Top 30 Movies That Left Out the Real Horrific Ending
#30: The Aftermath
Top 10 Horror Movies That Left Out The Real Horrific Ending
“Alive” (1993) The true story that inspired this movie is chilling, and its representation on the screen stops short of the full picture. “Alive” is an account of the aftermath of the Andes flight disaster, involving Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. The crash survivors spent 72 days in the harsh Andes mountains before they were rescued. This point marks the end of the 1993 dramatization. After returning home, the survivors were heavily criticized when it was revealed that they had resorted to eating their dead friends for sustenance. Even with such a great loss to bear, the father of one of the dead victims was arrested for grave robbing when he went up to the mountains himself to retrieve his son’s remains after they were buried.
#29: The Abandoned Bus
Top 10 Movies That Left Out the Real Horrific Ending
“Into the Wild” (2007) “Into the Wild” details the life of Christopher McCandless who hitchhiked across North America and ended up in the Alaska wilderness. McCandless camped out in an abandoned green bus, where he eventually passed on, reportedly due to starvation. After being documented in the biographical book of the same title, McCandless’ story became a cultural phenomenon and inspired quite a lot of people to tread the same path as him. In the years following the book’s publication, many hikers journeyed to McCandless’ abandoned bus, with two people losing their lives in the process and multiple others needing to be rescued. To prevent further harm, the bus was removed from its original location. It currently sits in a museum at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
#28: Mulan Ends Her Life
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“Mulan” (1998) Mulan is badass in this movie, and she is just as cool in the legends that the film was based on. Mulan did join the army according to Chinese legends, and she kicked ass throughout her military career. Disney said that she was cast aside when her identity was discovered but proved herself when she saved the Emperor from Huns. This reveal plays out differently in the legends, but there’s a version of her in the 1695 story “Sui Tang Romance” that sees a very sad conclusion. After returning from the war, she discovers her father has passed. Instead of being forced into service as a concubine, she ends her life at her father’s grave. She didn’t deserve that.
#27: Anastasia Didn’t Survive
The Amazing True Story of Anastasia
“Anastasia” (1997) Fox’s animated movie about a lost Russian princess has more of a historical basis than other entries on this list. In the early 1910s, Russia was ruled by the Imperial Romanov family. In the movie, former advisor and sorcerer Grigori Rasputin sparks the Russian Revolution, causing Anastasia to be separated from her family while being evacuated from danger. But that is an alternate history retelling. In the real world, Rasputin was assassinated in 1916 before the execution of the Romanovs in 1918 by Bolshevik revolutionaries. This film was based on the rumors that Duchess Anastasia escaped due to a number of imposters who had come forward in the years since. Her remains were eventually found confirming her horrible fate.
#26: Sleeping Beauty’s Problematic Origin
“Sleeping Beauty” (1959) “Sleeping Beauty” is another Charles Perrault-inspired story that leaves out shocking moments from its source material. Perrault’s story plays out similarly, albeit with some later troubles after the prince awakens the princess. But Perrault simply adapted another version of the folktale published by Italian author Giambattista Basile. In his version, the sleeping beauty, named Talia, is beset upon by a wandering King. He brings her to bed, leaves and she gives birth to twins all while asleep! Once the King comes back, his Queen tries to remove Talia and the children from the equation, but the King instead turns on his wife so he can now commit to his new family. This one is both weird and disturbing!
#25: The Manson Family Murders
Top 10 Biopics That Left Out The Real Ending
“The Haunting of Sharon Tate” (2019) Almost everyone knows the tragedy that befell actress Sharon Tate. If not, they almost surely know the name Charles Manson. In August of 1969, followers of Manson arrived at Tate’s home and proceeded to kill all those inside, including the pregnant Tate. Though “The Haunting of Sharon Tate” shows the real murders in a nightmare sequence earlier on, the actual climax instead has the victims turn the tables on their oppressors. However, once everything is said and done, Sharon and company realize they didn’t survive the attack, and what they experienced was simply an alternate reality of what could have been. Curiously enough, this wasn’t the only 2019 movie to recontextualize the events, as “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” did so to much greater effect.
