5 Horror films that changed their endings

With fall upon us, horror movies have a particular charm, especially when there's a slight nip in the air. With the Halloween weekend just gone by, it's the perfect time to stream some scares.

Horror films often have to walk a very narrow line between what's possible and a satisfying resolution that the protagonist deserves. However, there have been many instances where original endings have either been so grim or outright gory that test audiences or even studios demanded a redo.

So the question is, were the original endings better, or were the changes actually for the better?

Horror films that changed their endings

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

This genre-defining sleeper hit had many planned alternate endings, which were eventually replaced by the one that we saw in the theaters. The makers had originally shot multiple takes of the climax, one of which featured elaborate scenes of satanic symbols implying Mike and Heather's ritualistic sacrifice. The makers' eventual decision to go with a more ambiguous scene helped the film retain the mystique it exudes to this day.

Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror magnum opus almost ended with a nihilistic gloom. In the original script, Ripley nearly makes it away from a seemingly inevitable death before a Xenomorph eventually boards the ship and decapitates her. Instead of a hopeless climax with a monster taking over the classic hero's story, studio executives gave us a feminist icon in the form of Ripley, kicking off a franchise that would eventually span decades.

Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele's 2017 social horror will go down in history books for how it handled these topics. However, its original script also planned to mirror its subject matter a bit too perfectly. The scrapped version saw Chris apprehended by the police after he killed the Armitage family and subsequently imprisoned for the multiple murders. While the originally planned ending would've perfectly underlined the message of systemic racism, a rare victory for the black protagonist proved cathartic for the filmgoers.

Leatherface (2017)

The prequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released with an ending that was notably softer than planned. In the original script, Jedidah kills his paramour Lizzy and makes a mask from her face - whilst she is still alive. In the theatrical release, however, Jedidah does kill Lizzy, albeit swiftly, making his descent into madness slow and tragic instead of soulless and repulsive.

Hostel (2005)

Eli Roth's notoriously grisly flick had a climax that was toned down by the makers. In the released cut, the protagonist Paxton escapes his Dutch captors and proceeds to 'torture' him in the same way they did. However, the alternative ending, which eventually became part of the Director's Cut, saw Paxton kidnap the businessman's daughter. The ending was deemed too perverse for the protagonist and would've ended up making our everyman protagonist as morally bankrupt as the ones who wronged him.