10 More Horror Movie Twists That Pissed Everyone Off

2. It's Not Jason - Friday The 13th: A New Beginning

Hellraiser Hellseeker Kirsty Cotton
Paramount Pictures

Despite genuine plans to bring the franchise to a close with Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter in 1984, the strong reception to that movie saw Paramount Pictures return just one year later with Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

Here, we pick things up several years after The Final Chapter, with Tommy Jarvis - the boy who brutally butchered Jason Voorhees at the end of that fourth F13 movie - taking residence at a halfway house near Crystal Lake. Before you know it, this house of young adults find themselves stalked and terrorised by a familiar hockey mask-adorned killer, with the main question being whether Jason is somehow back from the dead or whether this murderous sort is actually the clearly troubled Tommy.

In a shock twist, it's revealed that the person behind the mask is Roy Burns, a paramedic whose son Joey was slaughtered in the film's opening moments. Pushed over the edge, Roy opted to slice 'n' dice his way through the teens of the day in ways inspired by the previous acts of Jason Voorhees.

To say audiences were pissed at this twist would be an understatement, with many feeling angrily duped at having paid to see Jason back in action, only to be given a Jason copycat. Even to this day, certain horror fans forever have a grudge against A New Beginning solely because of its Roy Burns twist.

Senior Writer
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.