In any movie, a perfectly placed plot twist can completely turn the story around, but this is especially true of horror. As filmmakers create a tense and terrifying atmosphere, audience members find themselves on the edge of their seats, rooting for their favorite characters to make it out alive. Viewers like to think that they can see the ending coming as the story draws to a close. But sometimes, the script does a complete 180, leading jaws to drop and eyes to widen as the true ending unfolds. Some film series are known for these increasingly stunning twists that audiences have come to expect with each entry, like the Scream franchise. In other cases, they often become the calling cards of famed directors like M. Night Shyamalan, known for the wild and last-minute curveballs in his stand-alone stories.
Many masterpieces in the world of horror rely on plot twists to take these already shocking stories to the next level. After the big reveal, audiences often find themselves backtracking through the plot before the credits even start rolling, trying to figure out how they were led to believe something else entirely all along. Take a look at the most shocking twists in horror movies, ranked.
7 Grace and the Children are Ghosts - The Others (2001)
This haunting story goes to show just how far a mother's love will go – in this case, beyond the grave. The Others tells the tale of a young mother, Grace (Nicole Kidman), cloistered away in a spooky manor with her two severely photosensitive children, Nicholas and Anne. As strange happenings start to occur, Grace begins to believe that the house is haunted. The climax of the film comes to a head when the family walks in on a séance led by an old woman. As the medium connects with child spirits in the house through automatic writing, the woman asks, "Is that how she killed you? A pillow?" Nicholas, Anne, and Grace scream that they aren't dead, interrupting the séance, but the table is shaken by an invisible force as the viewer realizes alongside Grace that she and the children have been the genuine ghosts all along.
6 Malcolm is Dead - The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Sixth Sense really put M. Night Shyamalan on the map as a horror director, and this twist is one of the most well-known within the genre. The film follows Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist who works with a troubled young boy, Cole (Haley Joel Osment), who delivers the famous line, "I see dead people." After Malcolm helps Cole come to terms with his abilities, Cole tells Malcolm to speak to his wife Anna, as she sleeps, in order to get his messages across. One night, Malcolm gives it a try, and an asleep Anna asks why he left her as his wedding ring clatters from her hand to the floor. With sinking suspicion, Malcolm realizes he hasn't been wearing it, and he finally begins to piece together his death, months earlier at the hands of a former patient. This shocking development explains why he connected so deeply with Cole before he accepts his fate and crosses over.
5 Red Poses as Adelaide - Us (2019)
Jordan Peele's Us is a thematic exploration of the shadow self. Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family find themselves under attack by their vicious doppelgängers in red jumpsuits, known as the Tethered. Adelaide has had a feeling this would happen after a traumatic incident in her childhood where she first encountered Red, her lookalike. After a battle in the Tethered's underground lair, Adelaide kills Red and the Wilsons drive away to supposed safety. In the final moments of the film, she recalls her past again in a flashback, revealing to the audience that Red traded places with the real Adelaide when they were children, and has been posing as her in the upper world all along.
4 Esther Isn't a Child - Orphan (2009)
Orphan takes the creepy kid trope to a whole new level. After the loss of Kate's (Vera Farmiga) unborn daughter, she and her husband John (Peter Sarsgaard) choose adoption and bring home Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), a bright and talented young girl from Russia, who initially sparks joy in their lives. A series of violent events with Esther at the helm causes Kate to believe something sinister is at play. Tracing her history back to the mysterious Saarne Institute, Kate is horrified to learn that Esther is really Leena Klammer, a 33-year-old Estonian woman with a string of murders under her belt. As Esther removes her disguise, she reveals rotting teeth and a scarred physical appearance from her time in the institution, hidden by ribbons and makeup.
3 Rose's Ulterior Motive - Get Out (2018)
The real-life horrors of racism are illuminated in Jordan Peele's Get Out. Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), a Black man, spends the weekend with his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), as the two travel to visit her family. After being hypnotized by Rose's mother in an attempt to curb his smoking addiction, Chris wakes up in a basement and watches a video from Rose's grandfather. He details the true motive behind Rose inviting Chris – the Armitage family has a history of transplanting their brains into hijacked bodies in order to live longer and enjoy superior physiques. A review from Variety reads, "By revealing how the ruling majority gives freedoms, but they can also take them away, Peele seizes upon more than just a terrifying horror-movie premise; he exposes a reality in which African-Americans can never breathe easy."
2 The Killer Stands Up - Saw (2004)
The first in the franchise, the original Saw is just one shocking scene after another, with an unbelievable twist at the very end. Trapped in a run-down room and forced to fight for survival, Adam (Leigh Whannell) has almost made it out of Jigsaw's initial games alive. As the soundtrack swells, the corpse that has been motionless in the center of the room the entire time slowly begins to get up – the actual Jigsaw Killer, John Kramer. Adam learns that the key to his restraints was whisked down the bathtub drain as the games began, leaving him with absolutely no chance of escape. Jigsaw growls, "Game over!", as he shuts the door on him, doomed to die.
1 The Ritual is Revealed - The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods has been called "an affectionately satirical nightmare that asks why horror is so potent." Heralded as a self-aware entry into the genre, the story follows five college-age friends on a weekend full of typical teen debauchery in the titular cabin... what could go wrong? The group is attacked by a myriad of monsters controlled by technicians from a mysterious laboratory that watches as the chaos unfolds. Dana (Kristen Connolly) and Marty (Fran Kranz) make their escape, but soon run into the project's Director, who reveals the meaning behind the madness. A yearly ritual is conducted in service of the godlike Ancient Ones, in which the United States offers up victims who fit into horror film character stereotypes. This film joins the ranks of memorable horror spoofs like Scary Movie, but stands alone as a campy classic as well.