10 Most Shocking Horror Movie Endings Of The 1980s

Warning ! This clause contains spoilers for every moving picture heel . The eighties were full ofhorror movieclassics , many of which bore some incredibly shocking endings . Of all the decades of filmmaking , the 80s could be consider to be the prime of the repugnance genre . From the establishment of long - running franchises like theFriday the 13thorNightmare on Elm Streetmovies to gripping one - off adaptation likeThe Shining , it ’s safe to say that the decennary ushered in a new contemporaries of macabre fanatic with a slew of80s repulsion classic .

Part of the reason the horror films of the 80s were so impactful on soda pop culture was due to their often unbelievable endings . Whether they take the form of a plot of land twist , an equivocal conclusion to the narrative , or simply anextremely beastly on - screen kill , many furore favorites to come out in this time menstruation made sure to leave an impact in their closing moments . It ’s no admiration the eighties feature some of the most iconic names in the writing style .

10Angel Heart

1987

More of a neo - noir psychological thriller than a consecutive - up repugnance movie , Angel Heartstill has heap of scare to condition for an underrated terrifier to derive out of the LXXX . The film survey a New York individual detective transmit to investigate the disappearance of a colorfully - name singer in New Orleans . Harry Angel terminate up mother more than he dicker for when the case leads him down a agonising series of execution that he quickly becomes caught up in .

The tail end end of the cinema conclude with the sensational revelation that not only is Harry himself the man he ’s been sent to look for , but that he ’s also been the one committing the grisly murder he ’s been investigating the entire time . The turn might seem rote today , but that ’s only because so many films since , such asThe MechanistandSecret Window , have come after cause . require or not , the final supernatural elementAngel Heartintroduces at the last second is one last narrative gut poke lay on top of the already scandalous reveal .

9An American Werewolf In London

1981

For whatever reason , compared to the litany ofterrifying lamia film , their folklore siblings , the lycanthrope , are n’t given as much cinematic love . This could just be becauseAn American Werewolf in Londonjust might be the most perfect lycanthrope moving-picture show ever made , and attempting to replicate its succeeder is a misplace battle . Part of its achiever is due to the brutal ending that murder like a freightage train , paying off of the surprisingly gradual setup the motion-picture show slowly swallow up the viewer in .

After David goes on his most brutal killing spree yet in lycanthrope form , the law are finally able to respond to his threat in sentence . It ’s heartbreaking enough that his consciousness rise to the surface just long enough to realize what ’s happening , but see the jaw - dropping practical force morph him back into a human after being shot makes for a jarringly tragic scene . David himself ends up being just a victim of his curse as anyone he ’s slain .

8Threads

1984

Admittedly , Threadstoes the melodic phrase of being a traditional horror movie , perhaps better described as an warfare drama with post - apocalytpic and disaster elements . That being order , the uneasy conclusion to the torturous journeying of its narrative surely qualifies it as having one of the most disgraceful endings to come out of the 80s . Set in an alternative near - future tense in which the Cold War between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. boiled over , Threadstakes a daringly naturalistic look at life amid nuclear war through the lens system of a young couple .

To make matters more nail - bitterly tense than they already are , lovers Ruth and Jimmy are about to become parents , with much of the film ’s tension beleaguer the destiny of the next coevals trace nuclear armageddon . The ending finally devote a bleak facial expression at a post - collapse society in which language and culture have reverted to an almost mediaeval level of development . To make affair even more bleak , Ruth ’s own girl ends up having a child of her own , only to be shocked by its show .

7A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge

1985

The 2d pic to sport slasher dorm - of - famer Freddy Krueger and the official starting signal of the long - runningNightmare on Elm Streetseries , A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 : Freddy ’s Revengekicks the holy terror up a snick with its surprisal ending . When a novel family move into Nancy ’s old home , adolescent son Jesse get down to have nightmares eerily similar to Nancy ’s own featuring a sure homburg - wearing serial killer . obscure the transmission line between dreams and reality even more than its predecessor , A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 : Freddy ’s Revengeends on a true thunderclap .

Just as it seems that Freddy has been once again defeated with the power of courage , Freddy makes a sudden last appearance on a school bus full of adolescent . Ripping his way out of a girlfriend ’s torso to steer the bus they ’re ride on straight into the grave , laughing all the path , Freddy finally makes Jesse ’s recurring dream a horrific realism . This bait - and - switch unexpected putting to death ends the 2nd entranceway in theNightmare on Elm Streetfranchise on a chilling note .

6Sleepaway Camp

1982

Many 80s repugnance films do indeed have a disturbing ending , but are n’t specially remarkable for their finish specifically . The same ca n’t be enjoin for 1982’sSleepaway Camp , however , which was catapulted into horror illustriousness through the cobwebby impact of its terrifying end alone . The film is a slasher with a relatively simple assumption , have a timid young lady named Angela who is bullied at a summertime clique while a serial publication of gory murders take place .

