9 Horror Movies That Reward You For Paying Attention

8. Malcolm's Shirt Is A Giveaway Of The Sixth Sense's Twist

The Conjuring 2 Valak
Buena Vista

For those of us who were around at the time of The Sixth Sense's initial release back in 1999, it's hard to explain just how buzzworthy this picture was back then.

The feature debut from filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, not only was The Sixth Sense revered for that mind-blowing twist, it was also lauded for its delicate storytelling, it's genuinely terrifying scares, some stunning central performances, and it was a movie that well and truly put Shyamalan on the map as one of the hottest rising names in the industry.

Where that twist is concerned, though, the most meticulous of viewers will have had a massive sense of reward by the time that swerve is revealed and their suspicions are entirely justified.

You see, there is one major giveaway to the ultimate fate of Bruce Willis' Malcom Crowe that is staring us all in the face throughout the entire movie. No, not the fact that he talks to Cole - who can, obviously, see dead people - but it's the fact that Malcolm wears the exact same shirt from the moment he was shot in the opening act, right through until the closing moments of the film.

This is something that only an extremely small percentage of viewers picked up on - even on subsequent rewatches of The Sixth Sense - yet it's hugely rewarding for those who paid attention to this minor detail.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.