12 Movies That Tricked You Into Thinking They Had Happy Endings

6. The Woman In Black - It Doesn't Matter If He'€™s With His Wife, He's Still Dead

Woman In Black Ending
CBS Films

The Allegedly Happy Ending: Each version of The Woman In Black ends differently. The original book has the main character€™s family killed, which is amped up in the 1989 TV by having the hero die too. The West End stage play has an final scene so chilling it€™'d be a disservice to spoil it here, so let€™'s just say it€™'s haunting.

Wanting something a little more audience friendly for the Daniel Radcliffe-fronted version a couple of years ago, director James Watkins twisted the tale, with widower Arthur Kipps touchingly reunited with his wife at the film'€™s climax.

The Depressing Truth: Aw, he gets a happy ending. Shame he€™'s frickin€™ dead. This film, which tenderly had the family walk into the mist together, essentially ends with the ghost winning, but that€™'s painted over with a unsettlingly happy colour on it.

It was a nice touch to make Radcliffe (who just a year before had been playing a boy wizard) as a grieving single father, but you feel the dead wife element was only put in to allow this tone-muddling ending.

Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.