10 Recent Horror Reveals Nobody Was Ready For

8. The Unsatisfactory Final Act Reveal - Scream VI

Chucky Nica Fiona Dourif
Paramount

Sometimes you won't be ready for a horror reveal due to how much it rocks you to your very core, whilst other times you won't be ready for such a reveal because of how, well, naff it all feels. Unfortunately, the latter was very much the case for Scream VI when it came to its closing act unmasking of its trio of killers.

Scream VI is not a bad movie, but it's final third is responsible for the film only being decent when it could've been great. The first two acts are largely extremely well done, with Ghostface feeling like an entirely different, more aggressive, more public threat than in previous movies. And then, Scream VI failed to stick the landing where it pertains to its final half-hour.

Not only was it shocking to see three Ghostfaces for the first time in the franchise, but it was shocking (in an entirely different way) to have it revealed that these killers were Detective Wayne Bailey and his daughter Quinn and son Ethan - who were in fact the family of Jack Quaid's Richie Kirsch of the prior movie.

Scream 3 often gets flack for having its killer reveal be Sidney Prescott's long-lost secret half-brother, and Scream VI similarly disappointed some with its explanation that the trio of Ghostfaces were secretly the pissed off family of douchebag Richie.

This was a reveal that a good chunk of the audience weren't ready for, mainly because it just brought a crashing halt to what had been an otherwise fun entry in the franchise up until that point.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.