10 Horror Movie 2020 Fates Worse Than Death

Death is, by and large, considered quite bad. That's not normally something you'd mind sticking your neck out to say but, when it comes to horror movies, there's every chance something sharp is going to fall from the sky to cleave your head from your otherwise shrugging shoulders if you do.

Of course, death isn't the worst thing that can happen in horror movies. Standing as a reflection of the warped and twisted nature of human imagination, the filmmakers behind some of 2020's best releases dreamed up all kinds of fates that would make simply expiring a favourable alternative. Trapped in living hells of your own creation? Check. Tormented for eternity by evil spirits? Check. Spending the weekend with two children who aren't yours? Oh god, make it stop.

Despite the fact last year felt, at times, like a fate worse than death all of its own, there were still plenty of fictional examples from the deep pool of horror cinema - many of them featuring moments that had their assorted heroes and villains wishing for a demise as comparably pleasant as a simple passing on.

Naturally, 'Fates' tending to require an element of finality about them, there's going to be heavy spoilers from here on out.

In You Should Have Left, couple Theo and Susanna take their daughter Ella on vacation. However it's only when they arrive that they realise neither actually made the booking. Unfortunately for them, they quickly find out they haven't been set up by a mysterious suitor with good intentions and are instead being stalked by something that is just out of sight.

The supernatural sightings and noises grow worse and worse for the couple and Theo receives a sinister note in his journal. It warns him that they all need to leave the house before it's too late.

Being the sensible one of the pair (and presumably having seen the movie's title), Susanna gets the hell out of there, but Theo and Ella remain. This, as I'm sure you can already imagine, is not a smart move.

They quickly find that the house no longer makes sense (walls and angles are confused and warped) and when Theo eventually rings for a cab to get away, the man he speaks to tells him that his is a house from where the Devil collects souls. Oops.

Theo returns to his diary to discover that it now spells out a new fate: "You should have left. Now it's too late."

This is all partly a punishment for Theo's own failings. He had a wife before Susanna who drowned and while he didn't kill her, he didn't save her when he had the chance.

The flick finishes with Theo accepting that he will remain in this Devil's waiting room, which thankfully frees Ella, as his spirit watches his family flee.