#24: Thousands of POWs & Civilians Died Building the Burma Railway
“The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957) Many British World War II veterans took umbrage with the Oscar-winning film “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” It portrays a British commander, played by Alec Guinness, who takes pride in ordering his imprisoned men to build a bridge for the Japanese. In actuality, when forced to build the Burma Railway, British officers encouraged sabotage. In a BBC interview, a former prisoner said that an officer like the movie's Nicholson would have been killed. Conditions, too, were far worse than the movie depicts. Tens of thousands of laborers from Thailand, Burma, and Malaysia were conscripted to aid in construction. By the end of the war, 13,000 POWs died from exhaustion, thirst, starvation, and disease. Between eighty and one hundred thousand civilians also died.
#23: The KKK Were Terrorists, Not Heroes
Top 10 War Movies That Left Out the Real Horrific Ending
“The Birth of a Nation” (1915) “The Birth of a Nation” was the first blockbuster ever produced. It was also replete with lies from beginning to end. Covering both the end of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, the movie doesn’t just spin history; it inverts it. The film shows Black militias roaming the hillside, murdering southern families. The KKK, however, are just honest white folk defending their homes. Black politicians steal elections, and corrupt the government thanks to Reconstruction. History reveals that the opposite was true. The KKK and similar groups attacked communities all over the American south, stamping out Black voting whenever possible. In Opelousas, Louisiana, a sister organization to the KKK murdered 200 Black people to stop their votes. Corruption and murder killed Reconstruction in its infancy.
#22: The Killings
How Knock At The Cabin Leaves Out The REAL Horrific Ending
“My Friend Dahmer” (2017) “My Friend Dahmer” doesn't delve into the outright horror that serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer would become known for, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its tenser moments. Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by John “Derf” Backderf, the film recounts Derf’s relationship with the young Jeffrey during their high school years. Throughout the film, a series of red flags regarding Jeffrey’s behavior goes largely unnoticed, and the film ends with him picking up a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks, who was Dahmer’s first victim in real life. Obviously, the film never purported to be about the murders, instead opting for a fascinating look at nascent psychopathy. Plus, there are other biopics that do get into the nitty gritty of it all.
#21: 67 Exorcisms
Top 10 Real Life Survival Movies That Left Out The Real Ending
“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005) Part demonic possession movie, part courtroom drama, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” tells the story of a college girl who dies sometime after a failed exorcism and the subsequent trial of the priest for negligent homicide. Though alleging to be about a real person named Emily Rose, the film actually took inspiration from the story of German woman Anneliese Michel. Whereas Emily has a single exorcism performed on her in the movie - hence the singularity in its title - Michel reportedly underwent a whopping sixty-seven over the course of ten months before succumbing to malnutrition. We can understand why the movie would want to streamline things, but truth really is stranger than fiction.
#20: Career Struggles
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“Ed Wood” (1994) If you know anything about the real Ed Wood, you know his whole career was filled with ups and downs. Mostly downs, come to think of it. But his real life post “Plan 9 from Outer Space” doesn’t exactly match the tone of the final scene. After the premiere of the aforementioned flick, Ed and Kathy go off to get hitched. The on-screen text at the end alludes to his descent into alcoholism and “nudie films,” but that barely even scratches the surface. In addition to adult movies, Wood wrote upwards of eighty sex novels just to get by, often spending the money immediately on booze. Though he and Kathy stayed together until his death, their home life wasn’t exactly swell, to say the least.
#19: Hindered Acceptance Speech
“A Beautiful Mind” (2001) Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind” is an emotionally wrought exploration into a psyche that is both brilliant and damaged, showing the toll schizophrenia had on mathematician John Nash. Though the depiction of the disease wasn’t entirely accurate to Nash’s experiences, they work in a narrative sense. After a heavy two-plus hours of runtime, Nash accepts the Nobel Prize and dedicates it to his wife Alicia in a speech. As cathartic as this moment is, Nash’s disease prevented him from making any such speech in real life. Though the movie came out fourteen years prior, it should be at least mentioned that Nash’s story would end in tragedy as he and Alicia were killed in a car accident in 2015.
