13. Primal Fear
The Plot: After a prominent Archbishop is brutally murdered, Richard Gere's publicity seeking defense attorney jumps at the chance to defend number one suspect Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) but gets more than he bargained for from the angel faced choir boy.
The Twist: After getting all charges dismissed Gere's attorney visits Stampler but is taunted by Norton who admits that he murdered the Archbishop and has been playing Gere all along...naughty, naughty Edward. Great acting and a genuine surprising twist make this ridiculously good.
12. The Village
The Plot: The inhabitants of a 19th century village live in fear of creatures that live in the woods known as
Those we do not speak of. When one of their number gets injured the village has to send someone to make the dangerous journey to get medicine...naturally they choose the blind girl to go.
The Twist: In an obvious twist we see that they're actually living in modern times but have rejected modern living because who wants to live with all our technology and medical advancements... In some ways this twist is M.Knight Shyamalan playing with our perceptions of his reputation (after revealing the monsters in the woods in act two were just people, everyone knew there would still be a final act reveal) but it's too obvious. The bad news is it's totally ridiculous but the good news is it was so ridiculous the director hasn't attempted another final act twist since.
11. The Third Man
The Plot: Director Carol Reed's 1949 masterpiece stars Trevor Howard as a novelist in post WWII Vienna looking for his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) When he arrives he's told Harry has been murdered and how three men took the body to be buried. Is Harry actually dead and who is this third man are the questions that drive Howard's character on and into, arguably, the greatest film noir story of all time.
The Twist: The hero doesn't get the girl. It sounds simple enough and it probably wouldn't seem like a twist to today's cinema audience but, over 50 years ago, seeing well meaning protagonist Trevor Howard spurned by Harry's girl even after finding out what kind of man Harry really was (a racketeer who swindled Vienna out of medical supplies) is a ridiculous twist that left audiences in shock.