10 Movies That Are Totally Different By The End

5. Kill List

From Dusk Till Dawn
Optimum Releasing

How It Starts

Ben Wheatley's 2011 crime flick Kill List offers a straightforward yet intriguing premise as two former British soldiers, Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley), take a job to carry out three killings in exchange for a hefty payday.

How It Ends

Though weirdness soon enough abounds as it becomes clear there's something more to Jay and Gal's mission - one of their targets thanks them for killing him - it isn't until the final 15 minutes that things fully come into focus.

As the pair prepare to carry out their third hit, they observe a cult ritual in the woods which culminates in a human sacrifice, prompting an alarmed Jay to open fire on the assembled crowd.

Gal is then mortally wounded by the cultists, while Jay is knocked unconscious and wakes up in a field, where he's stripped, fitted with a mask, and told to kill his final target, "The Hunchback", who is armed with a knife.

Jay complies, killing the Hunchback, only to learn that the Hunchback was in fact his wife, Shel (MyAnna Buring), and son Sam, hidden under a mask and cloak. The film then ends ambiguously with the cult seemingly crowning Jay as their new king.

For a film that was largely presented as a gritty, low-budget crime thriller, the sharp left turn into folk horror - even with the preceding weirdness leading up to it - was a bracingly effective shock.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.