers from the get-go, as Kubrick forces us to gaze directly back at him.
The scene’s eerie stillness is then quickly disrupted as it cuts to a singing homeless man, who we soon find out is the first victim of the gangs’ acts of ‘ultra-violence. The close-up profile shots of Alex’s villainous grin framed by a moonlit set immediately let us know that this is not going to be your typical lead character.
10. CLIMAX (Gaspar Noé-2018)
The first twenty minutes of Noé’s latest full-length feature film is taken up largely by the blood and sweat pumping movement by the talented collection of dancers who make up the Climax cast, however, we are forewarned before this trauma lies ahead with a beautifully chilling introduction to precursor this.
The film starts off with a shot of a blood-covered girl trudging frantically through a backdrop of fresh snow, accompanied by Gary Numan’s eerie synth cover of Trois Gymnopedies, and the barking of a dog - all preluding the terror which is to come. After expelling the last of her energy through painful screams of anguish, the girl then collapses, moving on to a disorientating shot of a tree which preludes the credits and the flashing message “Existence is a Fleeting Illusion”. This instant confrontment with the themes of life and death serve as a valuable precursor to the artistic efforts throughout the film.