Since April starts with people getting fooled, Way Too Indie has decided to end the month by asking its writers when they’ve been fooled by a film. Plot twists have been popular in films for ages, and for good reason. Audiences love when a film manages to successfully pull one over on them, and when done well enough, the film can cement its place in cinematic history. After listing our favorites, we combined our picks and came up with a list of 15 movies that left us with our mouths wide open. Before you read on to see our list, please take note: We have tried to avoid spoilers in our descriptions, but some people might be more sensitive than others when it comes to what constitutes a spoiler. Read carefully, or better yet, just go see these great films already!

WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead

15 Films That Fooled Us

#15 – Dear Zachary

When Andrew Bagby was murdered by his pregnant girlfriend, director Kurt Kuenne set out on a personal project for his now deceased friend. Kuenne interviewed everyone who knew Bagby so that one day his child could learn about his father. Kuenne had no idea what would actually happen once he started filming, and Dear Zachary captures every single anguished moment of it. There’s a genuine, emotionally raw quality to Dear Zachary that viewers can immediately relate to, which makes the devastating ending hit like a wrecking ball to the gut. It’s one of the few films guaranteed to turn its viewers into a sobbing mess by the end, and the raw power of its story is why it still has a lasting impact with people today. [CJ]

#14 – Se7en

“What’s in the box?!” are four words that changed the way people thought of serial killers (and boxes) forever. In 1995 the world was introduced to David Fincher, before Fight Club and Zodiac solidified his status as one of the most revered directors in Hollywood, and after Alien 3 could leave too bad of a taste in our mouths. If you call yourself a Fincher fan, you’re all too familiar with the story of detectives Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman) hunting the serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) who orchestrates his murders years in advance, and bases them off the seven deadly sins. With every murder more sordid than the previous one, nothing prepares them – or us – for the heart-pulsating shocker at the end, when the contents of that box made John Doe into one of the most notorious on-screen villains. Here’s a funny story about that: producer Arnold Kopleson at first refused to allow the end to pass because of its sheer psychological brutality. Brad Pitt came to the rescue and said he’d walk if they didn’t allow Fincher to film the intended finale. So, we have Pitt and Fincher to thank for all those sleepless nights. On a personal note, its still my favorite Fincher film by a country mile. [Nik]

#13 – The Usual Suspects

Lately, Bryan Singer’s something of a usual suspect himself (it was right there, I’m sorry…) but forget all about that for a second. Before he ventured into the world of comic books and beanstalks, Singer directed a little film you may have seen called The Usual Suspects. The success of Suspects put him on the map and gave him carte blanche to work on X-Men, which rippled into the insane popularity of superheroes today. So, in a way, we can blame Keyser Soze for the mind-numbing number of comic book movies today. Regardless, nothing could change our thoughts about one of the greatest tricks the devil ever pulled. Premiering in 1995 (a year that turned out great for shockers), the story follows Kevin Spacey’s Verbal Kint, a survivor of a bust gone terribly wrong, as he recounts the events to Agent Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) while drinking coffee in a police station. That’s all brilliant minds need sometimes, and a film that was compelling enough with its intricate narrative and colorful cast of degenerates, became an entirely different beast with its final sequence, putting the twist in plot-twist more memorably than M. Night Shyamalan could ever dream of. Thanks in large part to this ingenious turn of events, the film went on to win two deserving Oscars for Spacey and screenwriter Christopher McQaurrie. [Nik]

