I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: horror movies often have problems wrapping
up their stories. It’s an occupational hazard! If you want
to be scary, it’s tough to make everything end in a cohesive and compelling way! I don’t
make the rules, I just follow them. Ambiguity and hastiness reign supreme in the
bad horror ending, whether that means the killer disappears without a trace, or everybody
dies and closure disappears like a father just out to get milk.
Maybe it’ll just end on some text explaining what happens next instead of actually showing
the audience! Who knows! Hello horror heads, and welcome back to the
scariest channel on YouTube: Top5ScaryVideos. I’m your horror host, Keegan Hughes, and
today we’re counting down the Top 5 Scary Horror Movies Ruined By Their Endings - Part
2! Before we get started, make sure to give this
video a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more poorly planned plots.
Just like last time, I will remind you all that we will be discussing the ENDINGS of
popular horror movies. Spoilers abound. You’ve been warned.
Outrageous, let’s begin.
NUMBER FIVE: IT - CHAPTER TWO Yeah I’m gonna stoke some controversy right
off the bat. I’m ready for everything this entails.
Stephen King’s IT has historically had a problem with its live-action renditions finishing
strong. This may or may not have to do with the fact
that the book is over one thousand pages long, contains a titular monster that’s hard to
define, and also involves some questionable content concerning kids combatting clowns
with coitus. Very proud of that sentence.
The 90’s miniseries ended with a giant spider battle, which was loved by connoisseurs of
Harryhausen-style stop motion, and met with confusion by everyone else.
They did their best to remedy this flat final showdown in the two-part modern remake, but
still weren’t able to totally shake off the cobwebs.
Yeah, let’s all work together and make fun of this clown until he turns into a baby,
and then we can take the still-beating heart right out of his chest!
Go team! After a whole lot of build-up, and a lot of
arguably much-scarier iterations of IT throughout the movie, the ultimate battle feels a lot
less than… well… ultimate. I’m gonna take it a step further, too, and
say that they biffed the entire second movie. IT - CHAPTER ONE started super strong, delivering
a whole bunch of wicked scares, as well as a cast of loveable scamps to pit against the
clown. The young actors did such a good job at being
likeable, that the studio decided it was totally necessary to add individual flashback sequences
of events not shown in the first movie to pad the runtime and bring the kids back in
CHAPTER TWO. This gave the movie a bit of whiplash, jumping
back and forth in time without really explaining why.
OH, MAN, WE ALL GOT TO UH, SPLIT UP AND RE-LIVE SOMETHING SCARY BEFORE WE FIGHT THIS THING.
NO WAY TO AVOID IT, SORRY! A lot of these encounters end up being complete
tonal shifts, and don’t add much to the plot.
It ends up being a convoluted, overly-long mess.
So yeah, Chapter One: fantastic. Chapter Two: a gigantic missed opportunity.
The ending of two was meh, and Chapter Two as an ending squashed the potential that Chapter
One set up. Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.
NUMBER FOUR: LIGHTS OUT Man, this should have just stayed as a short
film. I remember watching the original 3-ish minute
flick, and being absolutely scared silly. It was so simple, yet so effective.
A woman, alone in her apartment, and a demon that only shows up when the lights are out.
Using some split-screen editing, the filmmakers cost-effectively painted a terrifying and
dream-haunting picture. And then it went viral, attracted a bunch
of agents, and ended up being produced by James Wan.
Wan knows his stuff, but I think he let this one go a little too loosey goosey.
A backstory for the lights out lady was invented, and a bunch of excuses for people to run into
the demon were shoehorned in. They recreate the short in the first scene
of the film, which is cool with the bigger budget, and then keep it going afterwards.
The whole movie just feels like an excuse to show Diana some more.
I’ll go so far as to say the entire movie past the first scene is the “ending that
ruined it.” Maybe that’s a little harsh, because they
do come up with some more cool ideas, like the flash from firing a gun making her disappear
and avoid the bullets, but most of it seems sort of phoned in.
ESPECIALLY the origin story. Like, a girl with a skin disorder who is put
under lights that were just too bright, turning her into a demon.
Come on, man. That’s some schlocky supervillain origin story stuff there.
All of this culminates in someone realizing “OOP! I’m the reason she’s here!”
and sacrificing themself, making for a particularly cop-outy ending.
There was a sequel planned at some point, but I’m sure they couldn’t come up with
a convincing rationale for Diana to come back.
NUMBER THREE: LOST SOULS Ah, a good old-fashioned Antichrist movie.
Usually, the big bad makes an appearance, and often even wins in tales like this, but
not in Lost Souls. In fact, we never even get to see the main
antagonist itself! Lost Souls does have a lot going for it, though.
It is absolutely gorgeous, stunningly shot. And Winona Rider is our main character! That’s
always a plus. As Maya, a Catholic school teacher moonlighting
as a demon hunter of sorts, she is tasked with preventing the return of the Antichrist.
