10 Horror Movies That Keep Tricking Viewers

7. The Midnight Meat Train

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Lionsgate

It's no surprise The Midnight Meat Train is messed up considering it's from the mind of Clive Barker, best known for creating Hellraiser. However, this WTF gorefest is more twisted than anyone could expect, since it changes genre every half-hour or so.

The story kicks off with rising photographer Leon (Bradley Cooper) stumbling upon a creepy man on the subway named Mahogany (Vinnie Jones). When Leon follows him, he learns Mahogany is mutilating victims for undisclosed reasons.

As Leon investigates further, he discovers Mahogany's murder spree has been going on for over a century. Just when it feels like the story couldn't get stranger, the climax goes balls-to-the-wall bonkers.

After Leon leaves the killer mortally wounded, he learns Mahogany was chosen by a cabal to protect humanity. Every night, Mahogany travels to a hidden civilisation underground that's populated by reptilian creatures, and feeds them fresh meat to stop them invading the surface world. After Mahogany dies, Leon is forced to take his place to ensure the creatures remain satiated.

Even though The Midnight Meat Train starts as a grounded detective drama, it quickly descends into a full-scale slasher, then a supernatural horror, before suddenly turning into a Lovecraftian nightmare. The story at the end has so little resemblance to how it started, it doesn't even feel like the same movie by the time the credits roll.

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows