With horror movies, viewers have come to expect certain tropes, such as the masked killer, the haunted house and the final girl. But some movies are cleverly marketed as one thing when they're really another, which ensures a big surprise for the audience.
In fact, some of the best horror movies are the ones that can take the viewers completely by surprise and give them something different from the expected. While some horror movies play it safe and follow the audience's expectations, others subtly satirize them or subvert them completely.
Don’t Breathe 2 (2021)
The original Don’t Breathe already turned the tables on audiences, with the home invaders becoming the victims. Don’t Breathe 2 ran with this idea of surprising the viewers and no one could have predicted where the movie would go.
While this sequel was certainly divisive and made a few unusual narrative choices, it certainly didn’t fail in surprising its audience. Fans couldn’t have predicted the villain of the first movie would become the questionable protagonist of the second. Taking someone as despicable as The Blind Man and attempting to endear him to audiences may have been a problematic choice, but this movie certainly wasn’t what the audience was expecting.
Hereditary (2018)
Hereditary appears to be a movie about a disturbed young girl, Charlie, who seems to be following in her grandmother's footsteps. However, mid-way through, one of the most shocking horror movie deaths ever occurs and completely shifts the narrative.
The focus is shifted from Charlie to her older brother and the whole family begins to experience sinister and supernatural occurrences. While the marketing suggested Charlie was the focus and even the main threat of the movie, this is far from the case. In fact, the movie uses the topic of the occult to hone in on its themes of grief and tragedy.
Funny Games (2007)
Funny Games centers on a family who finds themselves targeted by two unbalanced men and it never shies away from pushing boundaries.
At one point in the movie, one of the characters breaks the fourth wall and uses a remote to rewind the scene they’re part of. The moment is unexpected and bizarre and feels unfair towards the protagonists, as the villains have an unbeatable advantage. The death towards the end of the movie proves that no one is safe and the unexpected breaking of the fourth wall is enough to leave viewers shocked and unsettled.
Scream (1996)
Scream has gone on to become a huge horror franchise, with a fifth movie currently in the works. However, back when the first Scream was released, it completely took audiences by surprise.
Unlike the usual teen-horror victims, the characters in Scream were very much aware of horror tropes and the genre as a whole. One way the movie cleverly subverts the viewers’ expectations is by setting up the final girl in the first scene and then swiftly killing her off. Scream’s marketing set up Drew Barrymore to be the lead, with her face even featuring on the posters, so it was shocking to see her character killed within the first few minutes.
You're Next (2011)
You're Next has a premise like many other horror movies with its masked killers and its clear set-up of the final girl right from the get-go. Erin accompanies her boyfriend to a family reunion, only for masked assailants to start taking them out one-by-one.
In a surprising twist for the slasher sub-genre, though, the attackers get a lot more than they bargained for when they encounter Erin. Unlike many other final girls, who survive through pure luck or newfound bravery, Erin uses skills she's learned from being raised at a survivalist compound in order to take out her attackers in a brutal fashion. Even the name of this movie is a clever mislead: at first, "You're Next" seems to refer to the victims, but it soon becomes clear that the title is actually referring to Erin's expert dispatching of the masked assailants.
Orphan (2009)
The trailers and premise for Orphan make it seem like a movie horror fans have seen a thousand times before: a new child terrorizes their unsuspecting family. While the movie does follow this narrative, it soon becomes apparent that there is more to Esther than a disturbed or possessed child, as has come to be expected with these kinds of movies.
Esther gaslights her adoptive mother and attempts to push her out of the family in order to get closer to her adoptive father. Her motives become clear fairly early on, but her true intentions aren’t revealed until later on. Her obsession with her adoptive father sets her apart from other "evil children" in the genre. In fact, by the time the movie comes to an end, Esther’s overconfident traits begin to make perfect sense, which is what makes it one of the best horror movies by Dark Castle Entertainment.
It Follows (2014)
The premise of It Follows sounds so outlandish and ridiculous that it seems as if it should be a horror-comedy or a low-budget dud. That being said, the movie is surprisingly dark and utterly brilliant in delivering the scares.
The movie focuses on a sexually transmitted curse that leaves the afflicted followed and stalked by a shape-shifting entity that vows to kill them. The movie expertly uses one of the weirdest horror movie curses in order to create a sense of dread and paranoia. What seems like another horror throwaway at first glance, fast becomes a classic that will leave viewers constantly checking behind them once it’s over.
Eden Lake (2008)
Eden Lake focuses on a couple whose getaway descends into a nightmare when they encounter a gang of unbalanced teenagers. The movie is brutal, gut-wrenching and unafraid to push the limits.
The focus on camping and young characters is common in the horror genre, but Eden Lake switches the usual narrative around. Many horror movies focus on teenagers who are then pursued by a killer, but here, its the teenagers themselves who serve as the antagonists. Where horror fans might have expected Michael Fassbender to be the slasher killer hunting down the teens, this movie does quite the opposite and provides a bleak commentary on youth and antisocial behavior.
Cabin In The Woods (2011)
The Cabin in the Woods had deliberately misleading marketing, meaning that viewers were expecting a standard horror movie about youngsters visiting a cabin in the woods. However, the movie uses tropes of the genre and subtly makes fun of them. Technicians are shown to be controlling events in the cabin, forcing the characters to make stupid yet typical horror movie decisions, such as splitting up or going down into the basement.
The events of the movie are manipulated so much that the main characters are molded into horror archetypes, with athletic yet intelligent Curt becoming a stereotypical jock and special hair dye transforming brunette Jules into a blond. The movie plays homage to many other horror movies, such as Evil Dead, Hellraiser and The Strangers, with the large range of classic monsters and villains presented in the final act. The Cabin in the Woods subverts the viewers' expectations by taking popular horror tropes and monsters and being self-aware about their inclusion in the movie.
The Descent (2005)
Monster movies are another part of the horror genre, and on the surface, that's exactly what The Descent seems to be. The movie focuses on a group of women who go cave exploring, but get more than they bargained for when they stumble on the habitat of vicious and carnivorous creatures.
The marketing and the general premise set this up to be a typical monster movie, but it is far more complex and psychological than it first appears. The Crawlers may be the main threat of the film, but they're more of a backdrop for the claustrophobia and psychological break Sarah is experiencing throughout the movie. As viewers follow this movie, some of the characters actually become villains, as they turn against each other (and themselves) during their fight for survival.