The big reveal at the end ofSleepaway Campunveils that Angela is actually her long - lost dead brother , Peter , who strike her identity after his supposed expiry . While the implications of transgender child being inherently murderous have n’t aged incredibly gracefully , there ’s no denying that this sicken reveal is one of the most shocking repugnance moving-picture show closing ever , let alone amid the 80 specifically . From Angela ’s haunting falloff human face to her eery , blood - curdle scream sounding like something from a savage animal , Sleepaway Camps final moments are unforgettable .

5Friday The 13th

1980

Of course , Freddy Krueger is far from the only slasher staple to be establish during the fourscore , with the archetypal strong but silent grampus Jason leading the explosive charge ontheFriday the 13thseries . However , Jason is really hardly present in the first film , a twist that made its ending perniciously surprising when it first hit theaters in 1980 . Set in Camp Crystal Lake ( the Summer camp ever a pop habitat of 80s horror slashers ) , the film focus on a series of murders that take place targeting the ingroup ’s light teenage counsellor .

For the most part , the film implies that Jason , a small boy who drown while on the watch of Camp Crystal Lake ’s senior staff , has somehow come back to take his retaliation . However , the film ’s major pull is that it was actually Jason ’s mother conducting the execution on his behalf . Jason would n’t show up in full force untilFriday the 13th Part 2the following year .

4Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

1986

Few cinema place their hearing in the shoes of a horrific Orcinus orca for as uncomfortably long asHenry : Portrait of a Serial Killer . splendidly rated " X " by the MPAA , the film stars a vernal Michael Rooker as the titular in series cause of death , who finds himself forming an unlikely shackle with the sister of his older prison buddy . That being said , the absolute majority of the motion picture is simply a ghastly series of murder committed by Henry and his pal , genus Otis , result little in the way of narrative inwardness .

That being said , what narrative there is comes to a climactic stewing point when Otis makes an incestuous attempt at sexually set on his sister , leading to his excruciating death at the hand of Henry . Having lay aside her animation , one would imagine that perhaps the naive Becky was capable to spring some variety of diseased bond with the murderous Henry . The slap - in - the - look of an ending is quick to confute this opinion , having Becky unceremoniously kill by Henry herself not long after .

3The Shining

Considered one of the gravid scarey moving-picture show of all metre and one of the best adaptations of the works of repugnance writer Stephen King , despiteKing ’s own protest on Kubrick ’s moving-picture show , The Shininghas a firm post as 80s repugnance royal house . The picture show orb around the Torrence family unit , who agree to be the only caretakers of the mystic Overlook Hotel during its off - season in the winter . As Fatherhood Jack slow knuckle under to the place ’s encroaching evil presence , it ’s up to the frightened Wendy and her Word Danny to outlive , as Danny unlocks a funny psychic power .

Despite its ubiquity as a masterpiece of terror , The Shininghas a shockingly " happy " ending . Though Torrence succumbs to his violent urges , attempting to bump off his wife and tiddler , Danny is capable to outfox him , trap him in the Overlook ’s hedge labyrinth before he freezes to death in the harsh winter environment . Even though Danny and Wendy ultimately live , the sheer unstable menace of Jack Nicholson ’s brilliant public presentation and unexpected victory of his menage do the ending as subversive as it beget .

2The Vanishing

1988

The Vanishingis far from being a house name , but ca n’t help but be included in the conversation when it comes to discourse the most horrifically unexpected endings of the 1980s . A psychological thriller coming out of the Netherlands , The Vanishingtells the story of a human who obsessionally searches for his missing married woman after she suddenly goes missing on a road trip . Things take a turn for the darkness when someone come forth claim to have information on her whereabouts .

The defendant ends up taunting the widower , goading him into giving himself up in club to encounter out the truth once and for all . In the end , his curiosity beget the skillful of him , and he hold to imbibe a untrusting confection just for a chance of seeing his wife again . Horrifically , this go steady the protagonist destruction up bury alert , fire up up in an underground loge as his kidnapper enjoys a relaxing holiday with his crime syndicate , who are none the wiser to his activities .

1The Thing

Perhaps the unmarried most influential work to fare out of horror originator John Carpenter , The Thingwasn’t especially popular when it released , but has since morph into a true staple fiber of the genre . Taking place in an isolated Antarctic research quickness , the crew happen themselves in dreadful straights when they ’re infiltrated by a shapeshifting exotic animate being . One by one , the researchers are picked off , and in the last , it ’s down to just two characters .

What make the ending ofThe Thingso brilliant is the sense of unease . In the commotion , it ’s easy to suffer track of who is infect and who is n’t , with MacReady and Blair both even acknowledging the futility of ever hop to believe one another . In so few words , The Thingshocks its viewers with its equivocalness and tension , supply 80shorror movieswith one of their most determinate endings .