If a good horror movie twist changes the entire story and makes audiences think long and hard, then a bad one is really disappointing. With so many classic twists that fans are familiar with, for example Cole Sears (Haley Joel Osment) sharing that he "sees dead people" in 1999's The Sixth Sense, the bar is set pretty high for massive reveals.
While there are some incredible plot twists that fans champion and chat about, there are just as many that don't make any sense and could have been avoided or changed entirely. From an '80s film with a problematic ending to a 2000s movie with a reveal that still bugs fans to this day, there are several scary movies with confusing and poor plot twists.
Angela Is Peter In Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Horror fans were shocked at the ending of Sleepaway Camp when Felissa Rose's character Angela shows male genitalia and they realize that Aunt Martha (Desiree Gould) wanted a daughter and raised Peter as Angela.
This might have felt surprising at the time, but it's incredibly offensive and it seems like literally anything could have been used as the explanation instead. Pretty Little Liars featured a similar reveal when the show told viewers that Charles DiLaurentis was really Charlotte. This kind of ending and explanation is upsetting and unnecessary. It's also fair to say that in general, Sleepaway Camp isn't a timeless and classic 1980s horror movie.
The Ghosts Take Over Caroline In The Skeleton Key (2005)
Sometimes a horror movie plot twist is hard to predict... and other times, it doesn't feel right when it happens. In the case of the 2005 film The Skeleton Key, which starred Kate Hudson as main character Caroline Ellis, the twist seems too obvious and boring.
Caroline works in hospice care and begins working for Violet Devereaux (Gena Rowlands) at her home, which turns out to be haunted. Caroline learns a bit about the art and history of hoodoo, but she maintains that she doesn't think that this is real. It turns out that Caroline had to change from a hardened skeptic to believer in order to really be part of the paranormal happenings here. Caroline realizes that the ghosts of the servants have taken over the older couple's bodies and now they have taken over her, too. Stories about the supernatural can be tricky as the explanation "it was just magic" is given a lot, but it never feels quite right.
David Killed For No Reason In The Mist (2007)
At the end of the 2007 movie The Mist, a movie based on a Stephen King book, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) kills his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) and some other characters. Then he finds out that he is now being saved and he just murdered for absolutely no reason. Naturally and understandably, David is incredibly upset and grief-stricken.
Something feels off about this plot twist, though, making it an ultimately unsatisfying ending. Why would David really think that he has to murder his son and people who matter to him? It's an incredibly dark, disturbing, and bleak twist that doesn't feel like it fits with the rest of the story. It's entertaining watching the family deal with a weird mist that appears in their small town, but the end really ruins the film, making audiences feel like they just watched the movie for nothing.
The Child Is An Adult In Orphan (2009)
The 2009 film Orphan has one of the worst horror movie endings because of the plot twist that audiences just can't buy.
Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) is really a 33-year-old named Leena Klammer instead of the child who she is supposed to be. When audiences find this out, they can't be all that surprised because the character has a face that gives this twist away as she definitely looks older than a little kid. The movie might have worked better if this twist was explained at the beginning and then the rest of the film took place in flashbacks so audiences could put together how the couple slowly figured this truth out.
The Characters Cut Their Tormenter's Arms Off In The Perfection (2018)
The 2018 thriller/horror movie The Perfection is trying to say something intelligent and important about sexual assault. Unfortunately, the movie's plot twist undermines this effort and confuses instead.
The major plot twist in The Perfection involves Charlotte Willmore (Allison Williams) drugging Lizzie Wells (Logan Browning) so Lizzie thinks that she's ill and needs to cut off her arm. Charlotte does this so Lizzie won't be a violin prodigy anymore and Anton (Steven Webber) can't abuse her. At the end of the movie, there is yet another twist: Charlotte and Lizzie each only have one arm and they cut off both of Anton's arms so they have an extra limb to play a song together. This is definitely nonsensical because it just seems so unnecessarily violent and over the top. Can't they go to the authorities and turn Anton in? It's hard not to feel like this ending is trying way too hard.