Filming Openings - Horror

I love horror movies so thinking of film openings to rewatch for the planning of my project is easy but thinking of film openings that can actually influence my own is the tricky part. Since I already have a general idea of what I want my film opening to be, I need to find openings that are similar to it. Me and my partners have decided we want our film opening to start with a normal environment in a normal situation but with a sudden twist that changes the entire vibe of the opening/film.

Instantly, the first opening I thought of was of A Quiet Place Part II (2021) since it has the exact same general concept of our idea. 

In this opening, it shows the main characters in their normal environment before suddenly, meteors are seen dropping down from the sky and the town is attacked by creatures. The opening does a great job of setting the tone of the film but purposely doesn't provide much context. Besides elaborating slightly on the origin of the monsters, it doesn't provide much more context as for one, the previous film did enough of that and second, the creators want to keep the audience just as caught up as the characters in the film are. The opening uses a lot of tracking and panning to ensure the audience is able to see exactly what the characters are also experiencing and to make them feel like they're with them too. One of the characters is a deaf girl and when chaos erupts, the perspectives switch between throughout different members of the family which means switching from the sound of complete destruction and panic to utter silence to emphasize her fear.

Another example of an opening that shows a regular setting with an unexpected turn of events is from Trap (2024).

The movie starts with a father and daughter on the way to a concert and once they arrive to the venue, the father notices how many police officers are present. The concert starts and he goes off to the bathroom where he suddenly pulls out his phone and checks a camera he set up to watch his hostage. The opening starts with the credits showing while one of the songs of the artist singing at the concert in the film plays, transitioning into the movie with the same song playing but now the daughter is singing it in the car. It consists of several wide and two shots to display their father/daughter relationship and uses panning to provide context and build tension. 

The final opening I'm showing is from Scream (2022) and its shift from normalcy to sinister.

In this opening, a teenage girl is home alone when her home phone rings and she soon learns the caller is outside her home. The opening shows that the character cares for her loved ones as her friend's life is threatened by the caller unless the character participates in his "game." When she loses the game, the caller attacks her and switches the already uncomfortable situation into a criminal one. This scene consists of close-up shots combined with suspenseful music to build tension as one would feel in an overwhelming situation as this one. This keeps the audience immersed and the teenage girl's traits and motivations keep the audience hooked and gives them a liking towards her character.