10 Horror Movie Twists That Rewrote The Rules

Aside from M. Night Shyamalan, no other horror filmmakers were as responsible for genre lovers anticipating twist endings in the 2000s as Saw co-creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell.

Granted, the series’ storylines became more convoluted and preposterous as subsequent entries in the franchise leaned into superficial “torture porn” grotesqueness. Nevertheless, that first film was a remarkably suspenseful and inventive Seven-esque nailbiter with one of the most cleverly flabbergasting finales of the 21st century.

Basically, two men (Adam and Dr. Lawrence Gordon) are confined in a dingy bathroom and – as the iconic tagline goes – are forced to “play a game” within a specific timeframe to atone for their transgressions and survive past the looming countdown. Meanwhile, a prior participant lies motionless in the middle of the floor from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

After Dr. Gordon escapes – and as the iconic score starts – Adam watches the supposedly dead man stand up, remove his gruesome makeup, and indirectly reveal himself to be John “Jigsaw” Kramer. He then locks Adam in the room while chillingly and equally iconically declaring, “Game over!”

Thus, it turns out that the philosophical homicidal maniac behind the whole scheme was a mere few feet from his victims the entire time. Consequently, spectators of all things scary learned that sometimes, the mysterious perpetrator is literally hiding in plain sight.