Ranking The Best Horror Movie Endings Of All Time

Horror movies are practically defined by their endings. It’s one last chance for the filmmakers to work in a good scare before the credits roll. Sometimes it’s a classic jump scare, while other times it’s a reveal that’ll leave viewers unnerved for days after. Sometimes it’s a combination of both. And sometimes it’s nothing but good old fashioned fan service.

With Halloween just around the corner and plenty of time to sit at home and binge your favorite monster movies, let’s rank the greatest horror movie endings of all time.

WARNING: Literally every entry contains major spoilers.

22 Sleepaway Camp

Most horror fans would say that Sleepaway Camp is not that great a film by almost all accounts, but its ending has endured through the years as one of horror cinema’s most memorable, so any list of great horror movie endings would be irresponsible in not including it. THAT image of “Angela’s” face is truly shocking.

That said, the twist’s implications are a little more questionable when viewed through a 2020 lens, so remember to pack some hefty nostalgia goggles if you decide to give this one a watch.

21 Freddy Vs. Jason

Freddy vs. Jason is a bit “different” when considering the previous films in the two franchises. That said, it knows exactly what it is, so it also manages to be really fun. Plus, it delivers on the title fight in a way that other big name matchups have failed.

That final shot of Jason emerging from the water holding Freddy’s severed head only to have Freddy wink at the camera is the stuff of fan service legend.

20 Shaun Of The Dead

While it parades itself around as a comedy, there are enough genuinely scary moments (with a hefty helping of gore) to earn Shaun of the Dead a place on this list. The ending of this movie is nothing short of BFF goals.

19 Insidious

After Josh returns from The Further having successfully rescued his son and seemingly defeated the spirits bent on possessing his body, all seems well. That is, until the last scene when Josh kills psychic Elise and it is revealed that he was taken over by the ghostly woman who haunted him as a child, a story continued in Insidious: Chapter 2.

18 Friday The 13th

In a last minute decision, Jason Voorhees was tacked on to the end of Friday the 13th, shown jumping out of Crystal Lake and claiming his first victim. Even though it turned out to just be a dream, it was still a crude introduction to one of horror’s most enduring villains.

17 Jaws

There is something to be said for beauty in simplicity. How do you deal with a giant, murderous shark? Blow it up, of course.

16 The Descent

If you’re from the UK where The Descent was made, then you got a version where Sarah wakes up from said jump scare to find herself still trapped in the cave. She sees her late daughter sitting across from her with a birthday cake, and finds a modicum of peace in this as she slowly goes insane and creatures begin to flood in around her.

15 Psycho

While some of the acting may be a little bit hokey and the practical effects may be a little outdated by today’s standards, Psycho is still a masterclass in psychological horror. The final reveal of Norman Bates’ dead mother and him in a dress and a wig with a knife has inspired countless twist endings.

14 Drag Me To Hell

Everything seems to finally be going right for Christine at the end of Drag me to Hell. She’s beaten the curse, she’s about to be engaged, she’s got that promotion, and she’s even got a fancy new coat. That is, until her boyfriend reveals a button she thought she’d seen the last of.

The final shot is on her boyfriend’s face as he witnesses her being dragged from a train track into the fiery pits of hell.

13 The Mist

In one of Stephen King’s darkest moments, The Mist ends with a brave David shooting his entire family – including his son – in order to to prevent them from getting overrun by the horde of monsters brought on by the mist.

Turns out, had he waited two minutes longer, they all would have been saved by the military.

12 Scream

Straying away from Craven’s supernatural tendencies, Scream manages a perfect balance between being an intelligent satire and a spine-tingling thriller. Watch it for the action, re-watch it again and again for all the meta jokes as Craven and writer Kevin Williamson basically teach the art of horror writing throughout the film’s dialogue.

11 Oculus

The ending of Oculus is nothing short of spectacular. Past and present collide as the evil mirror wins in the same way decades apart, and we watch both a young and fully grown version of Tim get dragged away by the police, screaming at the top of his lungs about the killer mirror that has now taken his entire family from him. Their ghostly avatars watch from the window as he is driven away.

10 It Follows

It Follows is a surprisingly nuanced film about coming of age, sexual freedom, toxic behavior, and the worst STD ever. The film ends on an ambiguous note after the protagonists seemingly manage to defeat “It,” as Jay and Paul take a walk together hand in hand and a figure following them that may or may not be the monster.

9 The Silence Of The Lambs

If you’ve never actually seen The Silence of the Lambs, it follows a young FBI agent who is forced to work with infamous cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter in order to catch an equally psychotic serial killer on the loose. Lecter uses these events to his advantage and escapes prison, only to give Clarice a chilling phone call at the end of the film.

8 The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense left an impression on pop culture that is still felt to this day. Even if you’ve never seen the movie, you’ve heard someone utter the words “I see dead people.” The movie’s twist-ending is so famous that everyone knows exactly what it is. M. Night Shyamalan arguably never lived up to triumph over this early entry.

7 The Cabin In The Woods

The Cabin in the Woods is simultaneously a love letter and a giant middle finger to the slasher film genre. What begins seemingly as a by-the-numbers flick about a group of teenagers going into the woods and getting taken out one by one quickly escalates into one of the most insane (and hilarious) displays of all out carnage ever put to film.

6 The Wicker Man (1973)

While the 2006 remake starring Nicolas Cage is famous for being a lemon (not the bees!), the original remains a beloved critical darling and cult classic thanks in part to its unsettling twist ending that features the film’s protagonist being burned alive as a sacrifice in order to bring in a bountiful harvest.

5 The Blair Witch Project

Like many of the other entries on this list, this ending is great more for what’s implied than what’s actually shown. The Blair Witch Project was a pioneering film in the found footage genre and stands the test of time; it’s just as scary in 2020 as it was in 1996.

4 The Thing (1982)

For a movie about a creature from another planet, The Thing ends with a very human moment. A moment full of distrust and plenty of subtext, but a human moment all the same. The viewer is left to ponder whether The Thing is either MacReady or Childs, or whether they both just end up freezing to death.

3 Night Of The Living Dead

The end of this classic zombie flick is, unfortunately, still extremely relevant today. POC character Ben heroically survives the night after a seemingly endless barrage of zombies, only to be gunned down by a group of (white) wandering zombie hunters and thrown on top of a pile of dead bodies without even a second thought.

2 Saw

For a film about two guys chained up in a dirty bathroom, Saw manages to include an incredible number of twists and turns but saves the best for last. As the music ratchets up and a series of flashbacks is played, we see the “corpse” in the middle of the bathroom rise up and turn out to be the jigsaw killer himself his final utterance of “game over” as he closes the door on a screaming Adam.

1 The Shining

The Shining’s cinematic ending is haunting precisely because of its ambiguity. After Jack has spent the night going crazy and is left for dead in the snow, the camera moves back into the hotel to show us a decades old photograph of hotel guests and staff that includes Jack’s smiling face front and center. It leads us to question everything we just witnessed.