10 Movie Plot Twists That Will TRAUMATIZE You
9. The Wicker Man - The Real Sacrifice
With this particular twist, given the fact that the film has been referenced plenty of times in popular culture and given that the regrettable Nicolas Cage-starring remake has become a meme, it's quite possible that viewers will know the big twist of The Wicker Man before they've even watched it. Does that make The Wicker Man's ending any less harrowing? Not by one iota.
The film follows Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward), who travels to a remote Scottish island investigating the disappearance of a young girl. As he investigates the sinister pagan community, he soon concludes that they're going to sacrifice the girl to the Gods, hoping to revive their failing harvests.
Well, as he discovers all too late, there is to be a sacrifice, but it's not the little girl. It's Howie. All along, he was their intended target and the entire 'disappearance' was an elaborate ploy to lure him into their clutches. As he is an authority figure who came willingly and is also virginal (he's a devout Christian, and saving himself until marriage), he fits their criteria for sacrifice.
And so, the islanders proceed to put the poor man into a giant wicker man and burn him alive, all while they dance and sing merrily before the spectacle. Nasty.