Best movie/play/book twists? - Page 2

[strummergirl]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 12:47am

Another classic one is The Empire Strikes Back.

'The son' in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? comes to mind (both the play and film).

The Wicker Man (Oh my God!)

The Man who Shot Liberty Valance

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 12:59am

When I first saw Malice I thought all the twists were amazing.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/3/11 at 5:48am

I am just going to be a modern Broadway DORK, but I have to say that the twist in Next to Normal really got me. I didn't read anything going in to it and didn't particularly want to see it. I usually don't miss things like that, but all signs zoomed right by me. When they let you know that the character had been dead for 16 years, my jaw was on the floor. It had its flaws, but for that reason, it was one of my favorite theatre experiences.

Now I will be listening to the cast recording today. Thanks. lol

[BWF]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 4:31am

Thelma and Louise, I never saw that ending coming and it shocked me to the point of an expletive.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 6:29am

Planet of the Apes!

[Craig]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 9:21am

Jacob's Ladder

And Wizard of Oz - I mean come on - she had the power to go back all the time?!

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 9:25am

... not to mention the whole thing was a dream!

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 9:28am

I know twists are supposed to be dramatic, and they're supposed to come near the end, but for the beginning of a comedy, you really can't beat the Brewster sisters' antics in Arsenic and Old Lace.

[Craig]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 9:38am

I also liked the twist in Primal Fear

I liked the twist in the play PROOF

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 10:09am

The Usual Suspects had a good twist (ala Primal Fear).

[Craig]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 10:13am

Yes - Besty - Usual Suspects was fantastic.

The series finale of St. Elsewhere was an interesting twist

Hawkeye's story line in the finale of MASH was also shocking.

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/4/11 at 12:32pm

If we're bringing TV into the mix, then the finale of Newhart is the winner.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 6:20pm

Also saying Sixth Sense. The reveal with the child being the man dying from aids in The Hours also took be my surprise.

Are there any good twists in musicals?

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 6:38pm

The end of A Chorus Line before the finale is a bit of a twist (taken from the movie The Red Shoes), where the director calls the names of dancers and has them step forward, then asks the front line to leave. The ones not called made the cut and got the job.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 9:09pm

This isn't a twist ending, but I loved the "false start" twist at the opening of "Act II" in The Drowsy Chaperone.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 9:23pm

Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber originated one of the old chestnuts of the horror genre. Usually, the hero saves the day in the nick of time. Usually. The reveal at the end of Chapter 14 still sends a shiver down my spine despite the hundreds of horror properties that have borrowed the twist since.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 9:27pm

Not a musical (this time), but there are a lot of good twists in the film North By Northwest.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 9:42pm

The ending that made me sit bolt upright and scream "F**k!": Catherine Breillat's incredible FAT GIRL.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 11:11pm

Fat Girl already made me feel like I had to take a shower while watching the film (the older sister and her boyfriend's explicit sex scenes were uncomfortable beyond words- I had to watch it with my class o_O) but then the entire ending had me needing some smelling salts.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 12:31am

The Crying Game[movie] and the ending of the original Bad Seed[movie]-will never forget as the little girl looks back over her fathers shoulder-and grins---The End[which is just The Beginning].

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 9:09am

Martin McDonagh's play THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE has a bit of a surprise at the end, one that brought down the house both times I had the great good fortune to see the play on Broadway -- still the funniest play I've ever seen.

I read a lot of murder mysteries when I was a kid, lots of Agatha Christie, and watched lots of murder mystery TV shows (I had a major crush on Jim Hutton's Ellery Queen) and learned a lot while young about what to look out for when watching this kind of thing, and now there aren't many of these surprise endings that are really much of a surprise for me. THE USUAL SUSPECTS, for example, I saw coming almost immediately, in the basic setup. Do they have to pay Agatha Christie royalties for using that little gimmick?

[bobs3]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 11:54am

The plot twist at the end of BODY HEAT (we knew Mattie/Mary Ann was up to no good but I was not expecting that ending).

[bobs3]

Posted: 12/24/13 at 1:55am

Of course, the end of Act 1 plot twist in DEATHTRAP is classic. Nobody would think twice about it now but it was way ahead of its time and actually shocked audiences in 1978.

Updated On: 12/24/13 at 01:55 AM

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 12/24/13 at 11:55am

Revenge.