20 Most Intense Movie Endings Of All Time

15. Chinatown (1974)

Chinatown Jack Nicholson
Sony Pictures Classic

Roman Polanski's iconic neo-noir delivers one of the most intensely bleak finales in movie history, as P.I. Jake Gittes' (Jack Nicholson) investigations lead him into the arms of the police, before rape victim Evelyn (Faye Dunaway) is shot dead by the cops, and her sister/daughter Katherine (Belinda Palmer) lands in the slimy clutches of the incest-rapist patriarch of the family, Noah Cross (John Huston).

The chilling final words, as one of Jake's associates tells him, "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown", underline Polanski's clear scepticism of happy endings, by serving up something almost unbearably horrific.

The hero is powerless, the baddie wins and the two women are doomed: how can things get any worse?

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.