8 Horror Movies Ruined By Last Minute Changes

It’s a film that is nonetheless regarded by many as a masterpiece, but Brazil does have one very controversial aspect: its ending. Or rather, its endings.

Whilst the darker, sadder ending was released to Europe without a problem, Universal feared that Americans weren’t ready for that kind of complex emotion. Looking at a fully completed, released film they said, “no, I want to change that.”

A new edit which cut out huge amounts of important footage was created. The ending was changed so that Sam’s dream is never revealed to be a product of insanity, and the plot focuses more on relationships and fun action pieces than…well, anything. The entire film loses its gravity when shaved down to a 90 minute straight-to-TV format.

I think in the annals of history it’ll be recorded that director Terry Gilliam’s original ending won out the battle, as Universal decided against releasing their theatrical cut when Gilliam started taking public shots at them for butchering his film. But should it really take catty ads in magazines to stop studios from ruining your masterpiece at the last second?