Good afternoon, House of Madness tricksters:
Today being April 1st, I thought to myself, what better way to have a little fun than to create a list of films with great surprise endings? Ahem, "The Village", I said surprise endings, not lame predictable ones. These will be in no particular order, so don't flood me with hate mail if your choice isn't #1. Capeesh? Cool, now let's get on with the list.
10. "From Dusk Til Dawn" (1996) - The first time I viewed this, I had absolutely zero idea what it was about, and I was definitely unprepared for the complete one-eighty this film does, while throwing you on your head and into a pit of mindfucking, chainsaw-wielding lunatics. Well played, Mr. Tarantino.
9. "Se7en" (1995) - Most definitely in my personal top 5 films of all-time, just the chemistry on screen with Pitt and Freeman was enough to satisfy my inner demon, then throw that ending in there, and...... *chef's kiss*. What's in the booooooooox?
8. "The Sixth Sense" (1999) - I have a buddy that hates on this film all the time, stating that he saw the ending coming from 1000 miles away. We haven't spoken since. When the twist came in this one, my mouth dropped open so far, I'm surprised people didn't start putting quarters in my mouth hoping for a prize to pop out. Brilliantly executed for sure.
7. "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) - This film is so fucked up, that you could tell me it was made now, and just given the feeling of transpiring in the time period it takes place in, and I'd believe it. This film was years ahead of its time, and is simply a classic in which you're literally doing your brain a disservice if you've never seen it. The ending still haunts me.
6. "American Psycho" (2000) - For the film's entirety, we're delivered a gruesome, gory tale of a man more unstable than a three-legged table, only to have the rug completely pulled out from under us to the point where it actually made me dizzy. If getting fooled always felt like this, I'd be way more open to it happening more often.
5. "Hereditary" (2018) - Holy hell this film is a trip. There's a slow-burn, and then there should be a new term used for all future slow-burns to adopt, and we simply call them Hereditary-burns. Meh, doesn't have that ring to it, and kinda sounds like a disease, but this film starts out creepy, and just gets plain in your face horrifying by the time the credits roll.
4. "Frailty" (2001) - Definitely my favourite Bill Paxton role, and it's not even close. This film didn't then, and still doesn't receive the praise it deserves. As with everything in my opinion, McConaughey is fucking incredible. Lock yourself down a hole in your backyard to view this for maximum enjoyment.
3. "The Witch" (2015) - This is the perfect example of a film you may want to watch twice to fully appreciate the terror within. I admit I wasn't crazy about it after my first viewing, but after my second gander I'm not so sure I'm brave enough to muster a third. What an ending!
2. "Split" (2016) - This one kind of reminds of #10 on this list. No, not because it turns into a vampire movie because it doesn't, but what they have in common is starting out as a simple film about abduction, and then morphing into something completely different, leaving you almost feeling as if you've just watched two films, rather than just one.
1. "The Wicker Man" (1973) - This film is near perfect to me. Edward Woodward arrives on a small island, and for the film's entirety I felt as if I was traversing deep into the mystery along with him, rather than just watching it on screen. One of the most terrifying endings of all-time. Remake never happened, ok?
And there we have it, a list of films with enough surprises and twists to satisfy even the most delectable appetite for such fares. There were plenty of great films I passed up as well, so please feel free to leave your favourites in the comments, I'd LOVE to hear from you!
NB
