Which shadows is the serial killer lurking behind? Are the characters grounded in reality or losing their minds? Horror movies leave audiences asking these questions and more, wondering how many surprises wait around the corner. One of the most rewarding perks of this genre is when great horror flicks leave an unforgettable impression with their final twist. These 7 horror films will go down in history as the most shocking plot twists of all time.
Psycho (1960)
Master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock is no stranger to providing unpredictable thrills. In the first 30 minutes of “Psycho,” the complex heroine Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is killed during a pit stop at a motel. As Marion’s sister Lila (Vera Miles) searches for her, the owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) tries to divert attention from his seemingly violent mother. After Hitchcock lures audiences to convince Norman’s innocence, he delivers a double-whammy. While Lila sneaks around the Bates’ property, she discovers the skeleton of Norman’s mother. Once caught and taken into custody, a psychologist explains that Norman killed his mother, her boyfriend, and other victims several years before. His murderous tendencies derive from an alternate personality between himself and mommy dearest. The culmination of these twists made “Psycho” the first film audiences had to keep “spoiler-free” for others.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Eva (Tilda Swinton) tries to accept her son’s violent temperament after failing to secure treatment for his psychopathic tendencies. While the film instills themes of nature vs nurture to explore Kevin’s issues, viewers don’t learn that he is responsible for a Columbine-style shooting until the third act. The reveal of this event is only the beginning as it turns out Kevin has a terrifying history of committing graphic atrocities. While most horror films rely on the supernatural or paranormal to create suspense, “We Need to Talk About Kevin” uses the lack of humanity to highlight the horror of a family member becoming the monster.
Shutter Island (2010)
Unreliable narrators are a perfect way to plant doubt into audiences’ minds. One of the best mind-boggling horrors is “Shutter Island.” Detective Edward Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) investigates the whereabouts of a heinous sanitarium patient who’s missing. Over the next 48 hours, clues slip in that the sanitarium is not what it’s cracked up to be. The story completely turns the audience’s assumptions around when the staff discloses that Daniels’s case is a hoax they created to remedy his mental breakdown. Furthermore, Daniels faces an ultimatum to accept reality or undergo a lobotomy. His final meeting with his psychiatrist implants an unforgettable suspicion that Daniels is aware of his fate by agreeing to undergo the procedure.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
When “10 Cloverfield Lane” was released in 2016, patience finally paid off for fans that waited eight years for a sequel to “Cloverfield” (2008). Instead of trailing an ensemble thwarting aliens across New York City, its successor centers on a young woman Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) waking up in a conspiratorial’s basement after surviving a brutal car crash. Though the connection to “Cloverfield” is obvious, the film’s ambiguous timeline never hints at the events occurring outside of Howard’s (John Goodman) house. Michelle only has his beliefs to accept or defy. The doubts about his doomsday prophecies stack up until she finally breaks free and grapples with the shock that Howard was right all along.
The Others (2001)
The blurred line between truth and fiction deepens ten-fold when characters can’t tell the difference between the living and the dead. Hoping to hire three servants to care for her ill children, Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) grows increasingly antagonized by sudden noises in her house, objects moving without explanation, and life-like apparitions. Audiences automatically fear for the family’s safety until the haunted house trope flips upside down. Stewart, her children, and the servants turn out to be “The Others,” and their creepy encounters stem from the new owners of their estate.
Us (2019)
Director Jordan Peele’s genre-defying “Get Out” could’ve easily taken this slot. However, his ingenuity with “Us” warrants slightly more recognition. A young girl Adelaide Wilson (Lupita N’Yongo) encounters her reflection in a carnival funhouse. Years later during a summer vacation, Wilson and her family must fend off their doppelgängers. Leading with the skepticism about what happened that fateful evening, Peele unveils that Wilson is the original bodysnatcher who used to dwell in a nationwide tunnel system full of clones. Her counterpart “Red” is the initial victim leading a revolt to take over the world.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Horror icon George Romero changed the way casting impacts a horror film’s message. A group of strangers tries to survive in an abandoned house as zombies surround the property. The last remaining survivor Ben (Duane Jones) thwarts off attacks by locking himself in the basement. As morning dawns, hope appears on the horizon as a rescue team arrives. But, in the film’s final seconds, the team mistakes him for a zombie and kills him. Romero’s decision to cast a Black actor as Ben shocked audiences during the height of the civil rights movement and set the standard for high-concept horror today.
