When it comes to horror movies, the ending is often one of the most frightening parts. Horror movie endings can contain some of the most unpredictable and surreal moments compared to any other film genre. If the film decides that the journey has been enough torment for the protagonist, the film might just end in triumph, but often in these movies, that isn't the case. They might consist of a dark twist on what seems to be a happy ending or just conclude in the bleakest way possible despite the rest of the film already feeling so dreadful.
Some horror movies originally had plans to have much darker endings but decided not to go through with them for the audience's sake. They were either cut due to studios deeming the content too somber, upsetting reactions from test audiences, or changed by the director to make them more hopeful. These original conclusions touched on distressing themes surrounding the protagonist and their survival, inability to make it out alive, or even their continued suffering despite the tragic events they endured throughout the film.
This list contains spoilers for the upcoming films: Hostel, Get Out, The Descent, The Blair Witch Project, and Alien.
'Hostel' (2005)
Hostel is a film known for its excessive amount of nudity and violence and doesn't shy away from the imagery it chooses to show. The film follows a group of three backpackers who are traveling across Europe. However, find themselves in a difficult situation when they encounter a peculiar organization that captures and tortures tourists while attempting to look for a place to stay.
In the original ending, one of the students, Paxton (Jay Hernandez), manages to escape the prison and ends up encountering and murdering the man that caused all his anguish. However, the director's cut has a different version of the ending. Instead of murdering the man, Paxton kidnaps his daughter. Both endings happen in a train station, but in the alternate cut, Paxton can be seen with the man's daughter aboard a departing train. The original script even described Paxton cutting the young girl's throat. However, Director Eli Roth suggested that Paxton was saving her in the footage seen within the director's cut. Ultimately this ending didn't make it to the original release due to two main reactions from test audiences. The main takeaways were that the end was too dark or too convoluted and out of character for Paxton.
'Get Out' (2017)
Jordan Peele's directorial debut: Get Out, is one of the most innovative horror movies from the 2010s. The film consists of great performances, especially from Daniel Kaluuya in a role that skyrocketed his career after its release. The film makes for a great satire on racism and conveys these themes in an interesting and unconventional story. The film follows a Black man named Chris, who uncovers some shocking secrets when he meets his white girlfriend's family. The narrative is very captivating and feels so fresh in a stream of more generic horror movies, which we currently take priority.
Even though the film touches on some darker subject matter, it ends on a very light note, for a horror film at least. After Chris had to deal with the dread of killing off and escaping the captors, he eventually finds himself being stopped as a police car approaches him. However, the person in the car is revealed to be his friend Rod, which we know is a TSA officer from earlier in the film. Rod and Chris share a moment of relief before the movie ends. In the original ending, the police still showed up, but in a less hopeful circumstance as it isn't Rod. It's the actual cops who lead to Chris being arrested and ending up in prison, failing to convince anyone about the events that happened to him. Peele and company decided to change the ending as they thought the audience deserved the lighter alternative. This was due to the somber reaction from test audiences and the tragic events surrounding recent police shootings.
'The Descent' (2005)
This British horror film has by far one of the most unique locations in the genre. The film tells the story of Sarah, her group of friends, and their descent into an unknown cave system. The film's horror is sparked by murkiness and claustrophobia as the group gets trapped within the cave. It's a very atmospheric film, and if the fear of being trapped in this dark abyss wasn't enough, the film only gets more terrifying as blood-hungry cave creatures hunt them down.
The original British ending of the film, which is also director Neil Marshall's preferred conclusion, has Sarah desperately escape from the cave, leading the audience to believe that she managed to overcome this disaster. It's a truly feel-good moment as we watch Sarah frantically driving away from the cave system. However, she eventually stops the vehicle, and a vision of one of her dead friends causes her to snap back into reality, revealing that she never actually escaped the cave. The US version of the film decided to cut this scene as it was deemed too depressing for American audiences. The director thought this change was unnecessary because the US version still ends on a somber note. Although the US ending only cut out a small scene, it's still a very impactful moment that leaves the audience questioning if Sarah did actually survive.
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
The Blair Witch Project has one of the most fascinating stories about its release. It's one of the most popular independent films of all time, with a budget of only $200,000, but it earned over $200 million. The film sparked many theories; some audiences even believed that the events during the runtime were real. This was due to its "found footage" style, which gives the feeling that real events are being documented. As well as its self-referential story which made the film feel very realistic. The story follows three student filmmakers who decide to film a documentary on a local myth known as the Blair Witch. They go off into the woods but don't return, and their only remains are their camera footage discovered a year later.
The ending of the film is quite ambiguous but simple and effective. We see two of the students, Heather (Rei Hance) and Mike (Michael C. Williams), enter a house until they eventually stop functioning. Mike is shown to be standing in the corner of a dark room without moving, and Heather witnesses this before swiftly dropping to the ground (as shown by the falling camera motion.) It is unclear what precisely happened to both of them, but it is assumed that are killed by the Blair Witch. There are various alternate endings for the film, one of which includes Mike staring directly into the camera. Others include Mike hanging from a noose, as well as being crucified. None of the different endings really changed the overall tone compared to the original, but all feel a lot creepier and have a few added bits of detail.
'Alien' (1979)
Ridley Scott's Alien is one of the most iconic horror movies of all time, featuring one of the most iconic horror characters of all time, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). The film follows the crew of the commercial spaceship Nostromo. They follow a distress signal to a distant planet but instead discover a nest of extraterrestrial eggs. A creature from one of the eggs attacks an explorer and unleashes a deadly alien threat onto the Nostromo.
The film's ending sees Ripley as the final survivor as she faces off against the well-known Xenomorph and overcomes it by opening an airlock and blasting it into space. Despite Ripley's status as a horror icon, she almost met her demise in the very first film. This decision could have changed the course of the entire Alien franchise by killing off such a popular character. Scott's original plan was for the Xenomorph to brutally kill Ripley and cause havoc on another unfortunate crew that attempts a rescue. However, this darker ending immensely backfired and got a lot of negative reactions. It even nearly got Scott fired unless he changed it to the more hopeful end of Ripley surviving.