10 Horror Movies That Instantly Told You They Were Garbage

There are few aspects of storytelling more important than a gripping opening.

It's the make or break scene for most viewers that either hooks the interest or sends hands grasping for the remote. For horror movies, most of which live and die by the ability to maintain suspense and fear, a compelling intro is as essential as a good ending (something many of them come lacking incidentally).

From The Conjuring's creepy Annabelle doll intro to Drew Barrymore's brutal death in Scream, plenty of horror flicks have crafted iconic kick-offs. Unfortunately not everyone can get even remotely near this level of effective entertainment.

There are some truly odious films out there that manage to let you know you're in for a stinker before you've even reached the 15-minute mark. Horror's often struggled with a larger number of silly, low budget and/or outright lazy entries than other genres. Other times, seemingly high production value scary movies have plumbed the depths of creative despair.

The following 10 films all managed to fail clearing the bar set for them. From deeply disappointing sequels to original concepts so completely beyond the pale of silly one has to wonder what the writers were smoking, they all kicked off poorly and just kept going further down the toilet.

The first Insidious boasts one of the most chilling endings in cinematic history. After returning from The Further, there's something just a bit off about protagonist Josh Lambert. Snapping a photo reveals he's been possessed by The Black Bride who, in turn, murders Elise Rainier, the woman who helped him get his son back to reality.

The cliffhanger of Josh's wife Renai realising what's happened had audiences flocking to the cinema for the sequel's opening weekend. Instead of an intense carry-on from the original, we get a cumbersome flashback scene with a young Josh. The suppression of his psychic abilities was presented as a big, scary deal in the first film and yet, here, it's all done in an evening without any real scares.

The undermining of its predecessor continues with a dreary police interview scene that undercuts the cliffhanger ending it's following on from. Despite the promise of a terrifying showdown with a possessed Josh, the film quickly begins to meander.

It's a solid warning of the often goofy, not hugely scary film that follows. The Black Bride's origin proves to be increasingly ridiculous, and the fact it takes so long for anyone to really even figure out poor Josh is possessed is just bizarre given what had come before. Beyond a fun performance from Patrick Wilson during his possession scenes, this film did little bar cheapening the original, and the first 10 minutes provides an effective warning on this front.