#12 – The Prestige

It’s no coincidence two of my picks on this list of twisty films are from Christopher Nolan and his screenwriting partner/brother Jonathan Nolan. The two know how to tell a story that keeps you guessing. The Prestige is often overlooked among Nolan’s work, it had the misfortune of releasing between Batman Begins (Nolan’s fabulous reinvention of what comic-based film could be) and The Dark Knight (quite possibly the best comic-based film ever released, if I have anything to say about it). So you may have missed this one. Starring Nolan favorites Christian Bale and Michael Caine, along with Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson, The Prestige follows two up-and-coming magicians in 19th century London. While at first partners in the same act, the two become competitors, and indeed nemeses, when a magic act goes tragically wrong. From then on their careers are a series of attempts to get vengeance on the other, while also trying to attain top magician status. Their hate filled ambition leads both to drastic and questionable measures, but it isn’t until the very end when–like their magic tricks–the real secrets behind just how far each was willing to go are revealed, and its truly astonishing. When you discover the secret to a magic trick, all you want is to re-watch it and see if you can spot the illusion, so too does The Prestige demand repeat viewings. [Ananda]

#11 – Tell No One

This is a film that I love to recommend to people who normally scoff at having to read subtitles because this French whodunit film is that good. Tell No One doesn’t waste any time setting up the central plot. Alexandre Beck (played by the French Dustin Hoffman lookalike, François Cluzet) jumps into the water upon hearing his wife Margot scream from the other side of the secluded lake. As he climbs up the dock he gets knocked unconscious yet remains the prime suspect after the police find Margot brutally murdered. Despite evidence piling up that supports Alex as the murderer, he seems too distraught to actually be guilty of the crime. Then the film reveals the first of many plot twists. Eight years after the tragic event, Alex receives an email proving that Margot is still alive. Boom! Just when you think you are close to figuring it out, Tell No One presents a new piece of the puzzle. [Dustin]

#10 – Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

We’ve all seen the (unnecessary) prequels of the insanely ubiquitous Star Wars series by now so the mystery of Luke Skywalker’s origin is somewhat ruined. But for us older folks who had just the OT (Original Trilogy) while growing up, seeing the arc of Luke’s daddy issues culminate at the end of The Empire Strikes Back blew everyone’s mind. It starts in Episode 4 A New Hope, when Luke begins questioning Obi-Wan Kenobi about his enigmatic father who fought alongside Kenobi during the Clone Wars. Kenobi reveals Skywalker’s father was murdered by the heinously sinister Darth Vader. But then in Episode 5 everything changes. Luke is locked in a duel with Vader in the pit of the monstrous floating Cloud City on the planet Bespin. While it looks as if Vader is about to put Skywalker to the sword, he instead reveals the answer Luke has been waiting for. Skywalker is left in ruin and audiences around the world were left with a three year break before the finale of the series wrapped everything up. [Blake]

#9 – American Psycho

As far as revelations go, the final twist in American Psycho is more bewildering than earth-shattering, but that’s what makes it great. Watching Christian Bale gruesomely plow through hapless victims as New York trader Patrick Bateman only to eventually realize that the murders may not have played out the we we or Patrick thought, is ambiguous and ambitious in the best way. Bale sells the crap out of Bateman’s revelation, and Herron conjures a maelstrom of paranoia and anxiety to swirl around him. The plot twist in American Psycho has been seen before and is a tired tune at this point, but Herron and Bale play it pitch-perfect. It’s one of those reveals that, like the one in Oldboy (also on our list), sticks with you long after the credits roll instead of dissipating immediately. [Bernard]

#8 – The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense holds a certain stigma around it that has everything to do with someone either ruining the hugely shocking surprise ending for others, or because once you’ve seen it all the way through, it feels like the magic is gone. However, I’d argue this is absolutely a mistake on the part of potential viewers (thank goodness for a generation of younger people who are blissfully unaware) and of those who’ve already seen this gem of a horror film. Wildly creepy and excellently paced, the twist ending shouldn’t be the only thing that people remember about this film. Bruce Willis is perfect in his role as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a children’s therapist whose marriage has lost steam. When he takes on a new patient, Cole (Oh, Haley Joel Osment if only cuteness lasted), with a very particular issue–seeing dead people–he begins to feel his methods may not work, until he starts to give Cole the benefit of the doubt. M. Night Shyamalan has tried so hard to duplicate the brilliance of his deception in this film’s ending with almost every other film he’s done since, and unfortunately has never been quite as successful. But anyone wanting a truly good scare, mixed with the sort of heartfelt character investment that makes the plot that much more enthralling, will never be disappointed with The Sixth Sense, time and time again. [Ananda]

