10 Movies That Pissed Audiences Off In The Final Scene

George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead was the cultural primer for the modern zombie movie, an expertly crafted effort which remains deeply unsettling today.

But the film's true, aggravating masterstroke arrives in its very final scene, when the only remaining member of the central group, Ben (Duane Jones), manages to survive until dawn, only to find himself accidentally shot dead by an incoming posse, which mistakes him for one of the undead.

Ingenious a piece of social commentary as it is, especially with the film releasing in the midst of the civil rights movement, many nevertheless felt robbed of a happy ending for Ben, who with his resourcefulness throughout had surely earned himself the right to live.

While Romero insisted in interviews for the rest of his life that Ben's death wasn't intended to pass commentary on racism, it's practically impossible not to view the film that way through a contemporary lens - and it's all the better for it.

Whatever your own reading, though, seeing Ben struck down as a result of idiotic human error was a guaranteed way to leave audiences seething with rage as the end credits rolled.