10 Times Great Horror Movies Were Ruined By Terrible Twists
The plot twist is one of the most important elements that can make or break a movie. Apparently, a great plot can turn a movie into a classic; for example, consider The Sixth Sense, Planet of the Apes, and Empire Strikes Back. On the other hand, a poor twist can ruin an otherwise compelling story. Need an example?
The horror films listed below were all smoothly pootling along when, all of a sudden, someone turned the wheel and sent them careening off a cliff. Their plots were completely out of whack, their characters ended up stumbling over their own motives, and the entire thing just fell apart like a depressing jumping castle.
It's obvious that some of these filmmakers were attempting to do what so many of their predecessors had done: capture lightning in a bottle. They tried to think of fresh, original twists to make their movies stand out, but instead, they made headlines for completely wrong reasons.
Nobody anticipated these moments, but looking back, we wish they had never happened at all.
What distinguishes April Fool's Day from its contemporaries is its ending, which reveals that all the murder and mayhem was just a big joke.
All of the "victims" are willing extras helping the "killer" rehearse. She intends to transform the mansion into a retreat where people can enjoy simulated horror. She never actually killed or injured anyone.
On the one hand, this offers an extremely inventive twist, completely flipping the slasher conventions. On the other hand, what a great way to make your audience feel like they've just thrown away an hour and a half of their lives.
It's an intriguing premise, to be sure, and Saw co-creator James Wan executes it flawlessly. The big reveal follows next.
It turns out that Jamie's elderly father Edward, who is shown to be very much alive throughout the film, died a long time ago and was turned into a puppet by the film's villain.
Is it really necessary to point out how stupid this is? How did Jamie not notice his father was a dummy? What a jerk! After all, he deserved to be haunted.
The girls are forced to fight for their lives while staying at Alex's parent's house when a mysterious man arrives and begins killing Alex's family. The killings are heinous and sadistic, violent and bloody, insane and sick. In a nutshell, it's everything you'd want from a slasher film.
Unfortunately, the plot twist was unexpected.
In a twist of fate that should be illegal, it turns out that Marie was the murderer all along! She killed Alex's family because she loved her and didn't want anyone else to have her!
Apart from the many plot holes, this creates - who drove Marie's car off the road if Marie was the murderer? - This is also another example of how same-sex love is portrayed negatively in film.
The killings were effective, the characters were interesting, and the tension was actually high. Unfortunately, like Alex's family, the ending of this film was mutilated.
What could possibly connect these two seemingly unrelated events? That's what bad writing is!
The plot is not a bad one, but it becomes very complicated very quickly. Inside Malcolm's mind, the conflict between the killer and victims is meant to represent his internal struggle, but how can we possibly sympathize with a character who has committed such heinous acts?
Identity begins promisingly, and has a twist that could have been interesting, but ultimately devolves into a morally ambiguous mess.
Kate, the child's adopted mother, suspects that all is not as it appears as the seemingly innocent child becomes increasingly murderous. When it is revealed that "Esther" is actually Leena Klammer, a 33-year-old woman with a condition that causes her to appear childlike, her suspicions are confirmed.
Hypopituitarism is a real condition that can impair the growth of children who suffer from it. It's rare, but it does exist.
Unfortunately, Esther's illness' legitimacy does little to make this twist feel successful. By 2009, this trope had become so overused that its appearance here left audiences feeling deflated rather than delighted.
The revelation that not one, but two of Sidney Prescott's friends were collaborating as Ghostface stunned the horror universe in the best way possible. Unfortunately, this set the bar so high that the series struggled to surpass it. And it seems that the team behind the movie series had obviously run out of ideas.
After yet another Ghostface appears and begins murdering people in Hollywood, Sidney confronts the masked killer to discover his true identity. It's Roman... wait a minute... who's Roman?
Oh, he's Sidney's undiscovered half-brother. Who we've only just met, but who turns out to be the mastermind behind the events of the entire series.
Scream was created to satirize horror norms, so this was clearly intended to mock the contrived endings to horror trilogies. However, this reveal, came across as... contrived.
Shooter is revealed to be one of Mort's alternate personalities throughout the film. The writer suffered a breakdown after finding out his wife was having an affair, his alter ego born out of a desire to "Shoot Her".
Do you see what I mean? You must comprehend.
On so many levels, it's a lame reveal. Not only is the "bad guy is really the good guy" trope overused, but who is Shooter? Is that the best they could do?
Greta discovers that Brahms is sentient during her stay. He moves around the house when she isn't looking, takes things from her, and cries in the middle of the night.
Okay, this strange British prank has gone too far!
The real Brahms is said to have died in a fire many years ago, but his spirit appears to have been preserved in the doll.
This is not the twist we're mentioning. This is just the set-up twist for the actual twist. The word twist is beginning to sound fictitious.
Moore's character did have a son, who died. It also turns out that she is a participant in an experiment to test the strength of a mother-child bond. Oh, and the experiment is being carried out by "them," a group of aliens.
What begins as a suspenseful psychological thriller quickly devolves into sci-fi nonsense drenched in its own technobabble. The plot thickens into a muddled mess of a story, detracting from the emotional core of a mother seeking answers.
Moore's character is then seen playing with her son in a park at the end! So, did he pass away or not?
A series of events reveals that the creatures are literally people dressed up in costumes. Also, the period is actually the twenty-first century, and the entire village is a secret community for people looking to escape the real world.
This is one of Shyamalan's craziest plot twists yet. It calls into question almost everything that came before it: the setting of the village, the existence of the creatures, and the whole year!
It's far too complex to be enjoyable, and it detracts from what could have been a truly intriguing story. But, then, what did we expect from Mr. I See Dead People?
