Test Your Knowledge: Can You Name These 20 Horror Movies From Their Opening Scenes? Trivia Quiz

Answers at the bottom — no peeking!

Think you’re a true horror aficionado? Put your cinematic memory to the test with these 20 questions based on the unforgettable opening scenes of classic and modern horror films. From iconic slashers to chilling found-footage entries, see if you can score a perfect 20/20!

Questions

Question 1: A masked figure’s POV watches a teenage girl making out on the phone with her boyfriend before stabbing her repeatedly on Halloween night?

A. Scream
B. Friday the 13th
C. Halloween
D. A Nightmare on Elm Street

Question 2: A teenage girl fields creepy phone calls quizzing her on horror movie rules before her boyfriend is gutted outside and she’s stabbed?

A. Halloween
B. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
C. Scream
D. Psycho

Question 3: A woman shares a lunchtime hotel tryst with her lover before fleeing with stolen cash from her real estate office?

A. Psycho
B. Rear Window
C. The Birds
D. Vertigo

Question 4: Revellers party on a beach around a campfire before a nude swimmer is viciously dragged underwater by an unseen shark?

A. Deep Blue Sea
B. The Shallows
C. Jaws
D. Open Water

Question 5: Grainy documentary-style footage of a slaughterhouse operation plays over a sombre voiceover about the energy crisis?

A. The Hills Have Eyes
B. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
C. Maniac
D. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Question 6: An archaeologist uncovers a demonic statue during a tense dig in northern Iraq as ominous winds howl?

A. The Mummy
B. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
C. The Exorcist
D. Stargate

Question 7: Two men awaken chained in a filthy, flooded bathroom with a corpse’s severed foot nearby and a tape recorder playing?

A. Hostel
B. Cube
C. Saw
D. Escape Room

Question 8: A 1960s family investigates a possessed Raggedy Ann doll that levitates and attacks in their apartment?

A. The Exorcist
B. The Conjuring
C. Insidious
D. Oculus

Question 9: A family is hanged from a tree in their yard before a lawnmower gruesomely dismembers their bodies?

A. The Strangers
B. You’re Next
C. Sinister
D. Hush

Question 10: Two girls gossip about a cursed videotape; one admits watching it seven days ago and vomits TV static before dying?

A. Ringu
B. The Ring
C. V/H/S
D. Noroi: The Curse

Question 11: A terrified young woman races barefoot along a moonlit beach, begging to be shot before an invisible pursuer reaches her?

A. The Fog
B. It Follows
C. The Bay
D. 47 Meters Down

Question 12: A meticulously crafted dollhouse miniature depicts a woman hanging herself in an attic?

A. The Boy
B. Hereditary
C. Mother!
D. The Autopsy of Jane Doe

Question 13: A distressed woman gets a chilling call from her sister about their father’s suicide, followed by a house explosion killing her family?

A. Hereditary
B. Relic
C. Midsommar
D. The Lodge

Question 14: Sweeping aerial shots follow a lone car winding through vast, snowy Colorado mountains?

A. The Thing
B. Fargo
C. The Shining
D. Misery

Question 15: A television sign-off dissolves to ominous static as a grinning chimp toy claps nearby in a quiet suburban home?

A. The Ring
B. Poltergeist
C. Gremlins
D. Maximum Overdrive

Question 16: A sleeping teen girl (Tina) is stalked through a decrepit boiler room by a burned man wielding a razor-gloved hand?

A. The Burning
B. A Nightmare on Elm Street
C. Friday the 13th
D. My Bloody Valentine

Question 17: Camp counsellors Barry and Claudette sneak off for sex in an attic before an axe crashes through the window?

A. Sleepaway Camp
B. Friday the 13th
C. The Burning
D. Madman

Question 18: Shy teen Carrie White gets her first period in the school showers, bombarded with tampons amid cruel taunts of “Plug it up!”?

A. Jenny’s Song
B. Carrie
C. Prom Night
D. Heathers

Question 19: Student filmmaker Heather records a personal on-camera disclaimer about investigating the Blair Witch legend?

A. The Last Broadcast
B. Gone Fishing
C. The Blair Witch Project
D. REC

Question 20: A couple installs a bedroom camera to capture nightly bumps and doors slamming in their suburban home?

A. The Fourth Kind
B. Paranormal Activity
C. Ghostwatch
D. The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Answers

  1. C. Halloween (1978) — John Carpenter’s film famously opens with Michael Myers’ first-person POV murder of his sister Judith.
  2. C. Scream (1996) — Casey Becker’s trivia call and gutting set the meta tone for the film.
  3. A. Psycho (1960) — Marion Crane’s theft begins after her Phoenix rendezvous with her lover.
  4. C. Jaws (1975) — Chrissie’s beach attack hooks viewers immediately as the shark strikes.
  5. B. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) — Tobe Hooper’s faux-documentary slaughterhouse intro builds dread.
  6. C. The Exorcist (1973) — Merrin’s Iraq dig unearths the statue of Pazuzu.
  7. C. Saw (2004) — Adam and Lawrence’s bathroom wake-up launches the franchise.
  8. B. The Conjuring (2013) — The Annabelle doll case serves as the real-life-inspired prologue.
  9. C. Sinister (2012) — The lawnmower snuff film shocks viewers from the opening reel.
  10. B. The Ring (2002) — Rachel investigates Katie’s static-vomit death after watching the tape.
  11. B. It Follows (2014) — Jay’s beach execution introduces the entity’s relentless curse.
  12. B. Hereditary (2018) — Annie’s model foreshadows her mother’s suicide in the attic.
  13. C. Midsommar (2019) — Dani’s family tragedy devastates before the Swedish trip begins.
  14. C. The Shining (1980) — Kubrick’s hypnotic aerial drive leads to the Overlook Hotel.
  15. B. Poltergeist (1982) — The static TV signals spirits entering the Freeling home.
  16. B. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) — Tina’s boiler room pursuit introduces Freddy Krueger.
  17. B. Friday the 13th (1980) — The Crystal Lake double murder sets the slasher camp vibe.
  18. B. Carrie (1976) — Brian De Palma’s shower bullying ignites Carrie’s telekinetic powers.
  19. C. The Blair Witch Project (1999) — Heather’s student film intro sells the found-footage realism.
  20. B. Paranormal Activity (2007) — Micah’s bedroom cam captures Katie’s nightly hauntings.

How did you do? Drop your score in the comments and challenge your horror-loving mates to beat it!