# Any Recent Horror Movies With Unambiguously Happy Endings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268 "2017-06-18T03:19:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/21 "2017-06-19T19:04:16Z")
_El Orfanato_ - If memory serves,The mother realizes she inadvertently caused her adopted sons’ death, but also realizes the ghosts of the orphans want someone to take care of them, so she kills herself and becomes their caretaker. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/22 "2017-06-19T19:30:58Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Actually, it doesn’t _quite_. Y’see, it’s a little-known fact that “Aliens” has a subtle end-credit “bit”, it isn’t even a scene. As the final credits are rolling across the screen and the soundtrack music fades out, there is the sound of humming machinery over a black screen. Then there’s the weird sound that’s a bit like the pods opening. That was James Cameron’s way of leaving the film open for sequels: another alien creature got aboard the escape ship and was on the loose as Ripley, Newt, Hicks, and Bishop were all asleep in cryo-chambers… Huh - never noticed that before. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/23 "2017-06-19T19:39:33Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > > [@FriarTed](#): > > > > Since most people here ignored “recent”- I’ll add “The Bride” with Clancy Brown, Jennifer Beals, & Sting. The happiest Frankenstein movie ever. > > > > Actually, the mistitled “Victor Frankenstein” with McAvoy & Radcliffe ended happily. > > Recent is relative. Recent to Old Guy might be the 50s. Recent might be relative, but the OP clearly defined the term. > [@astorian](#): > > What horror movies in the past 35 years had good defeat evil, without hinting that maybe the monster or killer is still alive or will return? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/24 "2017-06-19T20:02:16Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Huh - never noticed that before. Cite? On the [IMDB trivia page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/trivia), it’s the sixth item under “spoilers.” Or, alternately, you can netflix the movie and just fast-forward to the very end of the credits and just listen to it. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/25 "2017-06-19T20:43:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Recent might be relative, but the OP clearly defined the term. Are those human or dog years? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/26 "2017-06-20T00:09:49Z")
_The Lost Boys_, perhaps? (turns 30 y.o. on Harry Potter’s birthday) Also: _Sweeney Todd_ (almost 10) and _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ (aged 24 come October). I haven’t seen any plans for _Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2_. Peewee Hermancula was clearly not going to get better. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/27 "2017-06-20T00:19:26Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > Jacobs Ladder. What? I thought that was a downer. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/28 "2017-06-20T00:43:27Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Does “Shaun of the Dead” count as a horror movie? It’s a little intense (and sometimes even scary) to be labeled an out-and-out parody film. But it does end with (spoilers for a decade-plus old movie) Shaun alive and reunited with his girlfriend and…his best friend. The zombie apocalypse has come and gone and zombies have been ‘normalized’ as part of society. Heck, there are several zombie movies that end on high notes - the zombie wave is being brought under control, there might be a cure or vaccine etc. As I recall: _28 Days Later_ _World War Z_ _Warm Bodies_ ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/29 "2017-06-20T00:54:16Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > What? I thought that was a downer. Well, it certainly left no possibility of a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/30 "2017-06-20T01:11:49Z")
Mel Brooks’ _Young Frankenstein_, if a comedy-horror film counts. _Tremors_\*\* , although hilarious in places, was also out-and-out terrifying…but still had a happy, all-wrapped-up ending (although that didn’t stop them from making a sequel). ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/31 "2017-06-20T01:33:54Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > Jacobs Ladder. Not really a “happy ending” in the spirit of the OP, but you have a point – the horror turns out to be an Owl Creek Bridge hallucination, so the protagonist’s death does end it all. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/32 "2017-06-20T04:00:37Z")
The Conjuring ends happily doesn’t it? As does “The Others” and “signs” although those aren’t typical horror movies. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/33 "2017-06-20T04:57:57Z")
Sixth Sense too ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/34 "2017-06-20T05:03:09Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, there are several zombie movies that end on high notes - the zombie wave is being brought under control, there might be a cure or vaccine etc. > > As I recall: > > _28 Days Later_ > _World War Z_ > _Warm Bodies_ That’s true in the book version of _World War Z_ as well (which to my understanding was very different from the movie). In the book, humans defeated the zombies. There had been a huge amount of casualties and there were still a few pockets of zombies left to be cleared up but the book made it clear the humans had won the war. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/35 "2017-06-20T15:53:14Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Sixth Sense too Well… Bruce Willis’s character realized he was dead and finally got closure with his widow, and the kid’s mom accepted and understood the kid’s “talent,” but he was still going to spend the rest of his life, it’s implied, having (sometimes horribly mutilated) dead people coming up to him to chat. If I were him, I’d move to Antarctica or some other really, really isolated place with no or few(er) ghosts! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/36 "2017-06-20T16:16:03Z")
I suppose technically at the end of **The Mist** , things are getting better _in general_. Just not at all for that particular guy. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/37 "2017-06-20T18:10:43Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Well… > > Bruce Willis’s character realized he was dead and finally got closure with his widow, and the kid’s mom accepted and understood the kid’s “talent,” but he was still going to spend the rest of his life, it’s implied, having (sometimes horribly mutilated) dead people coming up to him to chat. If I were him, I’d move to Antarctica or some other really, really isolated place with no or few(er) ghosts! But their arcs ended with them both in better places. Man that was a great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/38 "2017-06-20T18:19:53Z")
How about “Tucker and Dale vs Evil?” ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/39 "2017-06-20T21:23:58Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Mel Brooks’ _Young Frankenstein_, if a comedy-horror film counts. Add _What We Do in the Shadows_ (2014) to that category. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268/40 "2017-06-22T13:44:02Z")
_The Frighteners_ ended with the hero escaping the muderous ghost and he even got to share his gift with his girlfriend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-recent-horror-movies-with-unambiguously-happy-endings/789268.md?page=3)