Killer ENDINGS
January 29th 2007 00:49
WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Sometimes we feel horribly ripped off, and sometimes we find ourselves quietly hooting with sadistic glee. I’m talking about the endings of horror movies. Where the menace seems to have been destroyed, yet somehow manages to slip through the Good Net.
More often than not, there’s some kind of set-up for a sequel. Generally this sucks! Occasionally a movie has an open end, which wasn’t specifically designed as a sequel-cum-hither ploy, and still captures the movie’s nightmare essence.
As a rule of thumb the whole “It was only a dream …” denouement is a cop-out too. But sometimes it just works. Here are a few that play by the rules, but work a treat.
Carrie (1976)
Susan Snell, who survived the prom carnage, is recovering at her home. Her mother is by her bedside. The telephone rings and Susan’s mother goes to answer it. Susan appears to be dreaming. In her dream she is visiting the site of Carrie White’s home where it burned to the ground. A large white cross has been erected in a bed of rocks with Carrie White’s name on it. A vandal has scrawled “Carrie White burns in Hell” across it. Susan places a wreath of flowers down at the foot of the cross … and suddenly Carrie’s blood-streaked hand bursts through the stones and grabs Susan’s wrist! Susan screams and sits bolt upright in her bed, her mother rushing to her aid …. She continues to scream hysterically. Camera pulls away.
Halloween (1978)
Laurie has only just managed to keep her brother Michael Myers at bay, after he has been steadily trying to kill her. She has stabbed him in the eye with a wire coat hanger. Doctor Loomis finally arrives at shoots Michael several times at point blank range. Michael stumbles backward out onto the balcony, and over the side of the railing, down onto the lawn some ten feet below. There is a collective sigh of relief from the audience. Sheesh, for a moment there we thought he might have been unstoppable. Loomis goes over to check, and low and behold, the body is gone! The Shape is on the loose again. Loomis looks very concerned. Cut to black.
Phantasm (1978)
Young Mike and Reggie, the friend of his dead older brother, are consoling each other by the fireside. Reggie keeps telling Mike he’s been having bad dreams. Mike is certain the Tall Man who claimed the lives of his parents, and his older brother, is now after him. “Jody died in a car crash, we went to his funeral”, Reggie insists. Mike has a vision of himself at the grave of his brother. Finally Mike realizes that maybe Reggie is right. They agree to leave the house and go traveling together, get away from the memories and dark thoughts permeating the house. Mike goes up to his room to get his gear together while Reggie strums away on his guitar. Mike closes his wardrobe door with floor length mirror and reveals a reflection of the Tall Man. Mike turns and gasps in horror, as the Tall Man calls out; “Boy!!” Suddenly arms come crashing through the mirror and pull Mike back into the dark void that was the mirrored wardrobe. Cut to black.
Dressed to Kill (1980)
The killer, Dr Robert Elliott, has been caught. Liz and Peter are enjoying lunch and wondering what they will do next. Meanwhile at the local asylum a nurse approaches the bed of Dr. Elliott. He pretends to be asleep, and then strangles her as she leans over the bed. The inmates looking on from the upper levels all cheer him on as he slowly undresses the nurse. Cut to a point of view of a house. Someone is stalking it. Inside Liz is showering. The stalker has entered the house unheard. But Liz notices a pair of nurse’s shoes, someone hiding outside the bathroom. It’s the killer waiting. Liz carefully climbs out of the shower and goes to the medicine cabinet where a straight razor is, but as she opens the mirrored cabinet door, the audience sees the reflection of the “nurse” in the background, and next thing Liz knows is the nurse’s razor neatly slicing through her throat. She screams and wakes up, in her bed, with Peter at her side. He tries to comfort her, but she is hysterical. Camera pulls away.
