A Dozen Movie Twists So Sudden You’ll Need a Chiropractor

A Dozen Movie Twists So Sudden You’ll Need a Chiropractor after watching them. The other day, I tripped across this article on movieweb where they were talking about the 10 biggest sci-fi movie twists, and I was only moderately impressed with the list. I mean, obviously they had Moon, they also had – “Luke I am your father…”, etc., etc. But I began wondering, what would be the biggest, head-snapping, movie twists that exist? And I mean, in a single moment. Not the diffuse sort ooooooh I think I might see – huhhhhhh sort of twists. But more like: <piano hits ground> WOAH! CRAP! movie moments. You know what I mean. Where the twist comes with a single, sudden JOLT, making everything clear in an instant… You know what I mean?

So, as I was thinking about the problem, movies quickly started coming to mind. And I posted them over on the Discord in order to get feedback and other ideas. And so, what we have here today, is a list of our ideas that meet this OH CRAP! criteria for movie twists. With that in mind, a quick shout out to Shelbzilla and Gastroschisis? for their help in particular. Thanks gang. And to think, you could meet these two amazing people! They are right over there —-> on Discord, where we discuss great movies each and every day.

Number 12. Seconds

Overview: Banker Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) gets a call one day from a friend he thought was dead. It turns out that the friend is not a ghost, but was simply faking all along, and was placed into a new existence by a company who can give you a completely new face and life. Hamilton decides to undergo the procedure himself and becomes Tony Wilson (Rock Hudson), an artist who lives in Malibu. He is given a manservant to help him adjust but soon finds that adjusting will be the least of his worries.

Number 11. Identity

Overview: When a vicious storm breaks out in the Nevada desert, 10 people seek refuge in an isolated motel. At the same time, a serial killer, Malcom Rivers (Pruitt Taylor Vince), under the care of psychiatrist Doctor Mallick (Alfred Molina) — who has just found the killer’s revealing journal — awaits execution for murdering a group of motel guests. When the storm-stranded travelers realize they are being killed off one by one, limo driver Ed Dakota (John Cusack) bids to stay alive and reveal the murderer’s identity.

Number 10. Dark City

Overview: John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens alone in a strange hotel to find that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is that he can’t remember whether he committed the murders or not. For one brief moment, he is convinced that he has gone completely mad. Murdoch seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. As he edges closer to solving the mystery, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld controlled by a group of ominous beings collectively known as the Strangers. Read more about Dark City here.

Number 9. Memento

Overview: Leonard (Guy Pearce) is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty, however, of locating his wife’s killer is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he’s going, or why. Read more about Memento now.

Number 8. Shutter Island

Overview: The implausible escape of a brilliant murderess brings U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner (Mark Ruffalo) to Ashecliffe Hospital, a fortress-like insane asylum located on a remote, windswept island. The woman appears to have vanished from a locked room, and there are hints of terrible deeds committed within the hospital walls. As the investigation deepens, Teddy realizes he will have to confront his own dark fears if he hopes to make it off the island alive.

Number 7. Arrival

Overview: Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in twelve locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind. Read more about Arrival now.

Number 6. Jacob’s Ladder

Overview: After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. The women in his life try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer’s chiropractor friend, Louis (Danny Aiello), fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

Number 5. The Prestige

Overview: Two rival magicians, partners until the tragic death of an assistant during a show, feud bitterly after one of them performs the ultimate magic trick – teleportation. His rival tries desperately to uncover the secret of his routine, experimenting with dangerous new science as his quest takes him to the brink of insanity and jeopardizes the lives of everyone around the pair. Read more about The Prestige now.

Number 4. Oldboy

Overview: Dae-Su is an obnoxious drunk bailed from the police station yet again by a friend. However, he’s abducted from the street and wakes up in a cell, where he remains for the next 15 years, drugged unconscious when human contact is unavoidable, otherwise with only the television as company. And then, suddenly released, he is invited to track down his jailer. Read more about Oldboy now.

Number 3. Predestination

Overview: A temporal agent (Ethan Hawke) embarks on a final time-traveling assignment to prevent an elusive criminal from launching an attack by the fizzle bomber that kills thousands of people and kicks off a chain of death. Read more about Predestination now.

Number 2. Sixth Sense

Overview: Young Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) is haunted by a dark secret: he is visited by ghosts. Cole is frightened by visitations from those with unresolved problems who appear from the shadows. He is too afraid to tell anyone about his anguish, except child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis). As Dr. Crowe tries to uncover the truth about Cole’s supernatural abilities, the consequences for client and therapist are a jolt that awakens them both to something unexplainable. Read more about Sixth Sense now.

Number 1. Fight Club

Overview: A depressed man (Edward Norton) suffering from insomnia meets a strange soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and soon finds himself living in his squalid house after his perfect apartment is destroyed. The two bored men form an underground club with strict rules and fight other men who are fed up with their mundane lives. Their perfect partnership frays when Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), a fellow support group crasher, attracts Tyler’s attention. Read more about Fight Club now.

A Dozen Movies Twist So Sudden You’ll Need a Chiropractor

All the way down to NUMBER ONE!

And there you have it – A Dozen Movies Twist So Sudden You’ll Need a Chiropractor – a really decent list of movies that might accidentally snap your head completely off your shoulders inadvertently as the surprises hit so wicked hard. But if even that isn’t enough for you… @shelbzilla has a few more for you to consider: Arlington Road, Surveillance, Saw, Primal Fear, The Others, Power of the Dog, a Perfect Getaway, Secret Window, The Visit, Gone Baby Gone, Planet of the Apes… apparently you wind her up and let her go, and voila you have a new movie library addition tacked on to the side of your house to contain some of the DVDs you just purchased.

Edited by: CY