#7 – Saw

Just mentioning the Saw series nowadays will result in an eye roll or a sigh because of how ridiculous the franchise got with pumping out a new film every year. But before Saw spiraled off into a massive cash cow of a franchise, it began as an original thriller/horror film featuring a serial killer named Jigsaw who devised puzzles for his victims to figure out. Gruesome puzzles. The film opens (watch a clip) with two strangers who find themselves chained to opposite sides of a bathroom. Between them is a dead man holding a tape player and a gun. They both discover a cassette in their pocket and work together to retrieve the tape player that is just out of their reach. Their jaded past gets exposed after listening to each other’s tapes, discovering the only way out is for one to kill the other. Say what you want about the acting or even the franchise as a whole, but Saw includes one of the most unforgettable endings that you won’t see coming. [Dustin]

#6 – Diabolique

Diabolique‘s now-famous plot twist is perfect, sublime in its execution and ahead of its time by decades. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s nail-biter masterpiece gets my vote for best non-Hitchcock Hitchcock picture, and its brilliance all hinges on one final, heart-stopping surprise in the bathroom. When the wife and mistress of a headmaster conspire to murder their shared ex-lover, sightings of the deceased begin to pop up all over the school premises. When the wife finally arrives at that fateful moment in front of the bathtub, get ready for one of the most classic shocks in all of cinema. Sure, the plot and premise of Diabolique are absurdly implausible, but that’s the power of good movies: they make you believe in the impossible. [Bernard]

#5 – Fight Club

David Fincher is well represented on this list, Se7en is a personal favorite, and while his films have plenty of plot curveballs, what Fincher excels at is the art of the twisty character. He is at his best when working with deplorably questionable characters and while John Doe is terrifying in his sociopathy, there have been few characters in film that demand attention the way Tyler Durden does in Fight Club. Adapted from Chuck Palahniuk’s novel of the same name, Fight Club follows Edward Norton’s Narrator as he gets in with Tyler Durden, Brad Pitt’s most memorable role. Depressed, sleep-deprived, and caught in lethargic consumerism, the Narrator meets Tyler on a plane and is immediately sucked into his charismatic anarchist world. Together they form Fight Club (of which we do not speak), and its barbaric, therapeutic appeal to bored blue-collar workers like the Narrator turns into a nationwide underground movement. When Tyler’s power becomes chaotic and dangerous the Narrator tries to uncover his plans, and ends up learning more about himself. All to mind-blowing effect. [Ananda]

#4 – Chinatown

Say what you want about Roman Polanski and his messed up private life, but the man has proven time and time again that he can direct circles around most of his contemporaries. None is perhaps so potently absorbing as his 1974 crime mystery Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in peak form. What starts off as a routine investigation into the disappearance of an L.A. Department of Water and Power engineer, turns into something much more intriguing, complex and diabolical and all before P.I. Jake Gittes (Nicholson) can say “I cut myself shaving.” His life completely changes when he meets and falls for Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway), daughter of powerful tycoon Noah Cross (John Huston,) and decides to help her with her… predicament. It’s not for nothing that Robert Towne’s Oscar-winning screenplay is mentioned ad nauseam in every screenwriting course, lauded for its brilliant structure and build-up to a – you guessed it – shocking finale that still leaves me jaw-dropped after countless repeat viewings. I’m just not sure which scene gets to me more; the reality of Evelyn’s sickening family history revealed slap by slap, or the cruel end securing “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown” as one of the most haunting final words in cinema. [Nik]

