10 Movies You Never Expected To Have A Happy Ending
5. The Conjuring
James Wan's superb haunted house horror was an uber-refreshing watch in so many ways; The Conjuring being that rare 2010s studio horror film that was genuinely great. It was a jump scare-based flick that actually used that oft-maligned scare tactic well. And in another lovely subversion of expectations, it has a hopeful, optimistic conclusion, which is something all too rare in this kind of movie.
In terms of its story, The Conjuring is fairly formulaic in some ways, so many were probably expecting some sort of downer ending. Not so at all. It's easy to forget this, due to how intense and high-stakes the whole thing is, but aside from the pet dog of the Perron family - the family living in the haunted house - nobody actually dies in The Conjuring.
There isn't even a "Gotcha!" sequel-bait ending where the monster jumps out of nowhere just before the credits roll; the good guys win, the demon antagonist is sent back to Hell, and the Perrons presumably get to live happily ever after. Isn't that swell?