20 Horror Movies That Fall Apart In The Final Act
Saw X's final reels needed a rethink.
A frustrating trend throughout all of horror cinema is this: so many films can't quite stick the landing, even ones that are otherwise really great. The thing is, when an entire story builds up so much suspense and fear, it can be difficult to pay all of that off in a satisfying way. For example, there's a good reason we never saw the Witch in The Blair Witch Project - nothing could've lived up to such a build-up.
Unfortunately, many other horror movies fail to come up with good final acts, and the following 20 pictures are some dispiriting examples of this. They vary heavily, ranging from remakes to sequels, from big studio productions to smaller indie flicks - what they've all got in common is that they reaffirm how difficult it can be to end a horror film.
And the worst thing of all? A lot of these movies were actually pretty darn good before they fell apart in the final stretch, making them wildly disappointing viewing experiences. You really do hate to see it. Kicking off with a little something from James Gunn...
20. The Belko Experiment
We often complain about movies being too long, but what about when a movie is too short? That's definitely a thing as well, and a good example of this is the James Gunn-penned death game horror The Belko Experiment, in which 80 office workers are forced to fight to the death.
This one is only 90 minutes long, and it should've been at least two hours. The first hour takes its time and builds up the tension and workplace dynamics really well, but around the hour mark, it all descends into a mindless kill streak that quickly becomes exhausting to watch. This means any real characterisation falls to the wayside and the picture ultimately concludes with a rather contrived sequence in which sole survivor Mike (John Gallagher Jr.) kills the soldiers who oversaw the game.
The very end of the film did set up a sequel, although none has ever materialized. If a belated follow-up did indeed emerge - and, given the recent popularity of other death game stories such as Squid Game, that isn't impossible - then hopefully next time the story would be given more room to breathe. Come to think of it, maybe a TV season would suit the material better?