#3 – Psycho

Despite many believing the “big reveal” in Hitchcock’s Psycho happens at the end of the movie in the Bates’ basement, the true twist comes halfway through the film in the motel. What happens to Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane in that famous shower scene is one of the most innovative, forward-thinking jukes in movie history, and the film’s revolutionary (at the time) plot structure is seldom used to this day, as few filmmakers dare to be so audacious. The shower scene is immaculate, obviously, but few pay homage to what it actually meant for the movie. From that scene forward, all bets are off. We’re disoriented, we’re confused, our allegiances are shifted, and Hitchcock ingeniously puts himself one step ahead of us. They don’t call him the master for nothing: we’re just followers, guinea pigs he’s tickled to toy with. [Bernard]

#2 – Memento

Oh, Chris Nolan, how you love to mess with our minds. It would be annoying if it wasn’t always so genius-ly well done. Memento isn’t just a film with a twist ending; its scatterbrained storytelling literally keeps you guessing with every scene and because it’s literally told backwards, its twist end is actually a twist beginning. Guy Pearce stars as Leonard, a man with short-term memory loss and the inability to create new memories. Leonard uses a system of notes, Polaroids and tattoos to continually remind himself of his mission: to find and kill the man who murdered his wife. Two storylines portray Leonard, one that runs straight forward chronologically of Leonard on his motel phone telling the story of Sammy Jenkins, a man he encountered in his days as an insurance fraud investigator, who had a similar memory problem that led to the accidental murder of his own wife when he gave her too much insulin. The second storyline is told backwards as Leonard searches for his own wife’s killer, trusting and untrusting all the wrong people. The end/beginning reveals a truth that is far more complicated than just solving a murder, but gets at the very nature of revenge itself. I did not catch all the nuance in this film and it’s ending upon my first viewing, repeat viewings are absolutely necessary. [Ananda]

#1 – Oldboy

When Oh Dae-Su is let go after 15 years of captivity, the first question on his mind is who put him there. It doesn’t take long before he’s told that the “who” doesn’t matter, it’s the “why.” That “why” is what puts Oldboy at the top of our list. Dae-Su’s quest for vengeance is director Chan-Wook Park, and the “Korean New Wave”, at its peak; gorgeous cinematography, powerful writing, and bravura sequences (any mention of Oldboy must mention the classic one-take fight scene). But none of this could prepare audiences for the climax, when Dae-Su’s captor unveils his own master plan of revenge. It’s a twist almost nobody saw coming, and to this day people still get unsettled thinking about it. That twist ending is why Oldboy has grown such a large following since its release, and is required viewing for any cinephile. [CJ]

Our monthly staff features of past have usually been reserved for top ten lists regarding a certain subject, genre or even anticipation lists pertaining to film festivals. With this monthly feature we went through a few ideas before settling on something a little different. The idea was to always have it be horror themed since October is synonymous with Halloween. But instead of having a top ten list of a certain type of horror film or even ranking our favorites, we’ve decided that each of us will share with the reader what actually scares us in horror movies. Whether it’d be actual subject matter or aesthetics applied by the filmmakers, we discuss the various ingredients in horror movies that make us put that pillow over our eyes or make us reach for a loved one’s grasp.

What Scares Us The Most In Movies

Someone Else Is In Control

I thought a lot about what scares me in Horror films and the one thing that I kept coming back to is not being in control. I know it sounds weird, but when I’m watching a movie and if I can’t get a grip on what’s real or not or if I’m watching a living, breathing nightmare where I have no control, I freak. I think that’s why Suspiria is so attractive to me. The film is a master class of sensory overload where viewers are toyed with for 90 minutes. We are paralyzed to cheer for Susie Bannion, because we are so entrenched in this world where colors and sounds could never exist in our reality. Every time I watch the film, I can’t move. I’m transfixed and it scares me that I can’t move while I watch it. David Lynch is the master at creating films where the viewer is essentially his pawn and he attacks their stability with striking images. His final film (so far), Inland Empire, is quite possibly the greatest nightmare that I’ve seen in film. I was too scared to move while watching it. Laura Dern running in slow motion towards the camera that is suddenly sped up to a roaring orchestral cue haunts me to this day. Simply put, when David Lynch is in control, you are not.

