Best WTF? Endings

[Mofo Rising]

Every once in a while you see a movie that is pretty great but somehow ends with a finish that makes no sense whatsoever.  Or it ends in an abrupt but hilarious manner.  Or it just ends, leaving you to ask yourself and your friends "Huh?"

Here's my example, although it doesn't quite fit the topic.  MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL.  I never realized how hilarious the ending is until I saw in the theater a year or two back.  As I'm sure you know, the movie just stops and goes to black screen while playing some circus music.  It plays against expectations so well.  The music plays for a couple of minutes over a black screen, and the best part?  There's no pay off!  That's it.  No credits, no nothing.  That, my friend's is hilarity.

Side note, since this is necessarily a spoiler intensive topic, it might help if you put the movie you are going to talk about in your subject line.  (Of course, that's a spoiler in itself, but there you go.)

[Scott]

Movies that make you say "what was that?" are my favorite kind of films.

[jmc]

EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC.   God, what a confusing mess.....

[Deej]

The Italian Job (1969). Great heist-comedy flick. Funny one liners and spot on performances throughout. The ending is so great because after all of the meticulous planning, and the actual pulling off of the job itself, you're left wondering did they get the gold or did one f-up screw the whole works.

 "Dis you're car.....??? Pretty Car...."


Angels With Dirty Faces(1938). Okay, so at the end, you're pretty much up to speed on how everything worked out, Bogie(dead) , George Bancroft(dead), Leo Gorcey(rat bastard) and Cagney gets fried. But, did Rocky Sullivan(Cagney) die yellow, or did he do it to save the kids? Classic friggin ending.

" Let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could. "

Okay....had to tack this on...and I know I'm not the only one with questions about this. At the end of Shane(1953) as he's riding off and the annoying-as-hell Joey is yelling after him, he's slumped over in the saddle. Granted, he'd just been shot which, i imagine, would suck pretty bad and cause anyone to not sit up so straight. The question is did Shane die? Was he just using bad posture? My pal Nino, insists he died in the book, therefore, died in the movie. My Dad says no way in hell did he die. I'm not sure, guess that ending is open to argument.

"Shane! Come back!....Come Back, Shane!"



Post Edited (10-26-03 01:50)

[Evan3]

Shane is a huge can of wormsDeej, can u let me know if Shane cheated with that man's wife first, and also, if fighting for one evil against another is necessarily good?

In any case, my favorite WTF ending is most definitely the Ring (talk about open ended, you can take that anywhere, plus it has audience participation) as well as  Donnie Darko.

It took me a week to make up my mind on Donnie Darko's ending, and my friend happened the same way.  Im still not sure I got it, buit wow, that is one hell of an ending.

[Deej]

They, didn't actually cheat Evan. I mean, they didn't do the deed in the barn or anything, but there was an unspoken romantic attraction there. I think that's one of the reasons Shane left.

As far as fighting for one evil against another. I don't see the homesteaders as being evil, they're just trying to put down roots(look at that..I did a literally-figuratively thing!) and build a home to raise a family. Whereas Ryker is an evil landgrabbing tit who uses intimidation and murder just to keep control of land for his cattle to feed on.

I guess being a gunman, Shane hadn't lived a very wholesome life, but the fact that he tried to avoid the confrontation, and teach that annoying little bastard Joey that his way(life with a gun) wasn't the right way, speaks to the fact that he wasn't at heart a bad man.

[Cullen]

It's been a while since I read Shane, but I don't remembering him dying at the end.

[JohnL]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the biggest WTF movie ending ever made; 2001: A Space Odyssey! He flies into a giant block, travels through endless colors, ends up in a hotel room where he grows old and then a baby appears floating out in space. W-T-F???

[Andrew]

I am going to vote for Bleeders for a totally messed-up ending.  John Strauss suddenly cuts the kids neck open, then goes to live in the tunnels with his hermaphrodite sister.  Holy cow!

Also, of course, the ending of Cemetery Man.

The enormous octopus showing up out of nowhere, grabbing Frankenstein, and then dragging him into the sea was a great WTF ending for "Frankenstein Conquers the World."

[The Burgomaster]

Deej:

As for ANGELS WITH DIRTY faces, I think you must assume that Cagney did it to save the kids. Remember, back in the 1930s movies had to send certain messages in order to be considered "socially acceptable." Since Cagney was the main character, I think the film needs to send the message that the words of his boyhood friend, now a priest, caused him to see the error of his ways and repent. He placed the salvation of the Dead End Kids ahead of his own "tough guy" image. Thus, good triumphed over evil.

Plus, the look on Pat O'Brien's face, and the tear running down his cheek, seem to tell the audience that he knows that Cagney is going to the chair kicking and screaming so that the kids wouldn't think of him as a hero.

This is one of my favorite movies, and I love the ending.

[Deej]

The Burgomaster wrote:

> Deej:
>
> As for ANGELS WITH DIRTY faces, I think you must assume that
> Cagney did it to save the kids.
>
> This is one of my favorite movies, and I love the ending.
>


Ditto Burgomaster, the all time best WB gangster flick! I also think Rocky died like a rat for the kids, but I think it was intentionally left ambiguous, probably because of the production code you mentioned, in which the Gangster had to meet a grisly end. Either way, Cagney and O'Brien are,as always, a hell of a good combo, and Bogie makes everything better!


And as For 2001: a Space Odyssey, for me that was a WTF movie, not just the ending.



Post Edited (10-26-03 18:43)

[Cullen]

This isn't the best WTF ending -- nothing about the movie is that good -- however, Nightmare Weekend has an ending that makes no sense.  The damn thing's so dark and garbled, I have no idea what the hell's going on.

[Scott]

I recently see a copy of THE ITALIAN JOB(1969) starring Micheal Caine on the DVD shelve of Curcuit City. The story sound interesting. Hopefully they show it on TV someday. So is the new THE ITALIAN JOB about a bank robbery? Did anyone like it?

[B-grade]

The end of the remake of Breeders has a ending that off. It's not really a WTF ending as it isn't confusing. But a big factory suddenly appears out of no where and blows up in dramatic slow motion. I've always enjoyed that ending.  1) becuase it ended an otherwise forget able film. 2) made a forgetable film less forgetable. 3) it was bad in a completely different way from the rest of the movie.  The film stock doesn't even look the same.

[Perk]

The Story of Ricky has a big WTF ending.  I mean after all that the warden is Abobo from Double Dragon and then Ricky decides to free the prisoners????  Now Ricky they were in there for a reason.  

Hudson Hawk.  WTF or HTF did Danny Aiello survive.  I mean yea he said airbags and sprinklers but come on.

Ford Fairlane.  The Koala bear coming back was WTf enough for me.

Death to Smoochy.  The Ice Show at the end where they are flying.