In honor of Until Dawn releasing on digital, Sony has unveiled the video game horror's "alternate" opening scene - and we're confused

Until Dawn
(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Until Dawn is now available to watch at home, only a month after being released in theaters. To mark the film's digital release, Sony has shared an "alternate" opening scene that provides a slightly extended version of a key character's death.

In the clip, which you can watch below (via Bloody Disgusting), we see the brutal murder of Melanie (played by Maia Mitchell), which will set the events of the movie in motion a year later. In the bleak sequence, we see Melanie crawling desperately through a cave and a forest, chased by a masked killer.

It's barely a couple minutes long, and we're pretty confused since it's not much different from the scene as it was seen in theaters, despite being an alternate scene. But, it does show new viewers what to expect from the horror movie.

Based on the popular video game of the same name by Supermassive Games, Until Dawn follows a group of friends who head into the remote valley where Melanie went missing, but their search ends up in bloodbath as the same masked killer starts to murder them one by one. That's only the start, though – as they die, they wake up the next day ready to relive the same fate but facing different killers each time.

If you're thinking of watching the movie at home, you can start by checking out the terrifying opening scene below.

Until Dawn (2025) I Watch the Alternate Opening Scene I Now Available on Digital! - YouTube Until Dawn (2025) I Watch the Alternate Opening Scene I Now Available on Digital! - YouTube
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Alongside Mitchell, who we see in the scene, the film also stars Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Ji-young Yoo, Odessa A’zion, Peter Stormare, and Belmont Cameli.

With a serial killer on the loose and a fight for survival, Sony's adaptation of Until Dawn video game feels like a love letter to horror movies like The Descent and Evil Dead. According to director David F. Sandberg, they wanted to include some sense of humor too.

"I have a tendency to do that because I love horror movies that have fun," the filmmaker told GamesRadar+. "I mean, we even had to take it back in some scenes where it was like, 'Well, maybe it needs to be a little bit more serious here to feel the weight of it all.' But I just love making that kind of movie, because it's so satisfying when you see it with an audience and you get those reactions and the laughter and feel the shock, you know?"

Until Dawn was released on April 25 in theaters, and it's now available to rent or buy digitally. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.

Mireia Mullor
Contributing Writer

Mireia is a UK-based culture journalist and critic. She previously worked as Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy, and her work as a freelance writer has appeared in WeLoveCinema and Spanish magazines Fotogramas, Esquire, and Elle. She is also a published author, having written a book about Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' in 2023. Talking about anime and musicals is the best way to grab her attention.

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