Saw deserves the award for greatest horror movie twist ending of all time for several reasons, the most important of which is that its twist wasn't a matter of any character's luck or decisions—it was a matter of planning. While there are many interpretations of what exactly constitutes a horror movie twist ending, it's generally considered an ending where the climactic revelation of a hidden secret intensifies the movie's horror. This is what separates it from twist endings in other genres. There are essentially two types of twist endings in horror movies: twist endings that occur by accident and those that occur by design, like in Saw. Endings where the twist is by design are inherently scarier and therefore better than those in which the twist is by accident. This is because twists by design reveal an intention behind the horror, which is always scarier than random horrors.
There are many horror movies that can be seen as contenders for the greatest horror movie twist ending of all time award: Psycho, The Sixth Sense, Friday the 13th, The Mist, Se7en, and countless others. Twist endings are extremely common in horror movies, so comparing horror movie twist endings to twist endings in other genres is not that interesting. The horror movie twist ending is a category on its own. It's important to note that having a great horror movie twist ending doesn't make a movie great or even good, as it's possible that a movie can have a great twist ending and still be terrible. Saw is arguably a good movie and borders on greatness in both its simplicity and effectiveness.
It's important to note that Saw has the greatest horror movie twist ending of all time purely because of its ending—not because of its overall quality as a horror movie. Any analysis of a movie's overall quality should definitely consider how good or great its ending is, but not the other way around. The quality of Saw is not in question—only its twist ending is. Other minor reasons that Saw has the greatest horror movie twist ending of all time are its popularity and originality. The popularity of Saw's twist ending has promoted it to the status of horror icon, almost as a standard to which all other twist endings are to be judged. It's also one of the most unique horror movie twist endings, as it doesn't rely on common horror movie crutches of mental illness, the supernatural, or coincidence.
Saw's Twist Ending Was At The Center Of The Mystery
Saw's twist ending deserves the title of horror's best twist ending for all the reasons above. However, the first real reason it should win this distinction is because its twist reveals a horror that is actually at the center of the mystery the main characters are trying to solve. The twist ending isn't just a minor detail in the movie—it is the movie's whole reason for being. As such, the twist not only reveals a secret that was only hinted at before, it also emphatically and neatly ties up any loose ends in the story. Other movies that share this quality with Saw are Friday the 13th, Psycho and Se7en, though none of these movies' twists come close to Saw's.
Many contenders for the title of best horror movie twist ending fail in this respect, including The Sixth Sense and The Mist, whose twist endings have almost nothing to do with the movies' principal mysteries. In The Sixth Sense, the revelation is independent from the central mystery, which is actually solved prior. Likewise, in The Mist, the twist ending is not about the mystery, but about a tragic mistake made in reaction to it. Even the iconic twist ending in Wicker Man doesn't measure up to that of Saw, which takes ritualistic murder to an all new, more modern level.
Saw's Biggest Villain Was There The Whole Time
The second reason Saw wins the title of best horror movie twist ending of all time is how physically close the main characters were to their antagonist the whole time. Saw is a movie that is decidedly without a true hero in the sense of a "good guy." Most characters in the movie can be classified as villains in some way. That being said, the core antagonist is definitely John Kramer, aka Jigsaw. He instigates the plot and forces the characters to react to his will. However, unlike most horror movie antagonists, he operates simultaneously from afar and right under their noses. He makes an appearance early on in the movie, but is largely ignored throughout. The fact that he was always with them is a testament to his will and the lengths to which he'll go to inflict his exalted brand of horror. This makes the twist ending even more impactful.
While it's not uncommon to hide secrets in plain sight in movies, few movies so effectively place conflicting forces next to one another while simultaneously hiding them from everyone, including the audience. Both Psycho and Hannibal essentially share this quality as well but are still far from what was achieved in this respect in Saw. Although Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter are hidden in plain sight, they are still very much in control of their actions and the outcomes of their diabolical deeds. John Kramer almost gives up complete control to his victims, which makes Saw's twist ending so much more emphatic.
Saw's Twist Ending Spawned A Franchise
Saw can be seen as a combination of the moralistic, criminally insane ritual killings of Se7en and the vengeful slasher killings in Friday the 13th. In many ways, John Kramer is a mix between Kevin Spacey's character in Se7en and Mrs. Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th. One is killing methodically for revenge, while the other is trying to make a sick point about human nature. John Kramer is doing both of those things and more. The twist ending in Saw is not just about revealing a horrifying secret or providing the solution to a mystery. It is also an emphatic introduction to one deranged man's deadly obsession with the strength of human morals. As it turns out, after nine movies and more than 15 years later, the concept introduced by Saw's twist ending is still going strong, with Spiral: From the Book of Saw set to release in 2021.
Truly, only Friday the 13th can be said to share this quality with Saw, but loses it since the revelation of its twist ending was virtually abandoned in sequels. The tests Kramer and his acolytes design are intended to test both the game player and the game designer, not to exact revenge blindly. Saw's complex and often convoluted story might simply seem to be a clever vehicle for slasher gore, but it's much more than that—it’s a modern take on the meaning of justice and power. Essentially, the twist ending in Saw did not actually signal the ending of the story, but instead, its beginning. Its twist ending is directly responsible for launching the franchise, and this is the ultimate reason why Saw has the greatest horror movie twist ending of all time.
