When the Horror begins: Analyzing Three Iconic Psychological Horror Openings

Psychological Horrors are all about getting into your head. The best ones don't rely on jump scares or monsters, they build tension and make you feel uneasy without always showing why. A strong opening scene is key because it sets the mood and gives hints about the story's deeper themes. In this post, I'll look at the openings of Get Out (2017), Us (2019), and The Shining (1980) to see how they create that unsettling feeling.

Get Out (2017) 

The movie starts with a young Black man, Andre (LaKeith Stanfield), walking alone in a quiet, what looks to be a wealthy suburb at night. Right away, he seems uncomfortable, as if he doesn't belong there, and he knows it. A white car slowly follows him, making the scene feel more tense. Suddenly, a masked figure attacks Andre, shoving him into a trunk before driving away.

What makes this scene scary is how real it feels. There's no creepy music or monsters, just a normal street, but something's off. Director Jordan Peele builds fear throughout the movie by using long, slow camera movements and small details, like the really unsettling song "Run Rabbit Run" playing from the car.

Takeaway:

Real-life fears can be just as scary as supernatural ones. Get Out makes something as normal as walking alone at night feel terrifying.

Us (2019) 

Us starts with a flashback to 1986. A young girl, Adelaide, visits a beachside carnival with her parents. She wanders into a creepy hall of mirrors, where she suddenly comes face to face with herself. But it's not just a reflection, her double is real. The scene cuts off before we see what happens next.

The opening is super eerie because everything feels wrong. The flashing carnival lights, the faint sounds of laughter, and the weird reflections all make the scene feel dreamlike. Instead of showing us something terrifying, the movie builds tension by making us expect something bad to happen.

Takeaway:

Not showing the horror right away can make a scene even scarier. Sometimes, your imagination is worse than what's on the screen.

The Shining (1980) 

Unlike Get Out and Us, The Shining doesn't start with anything obviously scary. Instead, we see the Torrance family driving through the mountains to the Overlook Hotel. The huge, empty landscape looks beautiful but something feels off. The music is a deep, creepy droning sound, making even the peaceful scenery feel threatening.

This scene is all about contrast. If you watched it with no sound, it would just look like a normal road trip. But with the creepy music and slow, wide shots of the mountains, it feels like the characters are being swallowed up by their surroundings.

Takeaway:

You don't need action or dialogue to create tension. The right music, camera angles, and setting can make something simple feel disturbing.

Final Thoughts

Each of these films takes a different approach to psychological horror:

• Get Out creates fear through real-world tension.
• Us builds suspense by making you question what real
• The Shining uses setting and sound to make everything feel wrong.

For my film opening, I want to mix these techniques, like starting with an everyday situation that slowly turns creepy, adding in some mysterious and unexplained moments, and using cinematography and music to build unknown fear.