Surprising and unexpected turns have always been a staple of the horror genre. One prime example is the iconic Friday the 13th, a game-changing film that keeps you on the edge of your seat as it unveils a jaw-dropping revelation: the true culprit behind the killings is not the infamous Jason Voorhees, but his unsuspected mother. Another flick that left viewers stunned was April Fool’s Day from 1986. This film, although not as satisfying to most, delivers a twist ending that turns out to be an elaborate prank, leaving audiences with mixed emotions.
However, there’s a treasure trove of horror movies with twists that are either satisfying, infamous, or absolutely mind-blowing for their time. Some of these films have even achieved a cult following, like the intriguing Sleepaway Camp from 1983. Even today, horror enthusiasts continue to passionately discuss and debate its unexpected conclusion. On the other hand, more recent additions to the cult film collection, such as 2021’s Malignant, offer spine-tingling entertainment with twists that will keep you glued to your seat. And let’s not forget mainstream horror gems like Sunshine or 10 Cloverfield Lane, which manage to astonish audiences with their cleverly crafted surprises.
Prepare to be spellbound as we delve into some of the most successful and mind-boggling plot twists in underrated horror movies. Get ready for a thrilling ride!
1. Orphan
Kate and John Coleman, portrayed by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, decide to adopt a 9-year-old Russian girl named Esther, played by Isabelle Fuhrman, following the tragic loss of their third child. However, things take a dark turn as Esther begins to display disturbing and violent behavior towards animals and her new siblings. This includes their 5-year-old daughter, Max, who is deaf, and their 12-year-old son, Daniel, as well.
To make matters worse, Esther also demonstrates an unsettling knowledge of sex and becomes malicious towards her new family. The situation quickly spirals out of control, leaving the Colemans desperate for answers.
The shocking twist comes when Esther’s former physician, Dr. Värava, portrayed by Karel Roden, reveals the horrifying truth. Esther is not actually a 9-year-old girl, but a 33-year-old woman named Leena Klammer who has dwarfism. This revelation adds another layer of darkness to the already disturbed character.
2. Don’t Breathe
Rocky, played by Jane Levy, agrees to rob the home of a blind Gulf War Veteran named Nordstrom, portrayed by Stephen Lang, in order to improve her and her sister’s lives. Her boyfriend Money, played by Daniel Zovatto, and Alex, portrayed by Dylan Minnette, join her in this plan. They believe they can easily break into the house and steal a rumored $300,000 in cash. This money is said to be from a settlement related to the death of Nordstrom’s daughter.
However, once they enter the house, they quickly realize that outsmarting the blind man is much more challenging than they had expected. Rocky eventually finds herself trapped in Nordstrom’s infamous basement.
It is revealed that after his daughter’s tragic death, Nordstrom kidnapped Cindy Roberts, the woman responsible for the accident. He impregnated Cindy with a replacement daughter, but unfortunately, she was killed during the home invasion. In reality, it turns out that Nordstrom was never the one in danger that night.
3. The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Austin, played by Emile Hirsch, finds himself assisting his father Tommy, portrayed by Brian Cox, who works as the coroner in their small town. Their ordinary night takes an unexpected turn when the local sheriff brings in a body for an emergency autopsy. This body belongs to a woman named Jane Doe, played by Olwen Kelly, who was found in a home where multiple murders occurred, but her presence seems out of place. Austin decides to send his girlfriend away and prepare to complete the autopsy alongside his father.
To their astonishment, Jane Doe’s condition is far from ordinary. Unusual internal injuries are discovered, despite her skin showing no signs of harm. Shockingly, her tongue has been severed, and various foreign objects have been placed inside her body.
As if this isn’t unsettling enough, Tommy and Austin start experiencing strange events while they continue their work. The radio mysteriously plays the song “Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In),” and eerie shadows begin to roam the hallways. These unsettling occurrences intensify in both grotesqueness and danger as the duo delves deeper into the truth behind Jane Doe’s death.
Here comes the unexpected twist: Jane Doe is revealed to be a witch who was wrongfully accused during the Salem Witch Trials. However, during the burial and punishment ritual, a mishap unintentionally transformed her into an actual witch. While Austin initially seeks to release Jane Doe from the curse, his actions inadvertently strengthen the curse instead, causing it to persist.