I can also bring up that not being in control can also be applied literally as well. When a person in the film is shooting what you’re seeing (think Blair Witch), you experience what they are seeing from their point of view. I think the POV handheld genre has gone overboard, but there are some films that execute this to great extent. [Rec] and Grave Encounters are by no means great horror movies, but both feature great moments where someone else is in control of the camera and I want them to turn away or zoom out. By then it’s too late. [Blake Ginithan]

Trapped With No Way Out

Nothing gets my heart racing more than the idea of being trapped with no way out knowing that impending doom is inevitable. For me the fear is that feeling of being helpless in a situation that is inescapable. This is a rather simple concept that has been used and modified several times over. I suppose the most rudimentary example of this is when characters are trapped inside a room where the walls on both sides begin to close in to the middle of the room. This sort of “Walls Closing In” stunt has been around forever and I likely picked it up as a child while watching cartoons, Star Wars: A New Hope, or even Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom. As I mentioned, that is just the most elementary of an example and it would be easy to confuse my fear of being helplessly trapped with straight-up claustrophobia, so let me explain further.

You probably remember that famous scene in The Shining when Jack Nicholson busts down the door and screams, “Here’s Jonny!” through a hole in the door. That scene is a great example of what terrifies me the most in horror films. In case you haven’t seen it (watch it here), Nicholson slowly walks with a deranged look on his face and an axe in his hands towards his wife who has locked herself in the bathroom from him. She seemingly has nowhere else to go and she knows that she will soon be killed if she cannot escape. Add in Stanley Kubrick’s methodically slow-pacing and ear-piercing score and it is the perfect setup the scare the living hell out of me. The combination of having no control over the situation and knowing that death is soon approaching is what scares me the most. [Dustin Jansick]

Ambiguity

I’m going to be a bit broad with my pick, but what scares me the most is simple: ambiguity. A lot of horror films tend to go in the opposite direction, showing too much or explaining every little thing to the audience, but there’s still plenty of power in deciding not to show or tell. When I watched Ju-On years ago what terrified me wasn’t the jittery ghosts, it was how the curse in the film wasn’t defined in any way whatsoever. It could be weeks, months, or even years before these ghosts would get you, but they will kill you at some point.. Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Kairo has one of the most terrifying first acts I’ve seen, as a rash of suicides and hauntings occur without explanation. Films like Insidious and Paranormal Activity also drew on elements of the unknown to scare audiences (to the point where people are now throwing money at them) but their inferior sequels built a mythology explaining every single thing that occurred in the originals. It’s an approach that shows how, the more you know, the less scared you’ll be. [CJ Prince]

Jack Nicholson As Joker

As I get older, I find myself almost impervious to fright at the movie theater, which is more of a curse than a blessing. It’s a sad thing that most scary movies fail to make my skin crawl like they did to my 7-year-old, candy-corn-gobbling self. The upside to my time-hardened nerves is that when a film does manage to creep me out, it’s a delicious rarity that I devour like a starving dog. I relish horror flicks like Eyes Without a Face, Nosferatu, Last House on the Left, and The Descent for employing finely tuned filmmaking techniques–not hackneyed “jump scares” or “false-alarm scares” (as Roger Ebert brilliantly called them)–to create deathly atmosphere and a sense of inescapable dread.

But still, nothing–NOTHING–can compare to the terror I experienced back in the candy-corn-gobbling days when I got my first glimpse at the face of pure evil–Jack Nicholson’s Joker. I remember being so scared of that pale, perpetually grinning motherfucker that I couldn’t even look at my family’s VHS copy of Tim Burton’s Batman. It didn’t even have Nicholson on it, but I knew some form of his lipstick-wearing devil spirit MUST have been lurking inside the cheap card stock packaging and black plastic shell. It had to be that smile–the only way to make any movie monster scarier is to have them bear their grisly grills like a demented clown (fuck clowns). There’s something repulsive, twisted, and deeply unsettling about someone who smiles as they’re about to do something truly sinister. I wonder if my folks ever got rid of that tape…[Bernard Boo]

Everything About Horror Films

So I will admit, I’ve never really been a huge fan of horror films. I’m pretty sure it all stems from watching Signs when I was in my early teens—man that film terrified me—the knife under the door, the creepy Alien sneaking out the hedges at that kids party. I had to keep the volume on 1 the entire time.