The Thing (1982)
After having set fire to the Antarctic base, which has now destroyed most of it, MacCready sits by himself, exhausted. Childs approaches. Have they destroyed the alien thing which systematically consumed all of their colleagues? It’s unclear. More to the point, has the thing infiltrated either of them and is not letting on? “How are we gonna get out of this?” Childs asks, “Maybe we shouldn’t,” MacCready surmises. They stare at each other. Childs is about to insist he’s not infected, but MacCready interrupts, “If either of us has any surprises left, we’re not in much shape to do anything about it.” and Childs agrees. “So what do we do now?” “Let’s just sit here for a bit,” replies MacCready handing Childs a bottle of whisky, “And see what happens.” Both men manage an ironic chuckle. They know the alien thing is smart enough not to expose itself straight away; it wants to survive, not freeze, so it must be careful what it does. With the fires burning in the background and the dark night still surrounding them all they can do is sit … and wait … and wait some more. Fade to black.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Nancy no longer believes Freddy Krueger can harm her. She tells him directly that she thinks he is shit. Freddy Krueger lurches at her, his bladed gloves outstretched, but he simply dissolves into nothing as Nancy reaches for the front door. She steps out into sunshine, her mother behind her. A car pulls up to take her to school, with all her friends inside laughing. She joins them, her mother waving goodbye. But the car door locks by itself. Something is wrong. Nancy starts screaming, banging on the window in panic, but her mother doesn’t seem to notice. The creepy nursery rhyme begins again; “One two, Freddy’s coming for you …” and as the car, which now sports the Krueger colours, drives off up the road, Freddy’s arms smash through the small front door glass pane and pull Nancy’s mother back through it. Cut to black.
What other horror flicks have killer endings?
Sometimes we feel horribly ripped off, and sometimes we find ourselves quietly hooting with sadistic glee. I’m talking about the endings of horror movies. Where the menace seems to have been destroyed, yet somehow manages to slip through the Good Net.
More often than not, there’s some kind of set-up for a sequel. Generally this sucks! Occasionally a movie has an open end, which wasn’t specifically designed as a sequel-cum-hither ploy, and still captures the movie’s nightmare essence.
As a rule of thumb the whole “It was only a dream …” denouement is a cop-out too. But sometimes it just works. Here are a few that play by the rules, but work a treat.
Carrie (1976)
Susan Snell, who survived the prom carnage, is recovering at her home. Her mother is by her bedside. The telephone rings and Susan’s mother goes to answer it. Susan appears to be dreaming. In her dream she is visiting the site of Carrie White’s home where it burned to the ground. A large white cross has been erected in a bed of rocks with Carrie White’s name on it. A vandal has scrawled “Carrie White burns in Hell” across it. Susan places a wreath of flowers down at the foot of the cross … and suddenly Carrie’s blood-streaked hand bursts through the stones and grabs Susan’s wrist! Susan screams and sits bolt upright in her bed, her mother rushing to her aid …. She continues to scream hysterically. Camera pulls away.
Laurie has only just managed to keep her brother Michael Myers at bay, after he has been steadily trying to kill her. She has stabbed him in the eye with a wire coat hanger. Doctor Loomis finally arrives at shoots Michael several times at point blank range. Michael stumbles backward out onto the balcony, and over the side of the railing, down onto the lawn some ten feet below. There is a collective sigh of relief from the audience. Sheesh, for a moment there we thought he might have been unstoppable. Loomis goes over to check, and low and behold, the body is gone! The Shape is on the loose again. Loomis looks very concerned. Cut to black.
Young Mike and Reggie, the friend of his dead older brother, are consoling each other by the fireside. Reggie keeps telling Mike he’s been having bad dreams. Mike is certain the Tall Man who claimed the lives of his parents, and his older brother, is now after him. “Jody died in a car crash, we went to his funeral”, Reggie insists. Mike has a vision of himself at the grave of his brother. Finally Mike realizes that maybe Reggie is right. They agree to leave the house and go traveling together, get away from the memories and dark thoughts permeating the house. Mike goes up to his room to get his gear together while Reggie strums away on his guitar. Mike closes his wardrobe door with floor length mirror and reveals a reflection of the Tall Man. Mike turns and gasps in horror, as the Tall Man calls out; “Boy!!” Suddenly arms come crashing through the mirror and pull Mike back into the dark void that was the mirrored wardrobe. Cut to black.