In summary, Austin and his father find themselves faced with an extraordinary situation as they conduct an autopsy on Jane Doe. The discovery of her peculiar injuries and the subsequent series of bizarre events lead them to uncover the truth about her identity as a witch from the Salem Witch Trials. Unfortunately, Austin’s attempts to break the curse only serve to reinforce it, leaving them trapped in a terrifying ordeal.
4. The Taking of Deborah Logan
Deborah Logan, played by Jill Larson, is a widow dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. She lives with her daughter and caregiver, Sarah, portrayed by Anne Ramsay. To raise funds for her mother’s care, Sarah agrees to have a documentary crew film Deborah’s struggle with the disease.
Right from the start, the crew captures some unusual behavior from Deborah that doesn’t align with her Alzheimer’s diagnosis. She inflicts harm upon herself, attacks others, and even speaks in French about snakes.
The film takes a surprising twist, skillfully presented to make viewers anticipate a possession storyline. But what nobody could predict is that Deborah is actually possessed by a serial killer who specifically targeted Sarah. Deborah discovered the killer’s identity and took matters into her own hands by burying his body in their yard. Seeking revenge, the killer now takes over Deborah’s body, aiming to carry out his final crime.
5. Sleepaway Camp
This 1983 cult classic had a twist that was considered highly taboo at the time, and it still remains controversial. The story revolves around Angela, a young girl who is living with her aunt and cousin Ricky after a tragic boating accident claimed the lives of her father and brother.
Angela and Ricky find themselves spending the summer at Camp Arawak, where Angela faces ridicule and inappropriate behavior from the camp staff. As the people who have wronged Angela start to meet unfortunate fates, Ricky’s friend Paul becomes involved with her.
The twist in the film begins to unfold when Paul and Angela decide to go skinny dipping. In a shocking moment, a police officer catches them, only to find Angela standing up and revealing that she has severed Paul’s head – and that she was assigned male at birth.
It is revealed that Angela was originally named Peter but was raised as a girl by her aunt, who did not want to raise another boy after the tragic loss of her son. Thus, Angela assumed her deceased sister’s name and gender.
This film kept viewers guessing due to its taboo and controversial twist, which was highly unconventional for its time. The story follows Angela’s experiences at Camp Arawak, where she faces mistreatment and seeks vengeance against those who have wronged her. The twist comes to light during a shocking skinny-dipping scene, where Angela’s true identity is revealed. The film explores themes of gender identity and the consequences of past actions.
6. Goodnight Mommy
The original version of this film, along with its intriguing twist, was created by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala in Austria. The story revolves around twin brothers, Elias and Lukas Schwarz, who return home to their mother, Susanne Wuest, after she undergoes facial surgeries.
Upon their return, the twins notice something peculiar about their mother. Her face is covered in bandages, and she demands silence from them. However, when Elias disobeys her, she lashes out at him. Interestingly, she never directly acknowledges Lukas and consistently ignores him.
After discussing their suspicions, the twins come to the conclusion that this woman is not their real mother. Determined to prove their theory, they tie her to her bed and begin interrogating her, trying to extract information about the whereabouts of their true mother. In their desperation, the twins commit atrocious acts to keep her quiet. Eventually, they decide to take her downstairs, hoping that one final chance will make her reveal the truth.
As the story unfolds, we learn that Lukas actually died in an accident. Unable to cope with this devastating reality and haunted by the memory of his twin’s death, Elias sets the house on fire, ultimately sacrificing his own life along with their supposed mother. The movie concludes with a poignant shot of the three of them reunited at the edge of a field.
7. Dead Silence
Jamie Ashen (Ryan Kwanten) receives a mysterious gift, a ventriloquist dummy named Billy. It gives him the creeps, so he decides to leave his wife at home and go out for dinner. When he comes back, he finds his wife dead, with her tongue cut out.
Detective Jim Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg) suspects Jamie and is determined to prove it. He follows Jamie back to his hometown, Raven’s Fair.
