10 Movies Where The Last Scene Is The Best
7. Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter's original Halloween is a mesmerising exercise in tension and economy, as is evidenced no better than by its speedy yet riveting final scene.
As Michael Myers (Nick Castle) makes one final attempt to kill Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), she's saved by Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence), who shoots Michael six times, knocking him off a balcony to his apparent death.
But after momentarily tending to Laurie, Loomis peers over the balcony to find that Michael has disappeared, much to Laurie and Loomis' collective horror.
Carpenter then ends the film with an eerie montage of various houses around Haddonfield, accompanied by the sound of Michael breathing, his true whereabouts unknown.
Though Carpenter's film is packed with unforgettable sequences - especially its stunning opening - that ending so perfectly encapsulates what Michael Myers was initially supposed to be: a motive-devoid force of nature who can be anywhere at any time.
The sequels quickly went on to betray this idea of course, but on its own terms Halloween has a basically faultless ending for the story it's trying to tell.