# Greatest movie twist endings **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2001, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735 "2001-06-14T00:20:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/1 "2001-06-14T00:20:36Z")
Because we haven’t had a good old fashioned movie poll for _at least_ an hour 🙂 Before we proceed, I really must issue a serious _ **SPOILER WARNING** _ If you’re planning to rent out a movie which you know has got a famous twist ending (ie, Sixth Sense) then it might not be a good idea to read beyond this point as discussion of movies & movie spoilers may result. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What do you think are the top 10 movie twist endings of all time? After some consideration I’d have to say 1. Silence of the Lambs 2. Fight Club - I don’t care what _anyone_ says, there is no way you could have seen that one coming! 3. 12 Monkeys. 4. Psycho. 5. The Sixth Sense. 6. L.A. Confidential - Not so much a twist but the thing with Rollo Tomasse was very clever. 7. Vertigo - nuff said 8. Seven 9. Memento - That whole movie’s one long twist. 10. Swimming with Sharks - Definately one of the most underrated films I know. Not only is the twist brilliant but everything in the movie (esp. Kevin Spaceys performance IMO) leads you in the _exact_ opposite direction than the one the plot eventually takes. So, how’s about you? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/2 "2001-06-14T00:35:31Z")
1. The Usual Suspects ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/3 "2001-06-14T00:38:42Z")
Let’s see; No Way Out - Kevin Costner, Sean Young, Gene Hackman The Empire Strikes Back - you know ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/4 "2001-06-14T00:54:47Z")
**The Sting** - it’s still fun watching it even after you know that they set _everything_ up. **Chinatown** - “My sister… my daughter… my sister… my daughter…” ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/5 "2001-06-14T01:01:54Z")
Some of my moviehound friends sit through movies and deliberately try to see where the movie’s going to lead and try to figure out whether there’s going to a twist. I prefer to just watch the movie and let the path surprise me…the movies below aren’t necessarily the most fabulous movies ever made, but I enjoyed the twist each story took. 🙂 **Shattered** with Tom Berenger and Greta Schacci. **Malice** with Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin and Bill Pullman ---
**Author:** ![McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/6 "2001-06-14T01:25:18Z")
Bah! How could I forget The Usual Suspects? _rips up list_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/7 "2001-06-14T01:55:39Z")
**The Last of Sheila** – my all-time favrite mystery movie – it plays by the rules, giving you all the clues, but I guarantee you wont get the ending. A WONDERFUL twist! Not gratuitous and beautifully set up. (The screenplay is by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony “Psycho” Perkins!) \*\* Sleuth\*\* by Anthony Schaeffer. Related to the above film in a complex way I won’t go into here. **Body Heat** – Hot and sultry and steamy AND with a wickedly wonderful twist. **Charade** – This movie is practically a textbook on the art of revelation in storytelling. Many twists in this wonderful and fnnt film. The last line, in context, is hilarious. Screenplay by the wonderful Peter Stone. **Mirage** – Sort of the flip, dark side of Charade. Same screenwriter, same director, some of the same stars. Very weird and dark film. and, of course, **Psycho** and **The Sting**. For some reason, The Usual Suspects didn’t work for me. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/8 "2001-06-14T02:03:49Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\*\*\* Sleuth_\* by Anthony Schaeffer. Related to the above film in a complex way I won’t go into here.\*\* I will now commence smacking myself in the head for leaving this off my list. I _love_ this movie! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/9 "2001-06-14T02:08:10Z")
I don’t know if it counts as a “twist” or a cop-out, but I’ve always referred to the ending of _Angel Heart_ as a “diabolicus ex machina”. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/10 "2001-06-14T02:48:00Z")
Scary Movie! ---
**Author:** ![waxteeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@waxteeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waxteeth)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/11 "2001-06-14T03:11:42Z")
The Good Son ---