#18: Failed Businesses
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“Schindler’s List” (1993) As if “Schindler’s List” isn’t horrific enough. And no, what we’re about to describe is nothing compared to the actual horrors of WWII, but it is interesting nonetheless. After the war, Oskar Schindler found himself financially reeling, proving no good deed goes unpunished. He moved to Argentina and raised chickens for a while, but this venture eventually went belly up and he returned to Germany. His subsequent business ventures were even less successful, forcing him to declare bankruptcy in 1963. On-screen text acknowledges this, but not long after, Schindler suffered a heart attack and from then on was sustained on donations from the families he helped save. Though there’s some heartwarming humanity there, it’s still saddening to hear he didn’t prosper as much as he deserved.
#17: Divorce & Allegations of Mistreatment
“The Theory of Everything” (2014) “The Theory of Everything” definitely depicts the fraught ending to Stephen Hawking’s marriage to Jane Wilde. But while the punctuating on-screen text is right in that they eventually stayed friends, it leaves out a good portion during which they decidedly were not. During their marriage, Hawking became close to one of his nurses, Elaine Mason. Hawking actually left Wilde for Mason in 1995, but his second marriage may not have been so peachy, either. In the early 2000s, police started an investigation on concerns Hawking was being physically abused, but it was quickly closed when Hawking refused to make a statement. Hawking and Mason divorced in 2006 before his passing in 2018.
#16: No Revenge
Top 10 Movies Based on True Stories That Left Out The Craziest Part
“The Revenant” (2015) It’s a little weird to call an ending horrific because it didn’t actually have a violent confrontation, but such is the nature of “The Revenant.” In the movie, frontiersman Hugh Glass goes through hell after his son is murdered and he’s left for dead, ultimately tracking down then getting revenge on the man responsible. In reality, Glass got no such revenge. Of the two men who left him for dead, Glass tracked down a man named “Bridges,” but ultimately spared him on account of his youth and inexperience. The other - the John Fitzgerald depicted in the film - was virtually untouchable having enlisted in the army, Glass telling him he would kill him should he ever leave. The intent was there, but it’s definitely less climactic.
#15: The Davies Boys’ Unhappy Endings
Top 10 Disney Movies That Had the Wrong Ending
“Finding Neverland” (2004) If you need evidence that real life is far from a fairy tale, look no further than the Davies boys, the inspirations for Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. “Finding Neverland” ends sadly enough, with “Peter Pan” author J. M. Barrie adopting the Davies boys after the tragic death of their mother, Sylvia. The final scene has a sadly uplifting undertone, but tragedy would follow the family in real life. Eldest son George was killed in a WWI battle in 1915, and in 1921 second-youngest Michael drowned alongside a friend, with some questioning if it was wholly accidental. Mere months after Jack succumbed to lung disease in 1959, Peter himself took his own life, having struggled greatly being the namesake for Peter Pan.
#14: Whales’ Ambiguous Fates
“Big Miracle” (2012) Everyone loves an uplifting story about humanity banding together to save animals in need. So it’s not surprising that “Big Miracle” ends with the trapped gray whales escaping their icy prison to freedom. Though Operation Breakthrough - the real life rescue mission on which the film is based - ended in a similar manner, there wasn’t nearly as much optimism to be had. Though the baby whale did indeed die while the parents were freed from the section of ice they were trapped in, their physical states after such an ordeal meant little hope they’d survive much farther past the very similar terrain. No evidence was ever found either way, but many experts believe the whales didn’t get nearly as big of a miracle.
