Following the success of We and candy manAmerican director Jordan Peele’s latest horror film, Nope, came out last month. The film has a supernatural twist to its scare factor, with the story following two siblings trying to collect evidence of a UFO.
While Peele has shown an ability to produce great horror movies that captivate their audiences from start to finish, not every director is capable of doing the same. Some films in the horror genre start out incredibly strong, but crash and burn towards the end, leaving viewers wondering if they should have ever put on the movie in the first place.
The open day
A Netflix horror movie released in 2018, The open day follows the story of a mother and her son who, after the death of her husband, are forced to move into his sister’s cottage. The house, however, is on the market, so they have to leave on Sunday for the open house.
The movie is made up of strange events that end up leading to deaths, but the way the movie ends makes viewers feel like they just wasted an hour and a half. Editor novab792 summarizes their disappointment by saying that “the ending somehow managed to kill everyone and leave parts of the story unfinished”.
annabelle
The prequel to Conspiracy2014 annabelle focuses on the origin of the titular Evil Doll introduced in the horror movie sequel. The show follows the strange events that occur in John and Mia Form’s house after they obtain this rare porcelain doll.
Whereas annabelle has some great moments and is compelling horror for most of the movie, the inclusion of an outdated trope greatly disappointed some Redditors, ruining the whole movie. Editor MRB1007 explains that they “loved this movie until the whole ‘poor little old black lady had to sacrifice herself so the white woman could be happy’.”
forgotten phoenix
A horror film based on the true story of the 1997 UFO phenomenon “Phoenix Lights”, forgotten phoenix tells the story of a group of teenagers who disappear while looking for the origin of this extraterrestrial contact. The film is shot using found footage, with viewers watching protagonist Sophie’s older brother, Josh, investigate the event through videos.
The concept of the film is interesting, with a sister trying to find her missing brother through her paranormal investigation, but the ending fails to wrap up the concept. Reddit user redditryan2011 explains that “the movie was decent up to that point, and then the ending basically said ‘FU'”, adding that it was a “waste of time” with “no closure at all”.
Opera
A 1987 Italian slasher by Dario Argento, Opera follows a young soprano singer who is forced to watch murders happen while working at an opera house. The assailant first kills a stagehand while she is performing, then implicates her in various other murders, including that of her boyfriend.
This movie is well-executed until the end, where clumsy directing spoils the beautifully curated story that was told. Editor PaulSheldonsFeet shows their displeasure by describing the ending as “stuck, unnecessary, awkwardly filmed, rambling, and tonally different” from the rest of the film, completely ruining it for them.
YellowBrickRoad
As its name suggests, the 2010 horror film YellowBrickRoad uses the classic film The Wizard of Oz in his storytelling. It follows an expedition to a town whose entire population disappeared 70 years prior, after a city-wide visit to The Wizard of Oz leads them all to walk in the desert.
What begins as an exciting and unique premise turns into a disappointing world by the end of YellowBrickRoad. Editor dr_fritz candidly describes the ending as looking like “a placeholder ending they used until they found something better, but forgot to find something better.”
Gerald’s game
Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, Gerald’s game was released in 2017 by Netflix. The film’s premise centers on a couple who go on vacation to a remote area, only to have the husband die while the wife is handcuffed to the bed with little hope of rescue.
One of the scariest parts of Gerald’s game are the hallucinations that the woman begins to have after suffering from dehydration, causing the viewer to no longer know what is real and what is not. The movie’s ending spoils that scare factor and ruins the horror, with Redditor deimosremus stating that “it completely eliminates any ambiguity that made it creepy”.
Mom and dad
A comedy horror movie starring Nicolas Cage, Mom and dad follows the story of the Ryans, a family of four whose household is overwhelmed by tension. One day, while daughter Carly is at school, the parents suddenly start murdering their children, throwing the school into chaos.
While the premise is interesting and the movie progresses well, the ending is unforgivable for Redditors. Reddit user MovieMike007 instead describes it as a “complete lack of an ending”, saying that they “really enjoyed the film, up to the point where it ended abruptly” with no explanation or conclusion to wrap it up.
High tension
A French slasher from 2003, High tension follows a pair of college students, Alex and Marie, who visit Alex’s parents’ farm for the weekend. While at the house, they are visited by a serial killer who murders Alex’s father before pursuing the rest of the residents.
The movie has all the makings of a great slasher movie – from the gore to the action – but sadly fails with a twist that ends so badly that it ruins the movie entirely. Reddit is very aware of this, with Reddit user chochobeware stating that they “read here multiple times to turn it off before the last 10 minutes” or risk ruining the film.
ghost stories
ghost stories is a British horror anthology that tells the story of Philip Goodman, a professor who has dedicated his life to disproving the work of psychics and superstition. He is invited by a paranormal investigator to try to solve three paranormal events that are believed to be the work of ghosts.
Reddit user swordmaster123 recaps ghost stories as being a charming and entertaining film whose “ending kind of made it all pointless”. This disappointment is the work of the film’s failed ending, in which it is shown that the whole film was just a dream of an incompetent Goodman.
city of the living dead
A 1980 Italian supernatural horror, city of the living dead follows the story of a priest whose death opened the gates of Hell. To prevent the undead from being released, the medium who saw the priest’s death in a vision and a reporter who saved the medium’s life must close the gates before the undead escape on the day of All Saints Day.
With displays of incredibly graphic violence, wrapped in the story of a supernatural threat from demons, city of the living dead has great horror elements to keep fans of the genre entertained. The ending, however, is dismal, with Redditor coolseraz claiming that “the real ending was spoiled because someone poured coffee over the pages of the script”, summing up the disappointment of the ending that was produced.
