Plot twists are common in all kinds of movies, and they can be fun, funny, shocking, unexpected, or laughably predictable. Some of the best twists occur in horror movies, as they can tap into the fear of the unknown and reveal something with truly horrific ramifications. This is especially true of killer reveals in slashers, whodunits, and Italian Giallo films. The moment when the identity of the black-gloved killer or the person behind the mask is finally revealed is one that audiences have become accustomed to anxiously anticipate. One method that horror filmmakers will occasionally use to make these reveals hit even harder is to have the killer turn out to be a friend or family member of the protagonist.
In the list below, we’ve collected 13 great horror flicks with killers that turn out to be more closely related to the hero than one might expect. Be warned, there are massive spoilers ahead!
13 Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
One of the funniest horror comedies of all time, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a slasher spoof about a pair of friendly hillbillies who are mistaken for crazed murdering maniacs by a group of college students. Full of blood, guts, and slapstick, this goofy gorefest also packs a wallop of a shocking twist. As it turns out, though it is obvious from the get-go to the viewer that Tucker and Dale are not murderers, somebody does turn out to be insane and filled with bloodlust.
That person is the college friend group’s leader, Chad, who is revealed to be the son of a murdering hillbilly maniac responsible for the legendary Memorial Day Massacre. Following in his father’s footsteps, Chad snaps and attempts to kill both his friend Allison and the titular heroes of the film.
12 Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th is the genre-defining slasher classic that introduced the world to the iconic horror villain Jason Voorhees. Or is it? This one is something of an anomaly on this list, as instead of having the killer revealed to be someone close to the hero of the film, it is revealed to be the mother of the person that we initially expected to be the killer. That’s right, Jason Voorhees is not the main antagonist of Friday the 13th, rather it is his mother, Pamela Voorhees.
This twist works even better nowadays than it did back when the film first released, as most newcomers to the series are going to fully expect Jason the hockey mask-wearing killer to appear.
11 Halloween II (1981)
Halloween II is the polarizing follow-up to the terrifying classic Halloween. The film divided critics with its greater emphasis on gory deaths and lack of John Carpenter’s masterful direction, though it has since been reappraised as an important touchstone in the evolution of the slasher genre. Regardless of its newfound cult following, however, the film features a wild twist that continues to baffle to this day; Halloween II reveals that the motiveless killer Michael Myers has a motive after all – he’s actually Laurie Strode’s vengeful brother. Love it or hate it, the reveal was shocking and set a precedent for killer reveals that many horror films would copy in the years that followed.
10 Intruder (1989)
Intruder is a highly underrated slasher from Evil Dead II co-writer Scott Spiegel. The film is about the night crew of a small town grocery store that gets trapped in the store with a deranged killer. The film features a number of surprising cameos from horror legends like Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, and caps off the bloody violence with a shocking killer reveal. The killer turns out to be the lovable, seemingly-kindhearted co-owner of the store, who went crazy upon hearing that his business partner planned to sell the store.
9 Blood and Black Lace (1964)
Blood and Black Lace is an essential murder-baroque masterpiece from genre pioneer Mario Bava, and laid the foundations for the Italian Giallo genre that went on to become so popular in the decade after its release. The film defined many of the stylistic tropes of the genre; as Collider explains, “One of the most used tropes in Giallo has always been that the mysterious killer wears gloves, helping to further mask their identity. That started here.”
Another common trope of the Giallo film is the shocking killer reveal, and Blood and Black Lace has a good one: the killer, or rather, killers, turn out to be the husband-and-wife owners of the fashion house where all the murder victims worked.
The Toolbox Murders is a 1978 proto-slasher that sees a ski-mask-wearing killer hunting down the women who live in a particular apartment complex, and murdering them with common household tools. After establishing an excellent red herring in the form of Kent Kingsley, a young man with a seemingly unhealthy fascination with dead bodies, the film reveals that the murderer is Kent’s uncle, Vance. Vance is the owner of the apartment complex, and a religious fanatic that went mad after the sudden death of his young daughter.
7 Prom Night (1980)
Prom Night is a great slasher flick about a mysterious figure who stalks and murders a group of high school students who were involved in the accidental death of a young girl years before. Soon, the friends of Kim Hammond, the dead girl’s sister, start to turn up dead, and Kim thinks she could be next. It turns out, however, that the murderer is none other than Kim’s brother Alex, who witnessed the death of their sister years ago and vowed revenge.
6 Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)
Four Flies on Grey Velvet is an under-seen Giallo and one of Dario Argento’s best films. It’s about a rock musician who is tormented by bizarre phone calls and is stalked by a figure in black. Soon, the musician’s friends are getting killed off, and he becomes the prime suspect. It later turns out that his wife is the killer, and she wants him dead because of his striking resemblance to her father, who abused her when she was a child.
5 My Bloody Valentine (1981)
My Bloody Valentine is a 1981 slasher about a group of teenagers who, despite the warnings of a legendary killer, decide to throw a Valentine’s Day party, and subsequently discover that the legends are true. The killer turns out to be a copycat killer, and is revealed to be one of the teenagers, specifically the son of a man who was brutally murdered by the legendary killer who last struck 20 years prior. The reveal is quite shocking given the teenager’s close relationship with the protagonist, and one of the most unexpected twists in horror history.
4 The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972)
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times is a fantastic Italian horror film about a pair of sisters who inherit an enormous castle that is allegedly cursed by a long-dead ancestor. Soon, people that the sisters associate with begin dying one by one, and all signs seem to point to their ghostly ancestor. In the end, however, it is revealed that the killer is one of the sisters, who planned to steal all the inheritance for herself.
3 Scream (1996)
Scream is well-known today as the film that breathed new life into the ailing slasher genre with its unique tone and meta-commentary on horror cinema. It is also remembered for its shocking twist ending, which reveals that the psychotic killer Ghostface is actually the heroine’s movie-obsessed boyfriend, Billy, with an assist from mutual friend Stu.
As Screen Rant puts it, “The reveal of Billy and Stu and their ties to Sydney's mother was a shocking turn back when the film first premiered, and it set the franchise into motion from there. It's definitely creepy to learn that the killer was so close the entire time.” While we’re at it, Scream 2 gets an honorable mention for its unexpected reveal that one of the killers is Billy’s mother, Mrs. Loomis.
2 Edge of the Axe (1988)
Edge of the Axe is an overlooked slasher with a simple premise: a masked maniac is running around Northern California chopping up people with an axe. Yeah, sounds pretty familiar, right? Fortunately, the action is kept interesting thanks to the flourishes of Spanish director José Ramón Larraz, who spikes the otherwise generic slasher formula with touches of Euro-horror weirdness.
One such example is the shocking killer reveal at the end; the maniac turns out to be the hero’s love interest, Lillian, who has built up an alter ego of a psychopath in her head. In the surprising downer of an ending, Lillian runs from the hero and leads him straight into a line of armed police, who gun him down on sight.
1 Deep Red (1975)
Deep Red is widely considered one of the best Giallos ever made, and rightfully so; this twisted story of murderous mayhem has everything the genre is celebrated for, including a wholly unexpected killer reveal. After initially pinning the murder on his friend Carlo, amateur detective Marcus is attacked by Carlo’s mother Martha, who murdered Carlo’s father in front of him when he was just a boy.
The sudden rush of traumatic exposition and the subsequent violent end that Martha meets – which sees the killer being decapitated when an elevator yanks on her necklace – cements this stylish thriller’s ending as one of the most shocking in the annals of horror history.
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