10 Movie Endings That Wanted To Piss You Off
6. The Mist - The Mist Clears Up For Bleakness-sake
The Mist was originally a novella by one Stephen King. And as any horror fan knows, the King is very skilled at writing bleak endings. You have the absolute carnage that is the ending of Carrie, or even the completely devastating final moments of Pet Sematary as Louis once again reanimates a loved one. King is also known for writing very, very bad endings as well though. He himself has even joked about this.
So when his books are inevitably turned into movies, King is quite often known for giving the filmmaker creative licence when it comes to the ending. And Frank Darabont was quick to take King up on that offer, completely changing the novella’s end from open ended and cautiously optimistic to absolutely soul destroying.
After following David and his 8-year-old for the entire runtime of the movie, the audience watches as the once strong and assured father finally gives in to the horrors he's faced when his supermarket escape plan turns into a murder-suicide. The father-son duo and three other survivors sit feeling overwhelmed with desolation and grief, stranded in the car after David discovers his destroyed house and dead wife.
The adults then decide to give in, loading a gun with the only 4 bullets they have, David mercy shoots everyone in the car, including his son, and plans to sacrifice himself to a more gruesome death at the hand of the Mist's creatures. But then the mist clears and the army rides through, the final shot showing how close David and his group were to escape and survival.