This is a brilliant opening sequence. The pace of the scene is slow, yet unsettling, due to that fact that the first scene of the sequence uses one shot throughout. It allows the audience to feel like cold objective observers of the action ensuing in the film, almost as if we were there.
The camera movement and shots are particularly intriguing. Due to the fact that it only uses one shot, the camera is made to pan, following the female character, forcing the audience to do so too. As the scene cuts to the next, we are now on a beach. However, the character, at first, is hidden by the car door, but the camera then moves around it, leaving the girl in the frame as the camera pans towards her, giving the scene a sense of abnormality.
The establishing shot is of middle-class neighbourhood and follows a young woman running from her home in fear. This is a cliche in horror, films. The director has played nicely around with cliche's from 80's horror films, such as high-heel wearing females running in fear, which is unpractical but a common cliche in horror films. However, the film uses these cliche's in clever and creative ways, giving the scene a certain freshness to it. Driving away in her car, she has been hunted by the follower far, and the girl has now ended up on a beach in total isolation. We remain to observe the girl for almost half a minute, in an icily cold gaze, giving a sense of isolation to the character and scene.
At the beginning of the sequence, only diegetic sound can be heard, for example, the birds, cars and people, emphasising that the setting of the scene is a normal suburban middle-class neighbourhood. This contrasts with the frantic actions of the young women out of the house, and slowly non-diegetic music fades in, creating uneasiness in the audience and creating a tense and dangerous atmosphere. The music is particularly interesting since it replicates the cliche music from horror movie's in the 80's.
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