A great horror film rarely has a simple “happily ever after” ending where the hero and his girl walk off into the sunset after finally defeating whatever monster, slasher, alien, etc. has been after them. Everyone has their own personal favorite horror movie endings, but horror fans agree that the best endings give viewers a genuine scare, shock, or plot twist that they never saw coming. Here are some of the best. Oh, and of course…spoilers ahead!
Se7en
It’s hard to believe David Fincher’s disturbing and memorable serial killer film Se7en is 20 years old. Whenever you first saw it, it’s impossible to forget the notorious “head in a box” ending that caught so many viewers by surprise. Poor Brad Pitt…finding your pregnant wife’s severed head in a box seems like kind of a hard thing to get over.
Sleepaway Camp
This 80s slasher movie is not necessarily the greatest horror movie ever, but its shocking ending is a favorite among fans. Angela, traumatized by a childhood accident that killed her brother, goes off to summer camp, where a killer is on the loose murdering the kids. What’s the surprise? Not only is Angela the killer, she also happens to be her “dead” brother…raised as a girl after his sister died in the long-ago accident. The naked truth at the very end of the movie leaves no doubt that Angela is male.
Dark Water
In this Japanese horror film from the director of Ring, a mother and daughter move into an apartment where strange things start happening and a mysterious water leak appears on the ceiling. Turns out they are being haunted by the malevolent spirit of a drowned girl. The mother ends up sacrificing her life to save her daughter…but could it be that it was the ghost’s plan all along to get the mother to join her in the afterlife? Watch til the end and decide for yourself.
The Mist
This film is based on a Stephen King novella of the same name, but director Frank Darabont went with a famously darker ending than King’s original one. A mist containing strange creatures descends on a town and terrorizes the residents. King’s ending gives the reader hope that things might work out for the hero and the few remaining survivors. Darabont’s ending has the hero kill all of the survivors (including his son) to spare them from the creatures. Little did he know that if he just waited a moment longer, the Army would arrive to kill all the monsters.
[REC]
Have you seen the ridiculously scary ending to the Spanish found footage film [REC]? A pair of filmmakers find themselves trapped in a building with people who have a rabies-like virus that causes them to turn into vicious zombie cannibals. They find the original infected girl, who has been locked away and is looking pretty rough. The night vision camera records the cameraman being eaten by the girl. The last unforgettable shot is of the other crew member, a woman, being dragged into the darkness by the creepy screaming monster.
Spiral
This darkly atmospheric film is about a troubled and lonely young man named Mason who paints portraits of women and loves jazz music. His only friends seem to be his boss and a new female coworker. Who are the women in his portraits and what happens when his new friend sneaks a peak at her own portrait? Hint…some of the women in his life are real and some are figments of his imagination.
The Others
A woman named Grace whose husband went missing in World War II lives in a creepy old house with her equally creepy children. A group of mysterious servants turn up and the house shows evidence that it’s haunted. Grace discovers that the servants actually died 50 years ago. She also discovers an even more shocking fact. She killed her kids and then herself in a fit of psychosis, and the new residents of her house are the ones being haunted by the ghosts of Grace and her children.
