Opening Credits in Horror Films

The Conjuring

The Conjuring's credits appear over black and white family portraits, newspaper clippings and photo negatives that are being presented by an unknown lecture. As the sequence continues, dark shadows appear over the images and clippings, revealing something that the audience may find troubling. The music used in this opening will result in the audience feeling uncomfortable and frightened of the film that is to come.

The font is a simple plain white font that stands out against the dark backgrounds in each of the images and media pieces presented to the audience. This makes it easy for the audience to read the credits but does not distract from the eerie and creepy atmosphere opening sequence develops.

The Shining

An aerial view of a deep valley shows towering mountains, forests and lakes in a wide-angle lense. The camera sweeps across the landscape before focusing on a tiny yellow Beetle driving up a winding road in the steep mounting cliffs. As the camera tracks the car, keeping it in a small area of the frame, demonstrating the size of the car compared to the size of the mountains and the valley. The aerial shot of the valley and the lack of towns and houses nearby strengthens and develops the themes of isolation. These opening credits envision the directors view of horror with an unnerving score combined with an intimidating landscape and themes of loneliness and isolation touched upon.

This title sequence goes against the usual codes and conventions of horror by avoiding using blood, gore and darkness. This opening title sequence links with themes that are later addressed in the film. The lonely mountain road is the first of many labyrinth constructs that the film forces the Torrence family into. The titles also link to the themes that remain dominant throughout the duration of the film: abuse, alienation and paranoia.