10 More Alternate Horror Movie Endings You Didn't See

3. Esther Continues Her Act - Orphan

Orphan Movie
Warner Bros.

Jaume Collet-Serra's Orphan is famed for having one of the most shocking horror twists of the past 20 years. In this 2009 picture, the big swerve is the sweet 'n' innocent young Esther who the Coleman family adopt is in reality a deranged, murderous 33-year-old who suffers from a rare hormone disorder.

By the time the cat is out of the bag, Esther - whose real name is Leena - has killed a nun, faked child abuse, put adoptive brother Daniel in the hospital, and eventually kills family patriarch John. It comes down to Vera Farmiga's Kate Coleman to finally put a stop to Esther's rampage, as she boots the little loon in the jaw and lets her freeze to death in an icy lake.

In an alternate version of Orphan's ending, Kate and Esther don't actually end up at that icy locale. Instead, the film takes a different path from the moment in the theatrical cut where Kate falls from a roof onto Esther to stop her from killing 5-year-old Max Coleman.

Rather than this subduing of Esther leading to a confrontation on the frozen lake, Orphan skips ahead to a scene of Leena in her bedroom, doing her make-up in order to have her look like the 9-year-old she'd claimed to be. The police arrive on the scene as this imposter plays nice, with it implied she may have killed Kate and Max.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.