Then came my mid-teens when it was the cool thing to watch scary movies on a Friday night sleepover (Gothika, Amityville Horror, The Others – I mean what was up with that kid’s face?!) I think it’s the intense suspense build ups and the loud heavy Dolby Digital bass in the cinema that thumps through chest making you really feel like it’s all happening to you. I also find that the actual “knowing what’s around the corner” scares me more than whatever is there because your mind goes into a frenzy trying to prepare your body for it. [Amy Priest]

Suspense and Psychological Manipulation

I’ve never been one to actively search out horror films primarily for two reasons, the first being a belief (built from years of poor film choices by friends and family) that they all contained the same components, with slight variations on which “spooky” location and in which particular manner the unexplained deaths or disappearances happened. But in the interests of being truthful, the more honest—and embarrassing—reason is simply that I’m easily scared. Nevertheless, the films that really get to me are those that center more around suspense and psychological manipulation. Throw as much blood on the screen as you like, and it won’t bother me half as much as a mere second of something mentally disturbing. A perfect example of this is in 127 Hours (even though it’s not a horror film) when Scooby-Doo appears just for one shot; this one scene affected me far more than watching young Franco saw his arm off.

While finding suspense in films scary is a fairly universal concept, there is a defining line between the type of suspense we find dotted throughout films such as the Saw franchise and The Blair Witch Project, and the type we find in films such as Psycho and more recently, 28 Days Later. This difference stems from the basic intention of these films—are they attempting to provide us with a narrative that is scary in its essence, or are they attempting to thrill us with snippets of suspense loosely held together by some form of plot? I’ll jump (and perhaps even scream a little) at films that do the latter, but Joss Whedon has hit the nail on the head—at some point the majority of horror films devolved “into torture porn and into a long series of sadistic comeuppances.” Perhaps this is why my favourite horror film has to be, in all its meta construction, Whedon and Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods; as much as it scares us, it simultaneously enters new territory, subverting our expectations of the genre. [Pavi Ramani]

Believability And Doubt-Producing Ending

My film genre of choice is horror, but because of that I’m actually quite a fastidious viewer and it takes a lot to impress me. The most obvious element of a scary film is actually the easiest to pull off: surprise. It’s not hard to startle an audience, jump out at them, or spray some blood in their direction, eliciting a few screams. The hard part, and what marks the best horror films from all the others in my opinion, is getting into our heads and keeping the fear alive once we leave the theater. The most memorable horror films have two elements that will get me every time.

First, is an essence of believability. I don’t care if it’s ghosts, aliens, murderers, or demons, if the film can show me that the scenario I’m witnessing could happen to me, than I’m much more likely to feel a sense of anxiety that heightens the fright. A virus that turns a majority of the world into zombies? Seems plausible. Found footage of the family-next-door being haunted? That looks like a house I’ve seen. Those look like people I know. I’m creeped out. Second, is a well-played, doubt-producing ending. At the end of The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice may have caught her serial killer, but Hannibal Lecter’s final phone call reminds her, and us, that evil is never truly contained, just redirected. A hand popping out of a grave, a-la Carrie, just makes me laugh; zooming in on Jack Torrance in an old picture on the wall of the Overlook Hotel at the end of The Shining, reminds me that the evil within that hotel lives on. Because they have these two elements, I can watch my favorite horror films over and over again and still squirm. Because really, I never stopped being scared of them. [Ananda Dillon]