#13: An Unhappy Marriage
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“My Left Foot” (1989) Christy Brown was a man who endured many hardships in his life. While the biopic “My Left Foot” doesn’t shy away from that fact, it did leave out a dark chapter of his story: his relationship with his wife Mary Carr. The film depicts Christy meeting Carr at a charity event, and the film ends with them celebrating with a bottle of champagne. Unfortunately, their happily-ever-after may not have been so happy after all. When Christy Brown died at the age of forty-nine, a postmortem analysis showed bruising on his body. Many suspected the bruises were from neglect or someone physically harming him. A biography was also eventually published that depicted Carr as being unfaithful.
#12: PTSD & Alcohol Issues
“Unbroken” (2014) “Unbroken” tells the riveting true story of Louis Zamperini, an American soldier who survived a bomber crash over the Pacific, and endured a series of POW camps before the end of WWII. Sadly, as is the case with many veterans, Zamperini was plagued with post-traumatic stress disorder in the years following his return home. He had nightmares of confronting his captors that were so intense that he once attacked his wife at night, before regaining his senses. When Zamperini turned to alcohol as a way to sleep better, he only further damaged his psyche. Thankfully, Zamperini found closure with his ordeal and did improve. This was further covered in a faith-based sequel, “Unbroken: Path to Redemption.”
#11: Nazi Headquarters
“The Sound of Music” (1965) When you’re singing along to the happy “Sound of Music” track, you’re probably not thinking about Nazis living in the hills. But that’s the sad reality. Some time after the von Trapp family vacated their Salzburg home in 1938, the house was seized and used as a headquarters for Nazi operations. It specifically served as the summer home for Heinrich Himmler, who was a major architect of many war crimes. The von Trapp home was even visited by Adolf Hitler himself. Thankfully, the estate was turned back over to missionaries after WWII. We’re not surprised the von Trapps left out a song about the house’s regrettable history.
#10: Dark Final Years
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“The Aviator” (2004) While Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” gave us a pretty solid preview of what Howard Hughes’s life would ultimately become, it didn’t portray every detail. The movie depicted how he would sequester himself from the outside world for months on end. In real life, his isolationist tendencies only continued. His germaphobia also prevented him from seeing his own wife for several years before they divorced. By the time that Hughes died in 1976, he was so unkempt that his body was almost unrecognizable. Although Hughes had a stature of 6’4”, he weighed a paltry ninety pounds by the end of his life. While we can’t list all the crazy details here, we encourage you to look them up. They’re as fascinating as they are disheartening.
#9: The Bearded Lady’s Life
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“The Greatest Showman” (2017) Most audiences knew that “The Greatest Showman” wasn’t entirely factually accurate, especially since P. T. Barnum had a notorious history. But it turns out the movie was omitting more than just the uglier parts of his story. Lettie Lutz, the bearded lady, was based on Annie Jones. She was surrendered to his custody when she was still an infant. Not one to despair, Jones was an advocate for the rights of so-called “freaks”' and even broke away from Barnum to promote her cause. But her dire financial straits forced her to return to work with him. Jones would succumb to tuberculosis at just thirty-seven years of age. It’s definitely not the “big happy family” ending the movie implied.
#8: A Firing
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“Remember the Titans” (2000) “Remember the Titans” is an inspiring true tale of uniting in the face of cultural and racial divides. But not every person involved was infallible. Eight years after leading T. C. Williams’s first racially integrated football team to a state championship, Coach Herman Boone was fired. The main reason he lost his position was because he was accused of harming his own players. Although the firing was something of a shock to the city of Alexandria, three assistant coaches had threatened to walk if Boone was not relieved of his duties. Ironically, a movie called “Remember the Titans” forgot to talk about the unceremonious end to Coach Boone’s career.
#7: Billing the Family of a Musician Who Lost His Life
“Titanic” (1997) We know this epic disaster drama couldn’t cover every tragic story involved - even at over three hours - but this one is particularly interesting. After the RMS Titanic sank, over 1,500 people lost their lives. One of the bodies recovered was Jock Hume, a violinist who valiantly played amongst his compatriots as the ship sank. But his brave final actions were dishonored. The company that employed Hume had the audacity to bill his father for the damage done to the uniform Hume was renting. And how did it get damaged? We have a feeling it had something to do with the tragic sinking of the Titanic. Thankfully, Hume’s father chose not to pay the bill.
