Dark Endings

[ulthar]

Obligatory: possible spoilers (but I really doubt it for the movies mentioned).

*******************************************************************************************************************


The NOTLD thread got me to thinking about dark endings for movies.  Was NOTLD the first?  The Thing has a dark, hopeless ending, and Carpenter accomplishes it very well with the mood of the last scene.  From the commentary on the DVD, neither Carpenter nor anyone else on the set knew the ending until they got ready to shoot it.  To the degree they built the hopelessness, I don't think any other ending was possible (and would have been a huge let-down).

In a way, Pulp Fiction has a dark ending.  Even though it actually appears in the middle, you know Vincent's true fate at the end of the film.  I think QT did a good job setting this up as a subtle way into the viewer's head.

Se7en did it, I think in a realistic way (I would have HATED that movie if it ended 'happy').  As uncomfortable as that ending is, it just fits.

My question is what movies/directors have attempted the dark ending and ended up just looking lame?  

Also, what dark endings (or attempts) have come out of nowhere...that is, the dark ending was forced on the viewer, seemingly as a gimmick (or as an attempt to copy Romero)?  What directors have the dark ending as a trademark (good or bad)?

This is not really about dark movies in general, but rather movies that up until their last scene could have ENDED "up" or "down."

[trekgeezer]

NOLTD is hardly the first. Unhappy or ambiguous endings were quite common in the 70''s (Vanishing Point comes to mind). Of course during the late 60's and through the 70's directors had a lot more control than they do now.

Most of the happy endings we get now are because of the studios.

Vanishing Point has a good dark ending with Kowalski doing a kamikazee into the bulldozers. Carpenter's thing is very ambiguous, but i liked it very much because it makes you use your imagination.

[ThadC]

8mm, and Memento have pretty dark endings. Million Dollar Baby has a pretty dark ending I think, and Jeepers Creepers. The ending in High Tension was twisted, and dark.

[Fearless Freep]

If you really think about the implications of the end of "Dark City", it's very depressing

[BoyScoutKevin]

That's an interesting question, as most films seem to have a "sunny" ending.

For me, a "dark" ending would be one in which the villains win.

"Race with the Devil"
"1984"
etc.

Also, ambiguous endings could possiblely be considered to be "dark."

"The Fearless Vampire Killers"
"Lair of the White Worm"
etc.

I'll try to think up some more.

[Derf]

Crossroads has a dark ending; Britney Spears lives.

Titanic has a dark ending. Oh, wait, I just fell asleep, so everything only seemed dark.

[Scottie]

Lets go way back to silent Scandinavian cinema.

Victor Sjostrom was a Swedish director whose films dealt with the beauty of life; and with life comes death. In the film, The Outlaw and His Wife (1918), Sjostrom shows how two people can be happy with each other despite what society thinks (I know, I used a buzzword, but at least it's applicable). A man comes to work on a farm and falls in love with the widow Halla, but when it is discovered that he is an escaped thief, forced into crime by his family's starvation, the two run off into the mountains to live to the end of their days. The movie ends when a small squabble in a tent in the freezing moutains drives one to run away, if only in angst, and fall in the snow. The other comes out and follows her, and in his passion, lays down beside her. The movie cuts (I believe) to the next day where they are still laying side by side, frozen in the ice and snow. What a down ending.

Sjostrom was famous for two things, in his movies: the landscape and unhappy endings. When he came to the United States to work in Hollywood, test audiences disliked his work because of its depressing nature. Studios forced him to change the endings to meet the demands and make them more upbeat, though today, people balk at it. The Wind (1928) is a classic example of this. Working with famed actress Lillian Gish, the original ending of The Wind has Gish wandering off into the windy landscape of the prairies and dying. It was changed, to some chagrin and other's approval, to her hated husband returning to their shack and reconciling with her.

Victor Sjostrom was also an actor. All you Ingmar Bergman fans out there might recognize him from Wild Strawberries (1957). Also a good movie.

[odinn7]

Although it's nice and bright when it happens, I would say The Wicker Man has a dark ending.

[dean]

odinn7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Although it's nice and bright when it happens, I
> would say The Wicker Man has a dark ending.
>

Hahahaha, fun times singing around the Wicker Man.

Another 'Happy yet Dark' ending:  Jean Cocteau's Beauty in the Beast has a great dark ending layered in a happy ending [for those who know the movie, you know what I mean.]

[Zapranoth]

Depends on what exactly you mean by "dark."

"Seven" and "Reservoir Dogs" come to mind.

[SaintMort]

Brazil and Jacob's Ladder

[Flangepart]

MIRICAL MILE. Respect it, don't wanna see it agine.
I get enough darkness in the news...what, i want it in my movies? Not as much as i used to...

Oh, and BEWARE : THE BLOB!

[Vermin Boy]

If you want one that comes COMPLETELY out of nowhere, check out Fantasy Mission Force. It's a perfectly upbeat and insane kung fu flick (check out the reviews on Teleport City or Unknown Movies if you wanna know how insane)... until the very last scene, where everybody dies graphically. Except for a young Jackie Chan, who had previously been a minor character. It's all worth it, though, for that final line...

[nobody]

I enjoy "dark" movie endings because I'm a pessimist, so they seem much more realistic to me. And sometimes the point a writer/director is trying to make with his film isn't sincere if the movie ends on a happy note.

One of the biggest screw-ups that comes to mind is "Devil's Advocate." *SPOILER ALERT*
If Keanue and his wife hadn't magically come to life in the last few minutes of the film, it would've been a good flick. The writer, however, couldn't stand up for his own convictions and allow the Devil to win, even though he obviously felt sympathy for his particular version of the Devil.

Another film that was ruined for me was "28 Days Later." *SPOILER ALERT, AGAIN*
If you watch the first alternate ending on the "28 Days Later" DVD you'll see a great ending where the male hero dies and his female companions were left to fend for themselves. The ending that was actually tacked onto the end of the film shows all three survivors happy and healthy in a small, secluded paradise cottage (without any real explanation as to how they escaped danger).

Does anyone know of any other movies that were completely destroyed by their stupid, sappy Hollywood happy endings?

[ulthar]

I really enjoyed most of The Devil's Own, but I hate the ending.  I think a much better ending would have been Harrison Ford's character getting shot, and the film just ending with Frankie (Brad Pitt) just cruising into the sunset with the missles on that boat.  So, I think this is a pretty good example of a tacked-on happy ending that should have been darker.

Opportunity missed.