10 Horror Movie Heroes & Villains That Didn't Know Each Other Existed

Alexandre Aja's ultraviolent slasher Switchblade Romance - aka Haute Tension, aka High Tension - has built up a keen notoriety in the two decades since its initial release, coming to be recognised as part of the New French Extremity movement, exhibiting some of the worst excesses that movement has to offer.

Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco) takes a trip to the French countryside to visit her family and brings along her best bud from uni, Marie (Cécile de France). But, not long after they have settled in for their first night away, a psychotic truck driver (Philippe Nahon) descends upon the homestead and hunts Alex’s family to their deaths. Stowing away in the truck, Marie is able to tag along while the killer kidnaps Alex, intent on alerting the police and hopefully giving the villain a good thrashing in the process.

But all isn't quite what it seems, and the final act opens a door on a strange psychological reality, producing one of the all-time dumbest twists to boot: Marie is the killer. This whole time, she has been switching back and forth between her normal self and a violent alter-ego. There is never any suggestion, however, that either Marie or this killer alter-ego are aware of this fact. Thus, in a truly head-scratching turn of events, neither knows the other exists inside of them.