The first analysis of a Horror film opening was of the film "Alien" released in 1979  and directed by Ridley Scott.

The opening starts really rather quiet, as this is set in space and (obviously) space is silent.
This could tell that everything is in equilibrium in this point of time. But as the words start appearing on the screen, the sound gets louder, there are high pitched sounds that slowly become more frequent too. This can tell the audience that something has changed in the path of the equilibrium, especially when the music later progresses into more frantic and therefore scarier music. The music and sound definitely create more than enough tension, which helps build for the rest of the film, because you now know how much tension there can be.

Furthermore, it solidifies where the film is set. The loud noises, followed by gaps of empty noise or space can give the impression that this is a more futuristic music or sound you would hear in space. This music has gaps of empty space as i previously, so it could mean that some of the music got lost in the vacuum of space, and so we know it is set in space.