My top 10 favorite plot twist in horror movies
According to Literary Terms a plot twist is by definition “an unsuspected occurrence or turn of events in the story that completely changes the direction or outcome of the plot from the direction it was likely to go“. And when is done right a plot twist in a horror movie can leave audiences reeling long after the credits roll. These narrative surprises upend our expectations, taking the story in a completely unexpected direction. Whether it’s revealing a seemingly innocent character as the true villain or shattering our perception of reality entirely, a twist can leave a lasting impact, solidifying the film’s place in horror history.
Keep reading to find out which ones are my top 10 favorite plot twists in horror movies. Warning: this article contains mayor spoilers about some movies. If you haven’t experienced the story yet and want to avoid spoilers, stop reading now!
Dead Silence
After his wife meets a grisly end, Jamie Ashen returns to his hometown of Ravens Fair to find answers. His investigation leads him to the ghost of a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw who seems to have ties to his entire family tree
Film synopsis
Plot twist: Jamie finds out that Michael, a kid murdered by Mary Shaw, was his great-uncle. His family cut Mary’s tongue out; since she has been seeking revenge against his bloodline by killing them the same way, including his pregnant wife. Later, Jamie realizes that his father is already dead; he has been interacting with all this time with a doll converted from his corpse; his voice was provided by Ella, the “perfect doll” that Mary Shaw created before her death.
Orphan
A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she appears.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: Esther is actually a 33-year-old woman named Leena born in Estonia. She has hypopituitarism, a rare hormonal disorder that stunted her physical growth, making her look like a little girl. Leena is a violent serial killer and has murdered at least seven people.
Saw
Two men awaken to find themselves on the opposite sides of a dead body, each with specific instructions to kill the other or face consequences. These two are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: The “corpse” lying in the room turns out to be John Kramer, who is the real Jigsaw Killer. He electrically shocks Adam through his chain and exits the bathroom before sealing the door, leaving him alone to die.
Final Destination 5
During a bus ride with his colleagues to a corporate retreat, Sam experiences a horrifying vision: the suspension bridge that they — and many others — are crossing starts to crumble around them. When his vision ends and, almost immediately, starts to come true, Sam takes quick action that saves a number of people, including his girlfriend, Molly, and his best friend, Peter. However, the survivors soon find that Death will not be denied.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: Molly and Sam, who weeks before had a premonition that a bridge would collapse during a corporate retreat, are on the Volée Airlines flight 180 to Paris. Upon takeoff, Sam hears that one of the passengers had a premonition of the destruction of the plane, but it’s too late and they both die when the plane explodes. The passenger turns out to be Alex Browning, who has the premonition on the first film (Final Destination), making this one a undisclosed prequel.
The Others
In 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: Grace realizes that “the others” in the house are the living family planning to move into their house, and that like the servants, she, Anne, and Nicholas are ghosts. After her husband died in the war she smothered her children with a pillow before committing suicide. She had awoken afterward and believed the event to have been a nightmare.
The Uninvited
Anna returns home after a stint in a mental hospital, but her recovery is jeopardized by her father’s new girlfriend and ghastly visions of her dead mother.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: Anna has symptoms of both severe schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. Flashbacks reveal that Anna was the responsible for her mother’s death, that she has been hallucinating her sister Alex since she died the same night as her mother, she killed a friend after he revealed that he saw what she did that night, and killed her father’s girlfriend Rachel, who was not a murderer but a kind woman trying to make the family work; Anna had only imagined her as homicidal.
The Skin I Live In (Spanish: La piel que habito)
A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: The “woman” named Vera that Dr. Ledgard is keeping captive is in reality a man called Vicente. He was kidnapped and physically transformed by Dr. Ledgard into a replica of his late wife over a period of six years, and renamed Vera.
The Orphanage (Spanish: El Orfanato)
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: Simon has been dead since the first night he disappeared. He was in a secret room that during his search for disappearance was accidentally blocked by his mother Laura who did not know about the room causing his death.
House of Wax (2005)
A group of teens are unwittingly stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: The wax figures that were created, both in the House of Wax and placed around Ambrose to make it appear populated, are actually the wax-coated corpses of its inhabitants and visitors lured there by the Sinclair brothers who tried to continue their mother’s wax sculpting work. At the end is revealed that they had a third brother who helped them by bringing people to the town.
Ghost Ship
A salvage crew discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, and soon notices that its long-dead inhabitants may still be on board.
Film synopsis
Plot twist: A crew member, called Jack Ferriman, is in reality a demonic spirit of a deceased sinner tasked with provoking people to sin. He lured the salvage team to the ship to repair it, in which when it was in use in 1962 he posed as the sole survivor of another ship to continue his work of capturing souls to send them to hell.