10 More Bleakest Endings In Horror Movies

Of all the genres that cinema has to offer, none loves a bleak conclusion quite like horror - as seen previously in our 10 Bleakest Endings In Horror Movies.

It says a lot about the nature of this brand of filmmaking that offerings which conclude with the hero coming out on top - or even offer the faintest glimmer of hope for a happy ending - are in the minority. Frankly, it could be argued that this morbid status quo is an understatement of criminal proportions.

In many cases, horror films delight in dangling a tantalising window into a wholesome finale, only to gleefully kick the chair out from beneath their audience by landing a devastating sucker punch. It's the cinematic equivalent of a bully offering a helping hand to an unfortunate victim they've just pushed over, before mercilessly yanking it away and stealing their lunch money instead.

Whether it be a particularly unenviable fate bestowed upon a central protagonist or the sheer hopelessness associated with the conclusion to the movie's narrative, horror has served up some of the bleakest endings physically imaginable. The unfortunate inhabitants of this list stand as a testament to this gut-wrenching state of affairs, highlighting that within the confines of this genre, it is decidedly standard fare for evil to come out on top.

A macabre follow-up to 2012's Alien prequel Prometheus, Alien: Covenant may not have reached the original entries' lofty heights but still received a largely positive critical response.

The 2017 outing follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant. After landing on an uncharted planet, they soon come face to face with Michael Fassbender's gloriously sinister David. The devious android has spent the time since the events of Prometheus plotting mankind's downfall, engineering the lifeforms that would go on to become the franchise's iconic xenomorphs.

Despite ending his debut appearance as nothing more than a decapitated head, David comes out on top this time around in exceedingly bleak circumstances. As a result of his identical appearance to the Covenant's resident cyborg Walter, Fassbender's antagonist carries off a wickedly brilliant Trojan Horse act after disposing of his döppelganger - a deception that is only revealed after Katherine Waterston's Daniels and Danny McBride's Tennessee seemingly come out on top.

Daniels only makes this devastating realisation after she is placed in stasis; far too late to prevent the murderous android from carrying out his mission. David proceeds to place two facehugger embryos into cold storage with their human counterparts, as the Covenant sails silently onwards towards its destination.

To paraphrase the movie's oft-quoted words of Percy Shelley, look upon his works ye mighty, and despair.