It comes to her attention that Peter Kelson, an author of some renown, has likely been
chosen to be the host. Peter has no idea that this is happening,
and initially assumes that she’s a nutbar. Some paranormal happenings quickly convince
him otherwise. After a multitude of Satan-related ordeals,
it’s confirmed that Peter is scheduled to become devilspawn, so Maya does what has to
be done. She pops a goddamn cap in his dome.
And then he doesn’t transform. And then the movie ends.
There’s a lot of ambiguity as to what really happened.
Was Maya delusional? Maybe hallucinating? Some folks, including the director Janusz
Kaminski, say this is an excellent way to get the audience thinking.
Others would probably say that it is an excellent way to make the audience feel like they’ve
been left without a proper conclusion.
NUMBER TWO: THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT This is, in all honesty, a pretty fun found-footage
horror flick. The ending, though, is mostly flat.
We follow a bunch of folks who have resolved to check out the scariest haunted houses across
America, and record their experiences. This leads to the revelation that a bunch
of haunted houses are involved in some pretty shady business.
Hiring criminals, employing dangerous stunts for scares, the works,
Kind of like a fictional McKamey Manor, but with less paperwork.
A super-hardcore haunted house group known as Blue Skeleton is name-dropped, and the
rest of the movie is the folks doing their best to find the elusive scaremongers.
They spend the rest of the movie pissing off the actors in other haunted houses, while
claiming that the stuff they’re seeing is nothing compared to Blue Skeleton.
This leads to some haunted house employees following and antagonizing the protagonists.
Animal hearts are snuck into fridges, people are filmed in their sleep, members are kidnapped,
you name it. And then, they’re buried alive.
Yup, they found Blue Skeleton, but they just kidnap them and put them underground to die.
The end. After all of the buildup, the tales told,
the legends exchanged, the tension rising, we get a quick peek at the ultimate scare
crew, and then it ends. It feels like a big tease! There is no ultimate
haunted house, there is no creative scare waiting around the corner, it’s just abduction
and live burial. How interesting.
NUMBER ONE: SIGNS Of course we’re gonna end with a Shyamalan
twist! One of the most widely parodied ones, too!
Signs opens on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Mel Gibson plays a man at odds with God, who
has resigned himself to the simple task of caring for his family.
His peaceful, somber routine is interrupted by crop circles, which are initially thought
to be made by vandals. This theory is thrown out the window once
evidence of aliens all over earth starts to show up.
These tall, dark extraterrestrial beings are everywhere, invading everything from birthday
parties to basements. They cause plenty of trouble, too, with their
poison gas attacks. The man who caused Mel’s crisis of faith
seems to have discovered the secret weakness of the aliens, and then promptly skedaddles.
And guess what? These technologically superior, malicious,
master-planning aliens? They’re allergic to water.
The most abundant resource on Earth. And they decided this was a good planet to
invade. Should have thought that one through, eh?
Signs is actually a really creepy movie until you learn this little detail!
It has tension in spades, and employs a whole bunch of wicked scares throughout.
However, it definitely ends with a whimper, not a bang.
The aliens, upon discovering the blue planet is full of stuff that burns their flesh, just
kinda hightail it outta there. Most of them, anyways. Some get left behind
in the confusion. The farmer fights an alien, asthma is perceived
as an act of God, and everyone is happy once again.
Cool. Really good stuff, folks. Sigh.
OUTRO And there you have it! You know, sometimes
the ending isn’t that important. You know? The journey that brought us there is the special
part. Right?
Well, not every flick can be a masterpiece. What did you think of the list?
Which movie has the worst ending of all time? Make sure you let me know down in the comments!
Speaking of comments, let’s take a look at some of your most voracious ones from Top
5 Dumbest Horror Movie Moments: St-Dan says “There are so many, five seems
small must have been a hard list. Respect, Keegan great content.”
I mean, horror movies are absolutely stuffed with moments like these! Hard to choose, sure,
but not hard to find! Rob Gorman says “Wouldn’t anybody agree
that Leprechaun is the dumbest Slasher movie?” I would definitely agree, but the dumbness
is where all the fun comes from! And each sequel gets dumber, too! Long live the Leprechaun!
EDSavant says “Jack Frost gave us such classy murders like the girl getting killed by a
carrot pee pee.” Looks like Christmas came early, hey? Oh my….
K D says “Tammy and the T-Rex eh? I must watch this movie”
YES! YOU MUST! The gore cut is on Shudder right now! Go check it out!
Johnathan Davis says “Make sure you have your Pick of Destiny before challenging the
Devil. Or at least make sure to break his horn.”
Checklist for rock-off against the Devil: Guitar, Pick of Destiny, Best Friend, butt
moles. Am I missing anything? And that’s all the time we have for today!
Before I go and have a spirited argument with Bugs Bunny, make sure to give this video a
big thumbs up, and subscribe for more chilling recaps.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.