10 Horror Movie Reveals NOBODY Was Ready For

Twists, surprises and reveals are as integral to horror as blood, darkness and the contents of John Carpenter's mind. Just consider the humble jump scare: the oft-maligned building block of the horror movie relies on an audience's ability to either not see what's coming, or not be fully prepared for it.

But some things are worse than jump scares. Much, much worse.

Since at least the 1970s, when cinema escaped the prudish mores of previous generations and horror got its own low-budget, full-intensity niche, certain directors have been treating their audiences like enemies rather than confidantes, doing their utmost best to get a rise out of us, whatever the cost.

And that cost is scary, horrifying, awful, shocking, unexpected, and so often too much. Indeed, some truly extreme scenes have been committed to celluloid in the name of a shocking reveal. Think of Ari Aster’s opening murder-suicide in Midsommar, the killer’s tableaus in David Fincher’s Seven, or any scene of any movie made by Lars von Trier in the last decade and a half.

Whether gross and vomit-inducing, bone-chilling and authentically terrifying, uncovering something unpleasant about a beloved character, or packing a stomach-dropping twist, these 10 films feature reveals that none of you are ready for. 

Despite the sizeable task of remaking Dario Argento's giallo cult classic, Luca Guadagnino did Suspiria justice, bringing it to new audiences and elevating its horrors with contemporary technology and a larger budget. Unfortunately, this birthed a number of rather grim surprises along the way. 

In the film, Dakota Johnson stars as Susia Bannon, an American ex-Mennonite who joins a prestigious dance academy in Berlin on pure talent alone. But she doesn’t realise her seemingly supernatural obsession with the place has to do with more than just dancing. After all, the Markos Dance Academy is run by a witches coven, who use their troupe of talented girls to feed their essence and keep them young - and they have a zero-tolerance policy for bad behaviour.

Early in the film Olga runs afoul of this when she attempts to leave the academy, becoming trapped by magic in a room where Susie’s dance elsewhere in the academy twists and bends her, breaking her bones and leaving her pretzeled, paralysed and on the edge of death. It would seem fair enough, then, for us to assume her demise after the witches carry her away on hooks.

Alas, that is wishy thinking. In the third act, Sara (Mia Goth) discovers Olga and missing student Patricia (Chloe Grace Moretz) in a secret chamber, kept alive through magic, left withered and suffering for who only knows how many weeks and months. 

No wonder their only wish is to die.