13 Scariest Movie Endings That Kept You Up All Night

Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult classic is not, by any standard definition, a horror film; and yet, as a dystopian science fiction presenting a nightmarish vision of the future, it's still an extraordinarily scary piece of work, with a conclusion that's bound to come back to haunt you.

Jonathan Pryce is Sam Lowry, a low-level employee of a bureaucratic, fascistic government. His life primarily consists of performing his tedious duties, sidestepping pressures from his mother to advance professionally, and daydreaming of a more exciting world in which he could be a hero.

This all changes when a simple clerical error sets in motion a bizarre chain of events that sees Sam fall in with some characters on the wrong side of the law - and, long story short, he winds up declared an enemy of the state, when all he really wanted to do was correct a government mistake.

The deeply unnerving ending sees him taken in for torture and interrogation - a duty to be performed by one of his oldest friends, Jack (Michael Palin) - when freedom fighters suddenly come to his rescue. It soon seems that Jack is going find freedom alongside the woman of his dreams Jill (Kim Griest).

However, once again - it's just a dream. Sam's daring escape and happily ever after is purely a delusion that he has slipped into under torture, and the film ends with the well-intentioned man strapped to a chair, having completely lost touch with reality.

Conclusions don't come much grimmer.