7. Oldboy
The Plot: In Park Chan-wook's revenge thriller Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is held captive without any human contact or explanation for 15 years. Upon his release his quest for answers (and hammer induced vengeance) also leads hims into a strange romance with pretty sushi chef Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung)
The Twist: That lovely sympathetic girl who took him in, that showed him kindness and human comfort for the first time in 15 years turns out to be his daughter...some guys just can't catch a break. This heartbreaking yet brutal twist compels Oh Dae to cut off his own tongue but you'd forgiven for thinking he chose the wrong organ.
6. The Usual Suspects
The Plot: The film follows the interrogation of Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), a low level criminal and survivor of a mysterious massacre at the L.A. docks. As he's quizzed by the feds we see his story in flashback of what led him and his partners in crime to their apparent deaths.
The Twist: Small time nobody Verbal Kint is actually the mythical Keyser Soze, criminal mastermind and orchestrator of the films events in this genre defining ending to Bryan Singer's career launching debut feature. It made you reevaluate everything you had just previously seen and won big fibber Kevin Spacey an Oscar.
5. Chinatown
The Plot: Roman Polanski's seminal neo-noir masterpiece follow's Jack Nicholson's private eye J.J Gittes as he gets drawn into a labyrinthine plot involving cheating spouses, shadowy oligarchs, double crosses and conspiracies in 1930's L.A. Through the course of the film Gittes is drawn to and then embarks on a relationship with Faye Dunaway's Evelyn Mulwray whose family are involved in a scheme to control the water supply of California.
The Twist: In a shocking plot twist it's revealed that Evelyn Mulwray has long been the victim of horrific abuse from her own father, millionaire landowner Noah Cross (played by John Huston) and he fathered a child with her who she tries but fails to keep out of his sick clutches as the film spirals towards a tragic ending. This twist still has the power to shock and helped play a part in elevating this film noir into one of the best movies ever made.