The horror genre uses countless tropes to keep viewers coming back for more scares. Many of these tropes have been done to the point that they're just cliché, but one staple will likely never grow old. A crucial betrayal can be the key moment that brings a horror movie together.
Many horror movie betrayals are painfully obvious. But sometimes a film manages to foreshadow the betrayal perfectly without spoiling the big finish. The clues are all there, but the audience is still stunned by the reveal.
10 The Overlook Hotel Was Supposed To Be Jack's Sanctuary
The Shining
The Shining's Jack Torrance and his family move to the Overlook Hotel during the winter months to look after the hotel. As a struggling alcoholic writer, Jack sees this as an opportunity to get away from the stresses of his normal life and take the time to write. The Overlook was meant to be a safe haven for Jack and his family where they could reconnect after Danny's "accident" while Jack worked.
The Overlook, however, preyed on the people inside it, especially those who had the Shining or those who were already easily corruptible. The entire film is a slow burn of Jack's slow descent into irrationality, and by the end of the movie, his safe haven has possessed him and sent him after his own family. While Jack always had a malicious streak, the Overlook brought it out and turned him into a killer.
9 Adelaide Was Actually Red
Us
Us told the story of a family on the run from their malevolent doppelgängers. The film explored a government experiment that created a duplicate of every American citizen. The experiment was ultimately abandoned, and the doppelgängers were left to die underground.
At the end of Us, it's revealed that the mother, Adelaide, was never meant to be part of the surface world. She was actually the original Adelaide's double, Red. In her youth, she attacked Adelaide, dragged her underground, and abandoned her there to take her place above. It's the rare kind of horror betrayal where even the betrayer didnd't see the reveal coming.
8 Rose Pretended To Love Chris To Steal His Body
Get Out
At the beginning of Get Out, the film introduces Chris and Rose as an interracial couple preparing to introduce Chris to Rose's parents. Concerned that her parents may not accept him because he's Black, Chris asks if Rose's parents are aware that she's dating him. Rose puts on a show by insisting that it doesn't matter and even defends Chris against a cop who unjustly pulled him over.
Rose's practiced false allyship made her eventual betrayal all the more frightening. In reality, she helped her family take Black hostages so that rich white people could transfer their consciousnesses into the healthier and more able-bodied captives.
7 Quentin Dropped Holloway
Cube
Cube forces a small group of strangers to work together after waking up in a cube with seemingly no way out and no memories of how they got there. The stakes are high in an already stressful situation, so it's only naturald that bodies will drop and someone will selfishly put their own well-being over that of the group.
In Cube, this was Quentin's role. After arguing with Holloway and growing tired of her, Quentin does the unthinkable and drops her outside the cube. This selfish act of frustration not only kills one of the few surviving cast members but sets Quentin on an irreversible downhill slope.
6 Carrie Becomes The Monster She Never Wanted To Be
Carrie
Carrie is about a social outcast with a hyper-religious and abusive mother. She also has superpowers that include telekinesis and telepathy, only alienating her further from her peers.Carrie is a sweet girl at heart just trying to find her way in life, but one person can only handle so much abuse before they snap.
While there are many betrayals in Carrie, like her mother's constant torture or the infamous pig blood scene, the true betrayal is Carrie's betrayal of herself. Fueled with rage at the end of the film, she goes on a rampage that kills almost everyone in her path. She never wanted to be a monster, but she became one in the end.
5 Beth Was The Wrong Person To Victimize
Hostel: Part II
In Hostel: Part II, Beth and her vacationing friends are kidnapped for the sake of fulfilling a torture fantasy for high-paying customers. While Beth's friends end up dead, but Beth turns the tables on Stuart, the man that paid to torture and kill her, by out-bidding him.
Beth kills Stuart by slicing off his genitals and leaving him to bleed out. Beth then hires The Bubblegum Gang, a group of kids who attacked her earlier, to lure out Axelle, the person responsible for bringing her and her friends there. She savagely kills Axelle in an act of revenge, leaving her as the final girl of the film. Beth might be a victim and a survivor, but her turn feels as much like a betrayal as any villain's.
4 Pelle Offers The Group As Human Sacrifices
Midsommar
As a member of the Hårga, Pelle is friendly and warm. At least, that's the vibe he gives off in Midsommar. In reality, though, Pelle has little regard for anyone that exists outside the Hårga. Extremely manipulative and able to get into people's heads, he is a deadly force with an attractive aura that lures people in.
While Pelle promises the protagonists of Midsommar a free vacation where they can work on their school work with a fresh perspective, his real motives are underhanded. Free vacations are always too good to be true, especially in horror movies. In reality, he's deceiving the entire group in hopes of sacrificing them.
3 Detective Hoffman Is Actually Jigsaw's Successor
Saw V
Mark Hoffman was a major player in the Saw franchise from his first appearance in Saw III to his last appearance in Saw 3D. While Hoffman has always been suspicious, even in the times he managed to paint himself as a hero, Saw V sheds light on how deep his involvement with Jigsaw goes.
After Hoffman frames Jigsaw for a crime he committed, Jigsaw captures the detective and forces him to work alongside him. Hoffman had in fact been involved with Jigsaw for a long time and even had an active role in many of the traps set up in the first three movies.
2 The Neighbors Want To Kill The Sandins Themselves
The Purge
In the original The Purge, the plot was kept relatively basic: it is a home invasion film with the twist that all the crimes, including murder, are legal. The Sandin family has taken security measures in their house to protect themselves from the potential violence of the night, but that doesn't stop a group of bloodthirsty purgers from coming to their door.
The Sandins made their fortune by selling security systems, though, and the rest of the neighbors grew resentful. The neighbors all attempt to kill the Sadins as revenge for being forced to purchase these expensive security systems while watching the Sandins prosper on their dime.
1 Tricia Covered Up Her Own Daughter's Death
Orphan: First Kill
After taking home the fake Esther who is posing as her missing daughter in Orphan: First Kill, Tricia reveals that she knows Esther isn't actually her daughter. Not only is she aware of this fact, she knows that her daughter was killed by her older brother. Tricia covered up her son's crime and made up the story of Esther going missing.
Tricia agrees to cooperate with the fake Esther for a little while for the sake of her husband, who has fallen into a horrible depression since the disappearance of his daughter. Given the shocking reveal that Tricia betrayed her own daughter, it wasn't surprising when she went on to back out of her agreement with the fake Esther.