10 More Horror Movies With Seriously Messed Up Endings

2. The Dark And The Wicked

The Dark and the Wicked
RLJE Films

Bryan Bertino has a marvellous eye for creating tension and atmosphere, and the filmmaker's talents are on full display in The Dark and the Wicked.

Sadly slipping a little under the radar when it was released late last year - largely due to the ongoing global pandemic - The Dark and the Wicked is a stripped-back picture that's phenomenally paced across its 96-minute run time.

In this most recent Bertino offering, the primary focus is on siblings Louise and Michael as they return to their Texas farmhouse home when they hear news that their ill father is edging closer to taking his final breaths.

While The Dark and the Wicked is very much a supernatural tale - a demonic presence (maybe Satan himself?) tormenting the household - it's also one that explores distant families and the guilt that can be associated with that. For Louise and Michael, they're almost estranged from their parents by the time the movie opens, and there are constant themes of the impact of family love (or lack of) throughout the film.

What's shocking about this movie's ending, is in how Michael is lured into slitting his own throat for his wife and children to find, and that the film's credits hit moments after Louise is grabbed by a demon after her father had just passed away.

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 dayjob, 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, Jamie Hayer, 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.