One of the most sinister film openings I ever saw was the Burt Reynolds film "
White Lightning", which was filmed in Arkansas near where you lived. The film begins with a wide shot of a bayou at sunset. Then a jon boat crosses the screen from right to left, paddled by a sheriff (played by Ned Beatty) and his deputy. As the jon boat crosses, you see a taut rope at the back of the boat, then another jon boat comes into view being towed by the first. Inside the second boat are two college age guys, facing each other while gagged and their hands tied in front of them, both struggling to get loose. The only sound is that of the oars being dipped into the water and the slow swamp music for the theme. This scene goes on for almost 3 minutes, with the sheriff and his deputy paddling through the bayou and towing the boys in the second boat. Not a word of dialogue. Then the sheriff finally turns his boat to the side and stops. The second jon boat glides past them and the turns to face them when the rope tightens. The sheriff picks up a shotgun, racks a shell into the chamber, aims toward the boat with the kids in it and fires a shot that hits right at the waterline of the boat, which begins to sink. The sheriff puts the shotgun down, cuts the rope then picks up his paddle and paddles off into the sunset with his deputy. Not a word of dialogue. That's gangsta. It's obvious that they did this because they knew no one would ever find any trace of the kids or boat. Swamp people. The mafia could learn a thing or two from them.