#6: Death After Release
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“Conviction” (2010) Starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, “Conviction” is a fairly underseen legal drama about a woman who works to become a lawyer so she can personally get her incarcerated brother exonerated for a murder he didn’t commit. A lot of grueling work later, the conviction is indeed overturned eighteen years later, much like in real life, and the film ends with Swank’s Betty Anne Waters sharing a tender moment with Rockwell’s Kenny. Curiously, the ensuing on-screen text omits the fact that the real Kenneth Waters tragically died in an accidental fall only six months after his release. This information would certainly put a damper on the story, though it does feel somewhat crucial to getting the whole picture.
#5: Ostracization & Death
“The Accused” (1988) This really is a depressing list, isn’t it? A powerful film, “The Accused” follows Jodie Foster’s Sarah Tobias, a woman who is assaulted and ultimately able to have abettors convicted in addition to her attackers. While Tobias herself is fictional, she and the movie are based on the story of Cheryl Araujo, who in 1983 went through much the same experience. However, only four of the six charged with the crime were convicted, serving at most six-and-a-half years. The trial itself exhibited suggestions of victim blaming, and Araujo was subsequently ostracized in the town of New Bedford, Massachusetts. She then moved to Miami, but tragically died at twenty-five in a car accident while reportedly being heavily intoxicated.
#4: What Really Happened to Pocahontas
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“Pocahontas” (1995) This animated Disney movie is notorious for its factual inaccuracies, especially when it comes to the ending. Although the film concludes with John Smith’s departure from the Americas, it doesn’t show that the real Pocahontas was subjected to a number of atrocities. She was captured by the English and used as a pawn in negotiations with her father, the Chief of the Powhatans, for a full year. In 1614, she got married to tobacco planter John Rolfe. But it's unknown whether Pocahontas had a choice in their union. She was subsequently taken to England and used primarily as a propaganda symbol. Unfortunately, she passed away from an unconfirmed illness at just twenty-one years of age.
#3: The Town’s Continued Decline
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“Erin Brockovich” (2000) While the real Erin Brockovich deemed the film to be about “98% accurate,” this fascinating people’s interest story doesn’t exactly address what happened after David slayed Goliath. Brokovich’s class-action lawsuit was indeed successful, in that the business PG&E was mandated to compensate the families affected by the company’s tainted water a whopping $333 million. In real life, many found that their cut was less than they expected. The law firm took roughly 40% of that cut, which is shown, but what’s not shown is how unsatisfied many were with where the chips fell. From there, the town of Hinkley, California turned into a proverbial ghost town. The fears of the water’s furthered contamination drove away many residents.
#2: Tate Murders
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019) Much like “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is pretty upfront about changing historical details, specifically in regards to the Sharon Tate murders. Most everyone knows that pregnant actor Sharon Tate and four others were brutally murdered by members of the Manson family in 1969, so those watching this movie were probably expecting to see it. However, in an awesome display of cinematic justice, Tarantino has the Mansonites taken out themselves by fictional actor Rick Dalton and his stuntman Cliff Booth while Tate and the others are safe and sound. While some of the other entries probably could’ve included the real endings, this is a historical retconning we can totally get behind.
#1: Disappearance After Freedom
“12 Years a Slave” (2013) Solomon Northup was a free black man living in New York when he was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery in the Southern United States. As the title suggests, he endured twelve grueling years before eventually regaining his freedom and reuniting with his family. Afterwards he wrote the memoir of the same name and became an abolitionist. But four years after returning home, he disappeared again without a trace. It’s possible he was resold into slavery or that someone took his life. But his final fate is a sad mystery. Although the film acknowledges the uncertainty regarding his death, it omits just how bleak the end of his life might have been.
