10 Great Cliffhanger Endings From Recent Horror Movies

3. How Does Erin Explain This? - You’re Next

As we’ve already seen on this list, trips to rural vacation homes to spend time with family rarely turn out well, as our protagonist Erin (Sharni Vinson) discovers in 2011’s excellent home invasion flick You’re Next.

Upon arriving at the spot with her boyfriend Crispian (AJ Bowen), the pair are greeted by Crispian’s family and their partners. As the family sit down to dinner, the group is rudely interrupted by a crossbow bolt hurtling through the window, and it becomes apparent that they have been targeted by a group of intruders wearing animal masks, who wish them all dead.

After the inevitable carnage has played out and the body count has racked up, Erin’s previous upbringing in a survivalist compound has allowed her to get the better of most of the assailants, and she sets up an axe trap worthy of Kevin McCallister to fall on anyone who enters the front door to take out any remaining attackers.

After discovering that Crispian was involved in orchestrating the attack, Erin confronts and kills him, an act that is witnessed by a police officer who has now been drawn to the scene.

In a final gut-punch, fully in keeping with the film’s frantic and blackly comedic tone, we see the police officer enter the house, only to be promptly chopped straight through the head by Erin’s sneaky axe trap before we cut to credits, OOPS.

Erin has won out against her attackers, sure, but she still has a fresh gunshot wound and the potential of being pinned with multiple murders to contend with.