10 More Horror Movie Twists That Pissed Everyone Off

1. Kirsty Cotton's Bungled Return - Hellraiser: Hellseeker

Hellraiser Hellseeker Kirsty Cotton
Dimension Films

For a horror franchise, one way to forever get your fanbase excited is to bring back a fan favourite character. Think how big of a deal it was when Halloween brought Jamie Lee Curtis back for H20 in 1998, or even how much buzz there was surrounding Jamie Lee returning for David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy. Heck, bringing Heather Langenkamp back to the Elm Street series to play herself was one of the many reasons why Wes Craven's New Nightmare is so revered amongst horror hounds.

So, when Hellraiser brought back Ashley Laurence's Kirsty Cotton - the lead protagonist of the first two films - for its sixth installment, 2002's Hellraiser: Hellseeker, hope was high that the troubled franchise was set for an upturn.

Sadly, Hellseeker immediately soured fans with the twist of Kirsty being killed off in its opening moments, dying in a car crash also involving her abusive husband Trevor. To kick a fanbase while they're down, though, Hellseeker concluded with the revelation that Trevor, not Kirsty, had been dead throughout the bulk of the picture... due to Kirsty Cotton having made a deal with Pinhead where Kirsty saw to the death of Trevor, his best friend, and three of Trevor's mistresses.

Yep, our hero lived long enough to see herself become the villain. Or at least make a deal with one.

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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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.