The 10 Most "Huh?" Endings in Movies
You know the feeling: You've been sitting through a good two hours of a movie only to have it slam to a halt with an ending that either completely messes with everything you just saw, leaves things frustratingly hanging in the air, or just goes completely batshit in the final minutes. It's time to celebrate some of our favorite "Whowiththewhatnow?" endings from movies. Oh, do we even have to say "SERIOUS SPOILERS AHEAD"? Well, there are.
10. Planet of the Apes (2001)
Yes, the infamous Ape-raham Lincoln ending. Mark Wahlberg thinks he's escaped from the simian planet, only to arrive on "Earth" - but an Earth where a monkey wrote the Gettysburg address! Tim Burton knew he couldn't just…wait for it…ape the original's "Goddamn you all to hell!" twist ending, so he decided to throw in a brand new one of his very own. Too bad it was solely a visual gag that didn't make a lick of sense.
10. Planet of the Apes (2001)
Yes, the infamous Ape-raham Lincoln ending. Mark Wahlberg thinks he's escaped from the simian planet, only to arrive on "Earth" - but an Earth where a monkey wrote the Gettysburg address! Tim Burton knew he couldn't just…wait for it…ape the original's "Goddamn you all to hell!" twist ending, so he decided to throw in a brand new one of his very own. Too bad it was solely a visual gag that didn't make a lick of sense.
9. A Serious Man (2009)
OK, this one is actually a little unfair. Sure, we're calling out the "everyone stands around, looking at a tornado" ending as one big, giant "huh?", but that implies that anything that came before that moment made any sense at all. A Serious Man is Coen Brother in-joke at its most insular, so the fact that it has an elliptical non-ending should have come as no surprise.
OK, this one is actually a little unfair. Sure, we're calling out the "everyone stands around, looking at a tornado" ending as one big, giant "huh?", but that implies that anything that came before that moment made any sense at all. A Serious Man is Coen Brother in-joke at its most insular, so the fact that it has an elliptical non-ending should have come as no surprise.
8. The Number 23 (2007)
For the whole movie, Jim Carrey is obsessed with a book about the Number 23 that seems to have odd parallels to his life. The occult is thrown is as a giant, demonic red herring, and then the movie hits you with its idea of a wrap up: Carrey wrote the book! Only he doesn't remember doing it! Yeah, that's right, this whole movie basically hinges on the equivalent of a Post-It you put on the fridge when you were wasted.
For the whole movie, Jim Carrey is obsessed with a book about the Number 23 that seems to have odd parallels to his life. The occult is thrown is as a giant, demonic red herring, and then the movie hits you with its idea of a wrap up: Carrey wrote the book! Only he doesn't remember doing it! Yeah, that's right, this whole movie basically hinges on the equivalent of a Post-It you put on the fridge when you were wasted.
7. No Country For Old Men (2007)
Oh, Coens, you've done it again. After a thoroughly tense and well-structured crime thriller, they decide to wrap up things up with implied off-screen deaths and Tommy Lee Jones explaining his dreams. And then it ends. Now, we understand the desire for an unconventional ending, but this is like suddenly unplugging the TV in the final minute of Murder, She Wrote.
Oh, Coens, you've done it again. After a thoroughly tense and well-structured crime thriller, they decide to wrap up things up with implied off-screen deaths and Tommy Lee Jones explaining his dreams. And then it ends. Now, we understand the desire for an unconventional ending, but this is like suddenly unplugging the TV in the final minute of Murder, She Wrote.
6. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
One of the most notorious WTF's ever. We see everything from the POV of Heather, running through the creepy abandoned house in the woods with the camera. She enters a room, and sees…what we think is her companion Mike, standing in the corner awaiting the witch's deathblow (like the children in the folktale version of the witch's story) but before what we're seeing actually registers the camera hits the ground and…that's it. The end. Laters!
5. The Forgotten (2004)
Aliens abducted Julianne Moore's kid. Fucking aliens.
Aliens abducted Julianne Moore's kid. Fucking aliens.
4. The Mist (2007)
After somehow managing to escape from the supermarket that's surrounded by unearthly horrors and (unknowingly) mere seconds from rescue, Thomas Jane decides that he'd rather kill his son, his wife, the other survivors, and himself rather than be subjected to death by Lovecraft. BLAMMO! A WTF and a gut-shot all in one.
After somehow managing to escape from the supermarket that's surrounded by unearthly horrors and (unknowingly) mere seconds from rescue, Thomas Jane decides that he'd rather kill his son, his wife, the other survivors, and himself rather than be subjected to death by Lovecraft. BLAMMO! A WTF and a gut-shot all in one.
3. Vanilla Sky (2001)
So we find out that everything - the undead girlfriend and the masks and everything - is some kind of corporate-controlled dream that's been running through Tom Cruise's head while he's been CRYOGENICALLY FROZEN? Give us a break.
So we find out that everything - the undead girlfriend and the masks and everything - is some kind of corporate-controlled dream that's been running through Tom Cruise's head while he's been CRYOGENICALLY FROZEN? Give us a break.
2. Anything By M. Night Shyamalan
Seriously, take your pick: "Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!" "Samuel L. Jackson is a super villain!" "The aliens' only weakness is water even though they seem intent on coming to a planet that is 90% made up of the stuff" "The village is on a modern-day nature reserve!" "The Lady in the Water is complete shit!" "Trees are killing people!" This guy is, literally, Rod Serling for Dummies.
Seriously, take your pick: "Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!" "Samuel L. Jackson is a super villain!" "The aliens' only weakness is water even though they seem intent on coming to a planet that is 90% made up of the stuff" "The village is on a modern-day nature reserve!" "The Lady in the Water is complete shit!" "Trees are killing people!" This guy is, literally, Rod Serling for Dummies.
1. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Not only one of the biggest mind-blowing endings, but one that will haunt your dreams for all eternity. The killer? "Angela"? SHE'S A DUDE! And not just a dude, but a dude so thoroughly checked into Crazytown that, upon discovery, just stands there, mouth open, making the most ungodly guttural noise we've ever heard with his peen hanging out. Seriously, watch this clip once and never sleep right again.
Not only one of the biggest mind-blowing endings, but one that will haunt your dreams for all eternity. The killer? "Angela"? SHE'S A DUDE! And not just a dude, but a dude so thoroughly checked into Crazytown that, upon discovery, just stands there, mouth open, making the most ungodly guttural noise we've ever heard with his peen hanging out. Seriously, watch this clip once and never sleep right again.
So, what are your thoughts on list? Me personally I would have listed all M Night Shyamalan's movie at #1 for this list as they just seem to get odder and odder!
"This concludes our broadcast day..."
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