The horror genre aims to terrify and provoke its audience and remains ever popular. Some of the most exciting names in filmmaking are coming out of the horror genre, and there are more options for horror fans than ever before. Horror is a genre of film that effortlessly depicts disturbing ideas and murderous monsters.
It’s also a genre where epic storytelling twists are prevalent. While not all twists are beneficial to a story, especially when they’re unearned, there are plenty of horror movies that elevate themselves to a higher level after nailing a stunning surprise.
Spoilers ahead!
10 The Twist In Sleepaway Camp Has To Do More With Just The Killer’s Identity
Sleepaway Camp is a formative piece of 1980s slasher schlock for all of the "doers" out there. Summer camps were popular settings for massacres back in the '80s, and Sleepaway Camp is an oddity that must be seen to be believed. A barebones whodunnit, campers and counselors begin to drop like flies.
Sleepaway Camp's low budget only adds to the movie's charm, but the main reason that the film is still remembered is because of its unexpected twist ending. The haunting image of Angela's frenzied face that Sleepaway Camp ends on is incredibly effective.
9 The Sixth Sense Turns Twists Into Shyamalan’s Trademark
One of the biggest twists in modern cinema is the effective surprise that completely recontextualizes M. Night Shyamalan's breakout film, The Sixth Sense. Shyamalan crafts an emotional story about loss, regret, and acceptance, which becomes far more than its twist ending.
The bond that forms between Bruce Willis' Dr. Malcolm Crowe and Hayley Joel Osment's Cole is undeniable, but it becomes even more heartbreaking once the audience and Malcolm learn that he's just another spirit who's in need of closure. The twist in The Sixth Sense hits so hard that audiences always expect a Shyamalan movie to deliver a Twilight-Zone-level surprise.
8 Saw Has A Big Twist That’s Contained In Its Tiny Room
The Saw franchise helped define the new wave of horror that dominated in the 2000s. The original movie is a claustrophobic and psychological tale of penance. Saw's big finish becomes a calling card for the rest of the franchise.
Each movie since attempts to pull the rug out from under the audience, whether it's through tricks in the editing, concurrent timelines, or other forms of misdirection. This type of reveal is at its strongest in the original Saw, where the answer is in front of the audience's face the entire time.
7 Orphan’s Reason For Esther’s Evil Will Drop Jaws
The horror genre has gotten a lot of mileage out of creepy children, and the horrifying idea that there might be something wrong with one's offspring. 2009's Orphan explores familiar territory when an optimistic couple adopts a young girl, Esther, and suddenly begins to experience a series of tragedies in their home.
The big twist regarding what exactly is up with Esther does not disappoint, and it's a genuinely creepy revelation. Orphan: First Kill was released more than a decade after the first film, with Isabelle Furhman back as Esther. It also happens to have a twist that rivals that of the original.
6 High Tension Reveals An Unreliable Narrator That Turns Ally Into Enemy
Alexandre Aja’s High Tension, or Haute Tension in its original French language, is a beyond brutal ode to slasher cinema where two friends, Alex and Marie, appear to be stalked by a murderous trucker who's taken out Alex's family. The movie is a violent and suspenseful affair, but there's also a big twist that elevates it to another level.
Alex is in fact the murderer and there is no trucker, just an obsessed and detached best friend. It's a phenomenal turn that maintains a clear sense of danger but completely changes the dynamic that's been present for two-thirds of the movie.
5 Drag Me To Hell Doesn’t Let Its Hero Get Their Happy Ending
Drag Me to Hell definitely proves that Raimi’s horror impulses were still as sharp as ever after spending close to a decade on Spider-Man movies. Alison Lohman’s Christine finds her selfish acts catching up with her as she goes above and beyond to reverse the curse that gets placed on her.
In some senses, the bleak ending that Drag Me to Hell goes out on might not necessarily be considered a twist, especially since it's outright teased in the film's title. However, this type of dark ending where the hero loses is so rare in modern movies that it does work as a twist.
4 The Mist’s Twist Ending Is The Ultimate Exercise In Irony
The Mist is one of the exciting examples of a Stephen King adaptation that improves upon its source material. The residents of a small town in Maine get holed up in a supermarket and pharmacy as an all-encompassing mist takes over the town and acts as a cover for horrific monsters.
The Mist pushes its characters to their limits, and Thomas Jane's David chooses to execute his son and friends to spare them from a monstrous death. Moments later, he learns that the army has secured the territory and conquered this threat. His sacrifice was in vain, and now he needs to live with what he's done.
3 Cabin In The Woods Is Built Upon Twists And Burns The House Down
Cabin in the Woods is one of the most exciting deconstructions of the horror genre to come around in the past few decades. An innocent weekend getaway for some hormonal teens becomes the basis for a grandiose government experiment where the fate of the world is at stake.
Cabin in the Woods reveals its puppet masters in clever ways that poke fun at the rote nature of certain horror movies. However, beyond these big swings, the final turn at the end is also a huge twist with Old-God-esque entities and a definitive end that squashes any hopes of a sequel.
2 Us Reveals Its Villains To Have An Emotional Motive That Changes Everything
Jordan Peele only has three feature films under his belt as a writer/director, but he's already proven himself to be a modern horror master and a fresh voice as a storyteller. Us might be the underdog of Peele's three features.
However, its doppelgänger premise is full of chilling imagery, a terrifying performance from Lupita Nyong'o, and a smart twist in its final act. The power dynamic between Adelaide and her double flips, and the repercussions become a disturbing commentary on nature versus nurture and how all of this could have been different.
1 Every Scream Movie Becomes A Gruesome Guessing Game
Scream is a meta-slasher franchise with a surprisingly consistent track record. These movies are full of gory stabbings and inventive executions, but they’re also oddly the closest thing that the horror genre has to Agatha Christie. At their core, the Scream movies are playful whodunnits where part of the fun is figuring out the identity of the killer(s).
Every Scream film goes out on a big twist, some of which are more effective than others, but the original movie’s turn of events remains a classic. The answers are satisfying in a way that builds upon the movie’s reflexive love of horror.