Gloomy, sad or bleak movie endings

[Baron Von Marlon]

Been thinking about this again lately after watching Damien (The Omen tv series). So time for a topic.

There are two main examples I'd like to use. If you've seen them, you know what I mean.
If you haven't, sorry but you should've seen those movies by now.

One's the one with the number and the box.
The other one's based on a Stephen King book.

What are your thoughts and opinions?

Personally I think a "bad" ending is often more suitable, more memorable, a lot more powerful and especially more interesting. And I'm not talking about simple endings where the monsters pops up one more time before the screen cuts to the credits. I'm talking about those clever ones like in the examples.
And something that pisses me off is when there's this all powerful, great, ancient evil whatever and it can be killed in a conventional way. I'm talking about you Evil Dead remake.

[darkdetective]

I also love really bleak/dark endings.
The two you mention are two of my favourites.

I think, when you watch a horror film or thriller where everything gets wrapped up at the end, the good guy lives - bad guy dies, these endings are less memorable and interesting. They lack impact.

The jump scare, return of bad guy at last second endings are just terrible sequel bait endings to give the audience a little jolt at the end. These endings aren't stimulating on an intellectual level, just a reactionary one.

BOO- Ahh, you scared me.. what's for lunch?

The endings that are truly memorable are the ones that make you think or leave you in shock.

dark/bleak ending then fade to black - I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY DID THAT, what happens next? Why did the one guy do that one thing? What's in the box???

These endings are more interesting, you could have a whole conversation about the ending afterwards.

Also, in terms of horror movies: what's more scary than a bad guy winning and there's nothing you can do about it?

A couple of endings I like are:

The one will the girls in the cave.
The one with the pregnant woman INSIDE the house.
The one that was recently remade badly.

[ferretchucker]

For the most part I'm a fan of bleak endings. I think they can serve a very important purpose in a lot of films - mostly to remind us that the world is essentially a pretty unforgiving place. In horror they work very well for reminding us of our overall mortality. One of the most powerful examples for me has to be Requiem for a Dream. Absolutely heartbreaking, and a happy ending simply would not have fit in with the subject matter.

That being said, I don't always like them being used. While I'm struggling to think of an example off the top of my head, sometimes they can feel shoehorned in and just a little off-kilter. Occasionally you need that cathartic pay-off and rather than being a shocking reminder that sometimes you lose, a sad ending can just be a flat anti-climax.

Furthermore, I'd argue that there are some seemingly bleak endings which are actually not too sad when you take them in - often hero self sacrifice. Films in which a hero willingly accepts and makes peace with their death aren't particularly bleak because the protagonist accepts the outcome. Alien 3 would be an example of this - the peace with which Ripley welcomes death almost makes this a happy ending if anything.

[Sculpt]

I agree, sometimes the bleak/sad ending fits the film, and sometimes not. I don't like bleak all the time.

Some effective, appropriate, practically bleak/sad endings: (in white txt, highlight to see)

The Thing 82
The Fly 86 & 58
Evil Dead 2
Se7en
Incredible Shrinking Man
Empire Strikes Back
The Prestige
Fellowship of the Rings

[Angra]

I prefer happy endings.


And now we play the waiting game..

[roshiq]

I actually LOVE bleak, sad or shocking ending more if they can put it through a reasonable scenario and sometime remind us about the uncertain, raw & unpredictable nature or chain of events of real life human conditions and incidents.

Some of my favorites (as quickly I can recall at this moment) are:

Bicycle Thieves
Requiem for a Dream
Se7en
Oldboy
Eden Lake
The Orphanage
Wolf Creek
Grave of the Fireflies

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

Lilja 4-Ever

@ Suicide Room

Mandragora

[ferretchucker]

Interesting that Rosemary's Baby and The Omen - the two biggest Satan spawn movies - both end with bleak endings. We really do have no hope against little Damian.

Perhaps the most depressingly bleak and hopeless for me is the ending to The Beyond. Haunted me for the longest time, I still can't think of much worse than their fates.

I'd say all of the above are very good examples of bleak endings - hopelessness is a very powerful feeling, and that lasting dread that it leaves undercuts the more primal fears of shock and repulsion by an awful lot.

[Repo'd]

Horror lends itself to bleak and gloomy.

Lovely Molly
Felt
Rabid
May
The Devils
Fade to Black

[Baron Von Marlon]

Guess we all agree that sometimes it's better and more suitable.

That being said, how about movies main character is the bad guy.
Like Maniac.