Dressed to Kill (1980)
The killer, Dr Robert Elliott, has been caught. Liz and Peter are enjoying lunch and wondering what they will do next. Meanwhile at the local asylum a nurse approaches the bed of Dr. Elliott. He pretends to be asleep, and then strangles her as she leans over the bed. The inmates looking on from the upper levels all cheer him on as he slowly undresses the nurse. Cut to a point of view of a house. Someone is stalking it. Inside Liz is showering. The stalker has entered the house unheard. But Liz notices a pair of nurse’s shoes, someone hiding outside the bathroom. It’s the killer waiting. Liz carefully climbs out of the shower and goes to the medicine cabinet where a straight razor is, but as she opens the mirrored cabinet door, the audience sees the reflection of the “nurse” in the background, and next thing Liz knows is the nurse’s razor neatly slicing through her throat. She screams and wakes up, in her bed, with Peter at her side. He tries to comfort her, but she is hysterical. Camera pulls away.
After having set fire to the Antarctic base, which has now destroyed most of it, MacCready sits by himself, exhausted. Childs approaches. Have they destroyed the alien thing which systematically consumed all of their colleagues? It’s unclear. More to the point, has the thing infiltrated either of them and is not letting on? “How are we gonna get out of this?” Childs asks, “Maybe we shouldn’t,” MacCready surmises. They stare at each other. Childs is about to insist he’s not infected, but MacCready interrupts, “If either of us has any surprises left, we’re not in much shape to do anything about it.” and Childs agrees. “So what do we do now?” “Let’s just sit here for a bit,” replies MacCready handing Childs a bottle of whisky, “And see what happens.” Both men manage an ironic chuckle. They know the alien thing is smart enough not to expose itself straight away; it wants to survive, not freeze, so it must be careful what it does. With the fires burning in the background and the dark night still surrounding them all they can do is sit … and wait … and wait some more. Fade to black.
Nancy no longer believes Freddy Krueger can harm her. She tells him directly that she thinks he is shit. Freddy Krueger lurches at her, his bladed gloves outstretched, but he simply dissolves into nothing as Nancy reaches for the front door. She steps out into sunshine, her mother behind her. A car pulls up to take her to school, with all her friends inside laughing. She joins them, her mother waving goodbye. But the car door locks by itself. Something is wrong. Nancy starts screaming, banging on the window in panic, but her mother doesn’t seem to notice. The creepy nursery rhyme begins again; “One two, Freddy’s coming for you …” and as the car, which now sports the Krueger colours, drives off up the road, Freddy’s arms smash through the small front door glass pane and pull Nancy’s mother back through it. Cut to black.
What other horror flicks have killer endings?
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
In the American version of the Ring, the near-end revelation almost made me want to leave the theatre - you know, when the little boy says ' you're not supposed to let her out!'
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
I'm also with JohnDoe on Angel Heart.
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
After watching so many X-files I have come to the conclusion that some horror are only half written. The concept is never followed through so we end up with, "...And the bad gut got away, isn't that scary?" At that point I look for something to throw at the idiot box.
Yet I love the final twist in so many movies. Psycho where Norman Bates sits in cell now completely transformed into is own mother. Creepy and funny.
The ending of 'The Thing' was cool because it made us think and wonder. The theater of the mind continues after leaveing the cinema.
'Angel Heart' also works because we see an elevator going down as a metaphor for something else.
'Carrie' worked because I just did not expect it.
Yet the one that stick in my mind the most is the film called "Freaks" 1936 I think. Just think of the revenge of circus freaks and you get the drift. Great film banned for so many years.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Mighty fine call Damo..
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
That's the one. Gawd I love it.
Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
Comment by Hellvis
Earache Hotel
Love a lot of those endings but haven't seen them all. Luckily I have a horrible memory (And go Angel Heart and Freaks, go!)
I liked the ending of Night of the Living Dead. After identifying with and following the protagonist through the movie, he is shot dead by a redneck, who doesn't seem to care whether he was a zombie or not. It's unexpected and heartbreaking.
After fighting off hordes of the undead, it's poignant (and chillingly senseless) that another human being does the deed. And the grainy still shots at the end where they're removing the bodies with hooks just drives the whole wretchedness of humankind thing home.
Comment by Always Eighteen
Always Eighteen
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile