10 Horror Movie Twists That Rewrote The Rules
8. The Hero Is the Intended Victim - The Wicker Man (1973)
Not to be confused with its amusingly awful 2006 remake, 1973’s The Wicker Man is such a revered slice of quintessential folk horror because its sinister surprise ending leaves both its hero and audiences feeling utterly betrayed, helpless, and hopeless.
The plot centers around Sergeant Howie, a devout Christian and tenacious policeman who’s summoned to an isolated Scottish village to search for a missing girl named Rowan Morrison. As he explores the island and expands his investigation, he’s repeatedly told by the locals that Rowan either died or never existed.
Of course, he becomes increasingly frustrated by their attempts to gaslight him as he also becomes increasingly unsettled by their immoral and bizarre paganistic practices. Eventually, he determines that not only is Rowan alive, but that she’ll soon be sacrificed to a higher power to ensure a bountiful harvest.
The joke’s on Sergeant Howie, though, because the truth is that he was always meant to be the May Day sacrifice. In fact, the perfectly healthy Rowan was a part of the townspeople’s ploy all along.
Ultimately, Howie is imprisoned in a giant wicker man that’s set ablaze, with his agonizing screams coating the villagers’ victorious singing and dancing.
It’s a jaw-droppingly bleak, cruel, and transgressive climax that showcased precisely how ingeniously misleading and unpredictable horror movies can be for the majority of their runtime.