20 Horror Movie Happy Endings Nobody Saw Coming
13. Near Dark
Kathryn Bigelow's iconic neo-noir vampire Western Near Dark pretty explicitly suggests a tragic-at-best future for protagonists Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) and Mae (Jenny Wright), considering they're both vampires and all.
Yet even once the antagonistic members of the vampiric "family" are wiped out, Caleb and Mae are seemingly doomed to walk the Earth accursed forever more.
Or so we thought, but Caleb discovers that a blood transfusion can cure vampirism, allowing both he and Mae to be released from their condition as they look forward to a future together.
Now in fairness, even many die-hard fans of Near Dark feel that the ending is the worst part of the movie, that Caleb and Mae's salvation feels a little too easy and tacked-on for its own good, especially considering how bleak the film is leading up to it.
But the overall movie is just so damn intoxicating and atmospheric that it's tough to begrudge Bigelow this indulgence too much.