In Raven’s Fair, Jamie goes to see his estranged father, Henry (Michael Fairman), and Henry’s new wife, Ella (Amber Valletta). He learns about Mary Shaw (Judith Roberts), a ventriloquist who was heckled by a boy named Michael at one of her shows. Michael disappeared soon after, and his family blamed Mary. They lynched her for the supposed crime.
Before she died, Mary vowed to eliminate Michael’s entire bloodline. She even requested to be buried as a ventriloquist dummy. Henry claims he saw the puppet version of Mary when he was a boy. He managed to escape her wrath by refusing to scream.
After surviving his own terrifying encounter with Mary Shaw, Jamie returns to his father with Billy. Mary confronts him once again, so he decides to throw Billy into the fire. It is then that he discovers his father had actually died a long time ago and was transformed into a ventriloquist dummy, controlled by Ella. Ella is the “perfect doll” that Mary created before her death. Ella serves as a vessel for Mary’s spirit to possess and use to kill Jamie.
8. Raw
Justine, portrayed by Garance Marillier, is a first-year veterinary student at the same university her sister Alexia, played by Ella Rumpf, attends. Despite being a lifelong vegetarian, Justine is coerced into participating in a university ritual where she and her classmates are drenched in blood before consuming a rabbit kidney.
Unexpectedly, Justine discovers that after tasting meat, she develops an insatiable craving for it. Nothing seems to satiate her hunger until an accident presents her with the opportunity to consume her sister’s severed fingertip.
Rather than condemning Justine for her shocking act, Alexia chooses to protect her and takes on the role of teaching her sister how to “acquire” food. However, a string of incidents leads to Alexia being incarcerated, while Justine is forced to return home.
Once at home, their father discloses to Justine that he is to blame for the entire situation. He discloses that he met their mother at the same university and shockingly reveals that she has been slowly consuming him throughout their relationship.
9. 10 Cloverfield Lane
The 2016 movie’s name drops a hint about its twist, but what makes it truly genius is that viewers are constantly kept guessing whether it’s a clever misdirection or not. Michelle, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, goes through a breakup and decides to leave the home she shared with her fiancé. However, her plans take an unexpected turn when she gets into a car accident and wakes up in a bunker with two unknown men as her roommates.
Howard, portrayed by John Goodman, is the owner of the bunker and the home above it, which gives him the authority to establish all the rules. Emmett, played by John Gallagher Jr., has an injured arm and clashes with Howard, especially once Michelle enters the picture.
The men inform Michelle that an event has occurred, rendering the outside world dangerous and uninhabitable. However, Howard’s peculiar and violent behavior starts to raise doubts in Michelle’s mind about the true state of the outside world. Eventually, Michelle manages to escape the bunker, only to find herself thrown into the midst of a full-blown alien invasion.
10. Malignant
Malignant reunites director/writer James Wan and actress Annabelle Wallis, who previously collaborated on the film Annabelle in 2014. In this gripping horror-thriller, Wallis portrays Madison, a pregnant woman trapped in an abusive marriage. Tragically, her husband’s violent actions cause her to experience a terrifying incident where she starts bleeding after he slams her head against a wall.
Haunted by a disturbing nightmare, Madison soon discovers that her husband has been brutally attacked and killed. As if that weren’t enough, she also suffers the devastating loss of her unborn baby. Returning home, Madison finds herself plagued by unsettling dreams in which a mysterious figure in a coat commits horrific murders.
To Madison’s shock and disbelief, investigators uncover damning evidence, including a kidnapped woman, inside her own home. As a result, she finds herself arrested and accused of the very murders she had only dreamt about.
However, as is often the case with movies of this nature, there’s a twist. Madison is not who she thought she was. She learns that she was adopted and that her birth mother, the woman found in her home, was forced to give her up. What’s more, Madison was born conjoined with a twin named Gabriel, who was partially separated from her during surgery. Tragically, a portion of Gabriel’s body had to be left inside Madison’s skull, allowing him to grow stronger over time by feeding on her unborn children.
When Madison suffers her head injury, Gabriel awakens and begins to use her body, which faces backward, as a vessel for seeking vengeance against those he believes have wronged him.
