10 Recent Horror Movie Endings Nobody Can Agree On

There's arguably nothing more important in a movie than its ending, because no matter how brilliant the rest of a film might be, a whiffed ending can condemn its legacy forever more.

After all, wouldn't we all be talking about High Tension a lot more favourably if it didn't have such an infamously dopey twist ending? Instead, it's tainted basically all discussion about the film ever since it came out.

But plenty of horror movies end in decidedly more divisive fashion, splitting audiences firmly down the middle in their closing scenes, ensuring there's no real consensus on whether the ending works or not.

And that's certainly true of these 10 recent horror films, each of which drove a wedge between audiences who loved what they were going for and absolutely loathed it.

If nothing else, it's certainly resulted in some spirited discourse around each movie's finale, ensuring the films didn't merely evaporate into the cultural ether upon release.

Whether you dug how these movies wrapped up or took huge issue with it all, these films incited debates both healthy and not-so-healthy among the horror genre's passionate fandom...

The fair consensus is that MaXXXine is the weakest entry into Ti West's X slasher trilogy, though reactions range from fair disappointment to actually defending the trilogy-capping entry as a bit misunderstood.

For many, the film's climax is an especially undercooked mess, from the highly predictable killer reveal to the chaotic shootout that ensues and also the rushed, unsatisfying manner with which Maxine's (Mia Goth) future is mapped out.

But others feel that this is wholly in line with MaXXXine's stature as an homage to the giallo horror subgenre, which is often held up as favouring style and atmosphere over substance and water-tight narrative logic.

To the film's cheerleaders, MaXXXine is a perfect accompaniment to X and Pearl - just as they paid tribute to grimy '70s exploitation flicks and Technicolour Old Hollywood respectively, this film nods enthusiastically to the roughshod, frothy nature of the giallo movie.

And so, fans of the film wholly embrace its chaotic energy, especially in its bonkers finale, even as many understandably consider it a serious step down from West's work on the two previous films, and one whose ending ends the entire trilogy on a bum note.