**Author:** ![waxteeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@waxteeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waxteeth)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/12 "2001-06-14T03:14:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by red\_dragon60 \* > \*\*Scary Movie! \*\* Ok it took me a second but that is damn funny. ---
**Author:** ![sdarr2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@sdarr2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdarr2002)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/13 "2001-06-14T03:16:11Z")
how 'bout “witness for the prosicution” ---
**Author:** ![exchicagoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@exchicagoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exchicagoan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/14 "2001-06-14T04:38:20Z")
PLANET OF THE APES—“damn ROD STERLING endings!” SEVEN—I thought was telegraphed. THE USUAL SUSPECTS----neat! THE SIXTH SENSE-----same type of thing had already been done in THE OTHER. Which BTW was a very good read. Not a twist ending, but; who didn’t jump out of their seat when ALAN ARKIN grabbed AUDREY HEPBURN’S ankle in WAIT UNTIL DARK or the hand coming out of the grave to grab AMY IRVING in CARRIE. EEEEK!!! ---
**Author:** ![pink\_kitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pink\_kitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pink_kitten)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/15 "2001-06-14T04:56:50Z")
I have to second or third **Fight Club**! It is one of my all-time favorite movies. How about… **Wild Things** , Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell, etc. and…DAMN! It leapt from my head and I can’t get it back! Oh, the perils of staying up late and getting up early… ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/16 "2001-06-14T06:36:49Z")
Notice that if you take the 11 movies mentioned in the first two posts of this thread, Kevin Spacey is in four of them. Though I don’t remember _L.A. Confidential_ having a twist ending. I remember a twist near the end, but it was pretty obvious. I’ll have to go rewatch it now to see if there was a twist I am forgetting. As for _Fight Club_: That wasn’t a clever twist ending. That was just a stupid ending. But we won’t get into that argument. Now, what should I contribute? _Along Came a Spider_? Nah, that was just stupid. Hm…_Arlington Road_ had an interesting twist, but the movie really, really sucked so I can’t nominate that one. How about _Primal Fear_, _Presumed Innocent_, and _The Spanish Prisoner_ (though this one is so full of twists that you stop being surprised). ---
**Author:** ![Mofo\_Rising](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mofo\_Rising](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mofo_Rising)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/17 "2001-06-14T06:42:49Z")
I’ll second (or third, fourth, as the case may be) **Sixth Sense** and **Primal Fear**. **Fight Club** , I was a human distillery when I saw it the theatre, so the surprise ending was lost on me. **Memento** was good, but “Seinfeld” trumped it as far as originality goes. **The Game**. Not really a surprise ending, but the movie was building up to one ending or the other. Who would have guessed that we’d get both played off so masterfully? One of those movies I’d wished I’d never seen, just so I could watch it again anew. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/18 "2001-06-14T07:24:27Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by TheVoiceofReason \* > \*\* > 9) Fight Club - I don’t care what anyone says, there is no way you could have seen that one coming!_\* I thought it was pretty obvious. The scene where I realized they are the same person is the one the day after that woman stays the night, there were a number of clues. For one thing, the two guys are never in the room at the same time, they make a point of showing one going into the next room before the other comes in. Secondly, the way the woman responds to them makes it obvious that she’s only talking to one person, I seem to recall that she acts confused and starts saying he’s crazy when he acts like there are two men there. Third was the dream. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/19 "2001-06-14T09:38:23Z")
**The Shawshank Redemption** had a pretty good twist. Surprised the hell out of me. I’ll second all the nominations for The Usual Suspects, Planet of the Apes, Presumed Innocent, Fight Club and Memento. Uh, how about **Clue**? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735/20 "2001-06-14T12:21:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _exchicagoan says:_ PLANET OF THE APES—“damn ROD STERLING endings!” Actually, I prefer Rod _Serling_ endings. 😉 Allow me to nominate Mamet’s **House of Games** , Clouzot’s **Les Diaboliques** , Berri’s **Manon of the Spring** , Coppola’s **The Conversation** , Gilliat’s **Green for Danger** and Sturges’s **Christmas in July, The Palm Beach Story** and **The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-twist-endings/68735.md?page=2)