The horror films listed below were all smoothly pootling along when, all of a sudden, someone turned the wheel and sent them careening off a cliff. Their plots were completely out of whack, their characters ended up stumbling over their own motives, and the entire thing just fell apart like a depressing jumping castle.
It's obvious that some of these filmmakers were attempting to do what so many of their predecessors had done: capture lightning in a bottle. They tried to think of fresh, original twists to make their movies stand out, but instead, they made headlines for completely wrong reasons.
Nobody anticipated these moments, but looking back, we wish they had never happened at all.
#1 April Fool's Day
Source: April Fool's Day (1986)
What distinguishes April Fool's Day from its contemporaries is its ending, which reveals that all the murder and mayhem was just a big joke.
All of the "victims" are willing extras helping the "killer" rehearse. She intends to transform the mansion into a retreat where people can enjoy simulated horror. She never actually killed or injured anyone.
On the one hand, this offers an extremely inventive twist, completely flipping the slasher conventions. On the other hand, what a great way to make your audience feel like they've just thrown away an hour and a half of their lives.
#2 Dead Silence
Source: Twitter
It's an intriguing premise, to be sure, and Saw co-creator James Wan executes it flawlessly. The big reveal follows next.
It turns out that Jamie's elderly father Edward, who is shown to be very much alive throughout the film, died a long time ago and was turned into a puppet by the film's villain.
Is it really necessary to point out how stupid this is? How did Jamie not notice his father was a dummy? What a jerk! After all, he deserved to be haunted.
#3 High Tension
Source: filmaffinity
The girls are forced to fight for their lives while staying at Alex's parent's house when a mysterious man arrives and begins killing Alex's family. The killings are heinous and sadistic, violent and bloody, insane and sick. In a nutshell, it's everything you'd want from a slasher film.
Unfortunately, the plot twist was unexpected.
In a twist of fate that should be illegal, it turns out that Marie was the murderer all along! She killed Alex's family because she loved her and didn't want anyone else to have her!
Apart from the many plot holes, this creates - who drove Marie's car off the road if Marie was the murderer? - This is also another example of how same-sex love is portrayed negatively in film.
The killings were effective, the characters were interesting, and the tension was actually high. Unfortunately, like Alex's family, the ending of this film was mutilated.
#4 Identity
Source: Cool magazin - iPrima
What could possibly connect these two seemingly unrelated events? That's what bad writing is!
The plot is not a bad one, but it becomes very complicated very quickly. Inside Malcolm's mind, the conflict between the killer and victims is meant to represent his internal struggle, but how can we possibly sympathize with a character who has committed such heinous acts?
Identity begins promisingly, and has a twist that could have been interesting, but ultimately devolves into a morally ambiguous mess.
#5 Orphan
Source: IMDb
Kate, the child's adopted mother, suspects that all is not as it appears as the seemingly innocent child becomes increasingly murderous. When it is revealed that "Esther" is actually Leena Klammer, a 33-year-old woman with a condition that causes her to appear childlike, her suspicions are confirmed.
Hypopituitarism is a real condition that can impair the growth of children who suffer from it. It's rare, but it does exist.
Unfortunately, Esther's illness' legitimacy does little to make this twist feel successful. By 2009, this trope had become so overused that its appearance here left audiences feeling deflated rather than delighted.
#6 Scream 3
Source: Twitter
The revelation that not one, but two of Sidney Prescott's friends were collaborating as Ghostface stunned the horror universe in the best way possible. Unfortunately, this set the bar so high that the series struggled to surpass it. And it seems that the team behind the movie series had obviously run out of ideas.
After yet another Ghostface appears and begins murdering people in Hollywood, Sidney confronts the masked killer to discover his true identity. It's Roman... wait a minute... who's Roman?
Oh, he's Sidney's undiscovered half-brother. Who we've only just met, but who turns out to be the mastermind behind the events of the entire series.
Scream was created to satirize horror norms, so this was clearly intended to mock the contrived endings to horror trilogies. However, this reveal, came across as... contrived.
#7 Secret Window
Source: Pinterest
Shooter is revealed to be one of Mort's alternate personalities throughout the film. The writer suffered a breakdown after finding out his wife was having an affair, his alter ego born out of a desire to "Shoot Her".
Do you see what I mean? You must comprehend.
On so many levels, it's a lame reveal. Not only is the "bad guy is really the good guy" trope overused, but who is Shooter? Is that the best they could do?
#8 The Boy
Source: Cinema UP
Greta discovers that Brahms is sentient during her stay. He moves around the house when she isn't looking, takes things from her, and cries in the middle of the night.
Okay, this strange British prank has gone too far!
The real Brahms is said to have died in a fire many years ago, but his spirit appears to have been preserved in the doll.
#9 The Forgotten
Source: ΒΗΜΑ
This is not the twist we're mentioning. This is just the set-up twist for the actual twist. The word twist is beginning to sound fictitious.
Moore's character did have a son, who died. It also turns out that she is a participant in an experiment to test the strength of a mother-child bond. Oh, and the experiment is being carried out by "them," a group of aliens.
What begins as a suspenseful psychological thriller quickly devolves into sci-fi nonsense drenched in its own technobabble. The plot thickens into a muddled mess of a story, detracting from the emotional core of a mother seeking answers.
Moore's character is then seen playing with her son in a park at the end! So, did he pass away or not?
#10 The Village
Source: Critikat
A series of events reveals that the creatures are literally people dressed up in costumes. Also, the period is actually the twenty-first century, and the entire village is a secret community for people looking to escape the real world.
This is one of Shyamalan's craziest plot twists yet. It calls into question almost everything that came before it: the setting of the village, the existence of the creatures, and the whole year!
It's far too complex to be enjoyable, and it detracts from what could have been a truly intriguing story. But, then, what did we expect from Mr. I See Dead People?
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