9. The Village (2004)
This is one film that invites groans whenever it is talked about, and yes, that's M. Night Shyamalan for you. The Village takes place in a small village (duh), and when one of its denizens, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) is brutally stabbed, his blind paramour Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard), decides to venture out into the woods to procure medical supplies for him, against the wishes of the majority of the elders. While she has been warned of unseen creatures which prowl the area, she moves ahead anyway, facing off against one such creature who, in fact, turns out to be a man from the village (Adrien Brody) in costume. It soon enough transpires that these events are taking place in modern day, and we get a long-winded explanation about the Chief Elder, Edward (William Hurt) forming the community during the 1970s, while conveniently paying off the government to ensure that no planes fly overhead. It's a maddening and laughable ending that began the trend of Shyamalan's films having poorly thought-out twists - in comparison to the wonderful theatrics of The Sixth Sense - and marked his downfall as a filmmaker. Again, it's one of those horribly underwhelming ideas that probably read well on the page, but was poorly executed and simply too contrived to work. Are there any other famous anti-climaxes you're particular fond of or hateful towards? Let us know in the comments below.