10 Horror Movie Endings That Pissed Everyone Off

5. Painful Exposition - Psycho

Psycho Janet Leigh
Paramount Pictures

Now you might be thinking "Josh, Psycho is one of the greatest horror movies of all time, and its ending with Norman Bates monologuing that he wouldn't hurt a fly is chef's kiss perfection" and I'm not here to disagree with you. Psycho still rocks sixty years later, and Norman Bates' face superimposed onto a skull is the stuff of legend.

It's just the rest of the ending surrounding it that kinda blows. After Norman Bates is taken into police custody, we're then given one of the most infamously painful expository sequences of all time. Perhaps in order to make sure audiences of the '60s fully understood everything that happened in its twisty final third, the audience is lectured at while a character explains everything about Norman's past, his psychological profile, and why he's done what he's done.

It's another case of less is more. The ending would have been more effective without this scene, and it's one of the few things that truly dates an otherwise essential and ahead-of-its-time piece of filmmaking.

Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.