Maybe you've heard of a little movie called “The Usual Suspects” (1995). Chances are that if you have, you also heard about the big ol twist in it. One of my friends, quoting the famous line from the movie “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist”, got me thinking, what other great twist movies are out there?
Here are five!
Here are five!
1) Orphan (2009) Directed by Jaume Collet - Serra
Here’s an interesting take on the topic of anxieties around adoption that horror movies love to exploit. This one’s so bold as to tease “Something’s wrong with Esther... you’ll never guess her secret”
Esther is an orphan that is adopted by the Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) Coleman. It’s got a little “The Good son” (1993) (Macauly Culkin, Elijah wood) and “Joshua” (2007) (Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga (coincidence?)) going on but has enough freshness to stand up on its own as a surprisingly good watch! You may well not be able to guess the twist in this one!
2)Primal Fear (1996) directed by Gregory Hoblit
This Twisty little movie has got some courtroom going on. It stars Richard Gere and Edward Norton. The skinny is that, lawyer: Martin Veil (Gere) picks up a high profile case involving the murder of an archbishop allegedly by an altar boy (Norton).
It’s got some stereotypes in it. Sure. But it’s also got a brilliant performance by Edward Norton who exhibits some characteristics of dissociative identity disorder (D.I.D in the past referred to as multiple identity disorder) which throws a wrench in the courtroom proceedings. This is definitely worth a watch.
3) The Prestige (2006) Directed by Christopher Nolan
Here’s an excellent movie about rivalry (and one of my personal favourites) by the director who brought us "Memento" (Also a great, great twist movie), "Batman begins", and "the dark knight". It’s got Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale who both do a wonderful job and it’s got all sort of intrigue.
It’s about fascination with magic, obsession to be the best or better and unrelenting, all consuming rivalry. The gist is that Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden(Bale) will stop at nothing to best the other. Add to that: complicating guilt and revenge and you’ve got a great movie with all sort of twists and turns and a wild (and somewhat disturbing) ending.
4) 8mm (1999) Directed by Joel Schumacher
This one’s got Nicholas Cage going underground in the pornographic “snuff” film market to investigate the authenticity of a video recording of the death of a teenager.
This one’s not necessarily a “you won’t see it coming” type, It’s more of twist on the genre. In particular in how it’s a commentary on evil in general. It’s got some great tension including a certain crazed tied up in a shack scene.
5) Surveillance (2008) Directed by Jennifer Lynch (Yes. David Lynch’s daughter)
Without giving too much away, this one has FBI agents engage in the investigation related to a series of violent deaths. The agents, in typical FBI manner get involved behind the scenes and monitor witness/survivor testimonies. Here we see flash backs of what happened. As is the case with these thrillers, things aren’t always what they seem.
Now, this isn’t David Lynchesque, its all Jennifer, and it plays a little like a CSI episode. But it’s a little more than that. Pullman’s inhibited wildness is worth watching! It’s a onetime watch kinda thing though so don’t run out buying it (like I did...) unless it’s on the cheap. This one’s a good rental.
That's your five.
What other movies had twists that you can't get enough of, or will never forget?
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