10 Bleak Movies With Unexpectedly Happy Endings

Frankly, this is the only entry that could be put at the top of this list when. When it comes to out of nowhere happy endings to otherwise bleak films, this is the most jarring of the bunch. Not just because Little Shop Of Horrors has a very well known original ending that the theatrical version almost had but then cut to appease their horrible test audiences, but because anyone with an eye for detail and story structure could plainly tell that this movie was not going to end very well for anyone involved.

Take out all of the songs, and this is easily one of the most cynical and bleak stories Frank Oz has ever attached his name to. The story is about a young florist named Seymour, who ends up saddled with a sentient plant that wins the hearts of the entire nation overnight. Unfortunately, the thing has an appetite for flesh and blood. Human flesh and blood.

Originally, Seymour's need for fame and glory (and to get out of the rat hole neighborhood he grew up in) overwhelms his morality for just long enough for the plant to kill everyone he loves, and then him. And then the rest of the world.

However, test audiences meddled with everything until the ending had to be changed to be significantly happier. Which, as you can imagine, has proven a contentious decision among fans in the long run.

While it doesn't kill the rest of the film, and Oz did get the last laugh with a cynical final shot, it does undermine the bleak tone that the film was building up for the last two and a half acts.