Analysis of Thriller opening sequence

The non diegetic music creates tension and keeps us on edge throughout. We see someone flicking through a book we cant see which makes us edgy because we can't tell what he's doing. When we see the picture of his hands we can see that they look unnatural which makes us fearful because it subverts our expectations of normal hands and a normal person. When he cuts off his fingertips we are made tense because its not an image anyone likes seeing and it reveals the sado-masochism side to his nature. The credits let us know which actors are in the film and are there to help publicise the film with big name actors like Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.