7 Greatest Endings in International Supernatural Thrillers, Ranked

5 days ago 11

Sophie Wilde holding the cursed embalmed hand at a party in Talk to Me

Published May 4, 2026, 7:40 AM EDT

A New York native, Joe graduated from an avant-garde theater school upstate, where he was obsessed with sketch comedy. There, he and his lunatic friends founded The Sketchies — which still lives on at Skidmore College today. Living in New York City, a screenwriter friend of his then taught him how to write for film. This awakened a new passion in Joe. Since then his scripts have garnered over 200 festival selections, nominations, and wins all over the globe (including the BlueCat Best Feature award). Several of his screenplays have been made into feature films — some of them not that bad! Overall, he loves to create unique, hilarious, touching, and bizarre stories.

There’s nothing better than a film that examines issues of the supernatural in a unique and thought-provoking way, right? Except, of course, movies of this nature that conclude with powerful, impactful, and exhilarating closing scenes.

Here is a spooky look at the best endings from international, interdimensional films all over the world. Some raise intriguing questions about the great beyond, like Talk To Me, and others just scare the pants off you, like Ju-on: The Grudge. Read on for the best finales in the frightening foreign film index.

7 ‘The House at the End of Time’ (2013) — Venezuela

Ruddy Rodríguez in a dark hallway in The House at the End of Time

Films that mess around with time can be great fun or wildly frustrating. Alejandro Hidalgo’s little-known gem definitely fits into the former category. The story is centered around a mother, Dulce (a phenomenal Ruddy Rodríguez), who was sentenced to prison for the murder of her husband. She is released (under house arrest) and returns home to the very place where the alleged incident took place. Once back, she’s led down a rabbit hole of frighteningly confusing events, where she ultimately learns that the house itself is a vortex for time travel.

Dulce eventually figures out that the “ghost” that has been plaguing her and her surviving family (including her son, Leopoldo, convincingly played by Rosmel Bustamante) is really just herself, from the future. She came back to make sure that everything happens the way that it’s supposed to, because this actually ensures the safety of Leopoldo. The final scene is a heart breaker; Dulce accepts her fate. She is destined to die there, just to make sure her son remains healthy and secure. It’s the ultimate sacrifice which mothers often endure (in cinema, and reality).

6 ‘The Orphanage’ (2007) — Spain

A young man with a bag as a mask in 'The Orphanage'

Once again, J.A. Bayona comes out swinging with another spooky hit. In The Orphanage, he brings to life every mother’s greatest fear: losing their darn kid. Once an orphan herself, the altruistic Laura (Belén Rueda) comes back to the very place where she was raised, a shuttered orphanage, to reopen it for disabled children. In tow are her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo), and son, Simón (Roger Príncep). Obviously, she didn’t expect the dilapidated place to be haunted by the spirits of little ones who perished there.

As one may expect, Simón gets chummy with the little ghouls, and disappears. The distraught Laura then goes on a quest to not only find him, but to uncover the truth about what really went down there. The unexpected, and best, portion of this story, though, is the final sequence. Laura realizes that Simón died in a secret basement room, and it’s all her fault (she accidentally blocked the exit with some poles, basically entombing the tyke). Laura can’t bear the guilt, so she intentionally OD’s so that she can be with him (who cares about Carlos, really?). She wakes to find herself reunited with Simón, and now she can care for him and the other lost child souls. A lighthouse flares to life, symbolizing their eternal light. It’s a happy ending…sort of.

5 ‘Tigers Are Not Afraid’ (2017) — Mexico

A woman with a plastic bag over her head in Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

Writer-director Issa López’s film Tigers Are Not Afraid is a great example of taking a mythic, folk tale and modernizing it. It’s a sad story, but fortunately leaves the viewer with a grain of hope at the end. The plot revolves around a young girl, Estrella, a truly talented Paola Lara, who mysteriously becomes abandoned by her mother. This is set against the backdrop of a cartel-controlled Mexico, so the political commentary here is not lost.

Estrella links up with a roving gang of street kids in her quest to find her mom. She encounters a magical tiger to aid her in this mission. Tigers play a role in Mexican lore, namely as the jaguar (panthera onca), which represents the ancient, powerful forces of the night. Estrella begins to see a ghost version of her mother, creeping her out even more. She is eventually given three wishes, but, as with all wishes in stories, the resulting factors of these spoken desires end up being tragic in nature. The climax of the film has Estrella discover a room full of dead bodies, including her mother’s. Estrella leads the villain, cartel boss El Chino (Tenoch Huerta), to the room, where the spirits of these victims of his justifiably kill him. Estrella finds closure, and ultimately walks toward a bright, hopeful light. This is an open-ended finale, either representing that she has found redemption, or that she is headed to a safe, sacred place where she can reunite with her mother.

4 ‘Livid’ (2011) — France

Marie-Claude Pietragalla as a ghost lady in French film Livid

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s film Livid is a Gothic head-trip, to say the least. It’s about a nurse in training, Lucie Klavel (the spirited Chloé Coulloud) who hears a rumor about a hidden treasure that’s buried somewhere in a crumbling mansion — that is occupied by a former ballet instructor, Deborah Jessel (Marie-Claude Pietragalla), who is now in a coma. By the way, Lucie has heterochromia (two different eye colors), which, lore has it, means that she has two different souls occupying her body. So, she ventures to the eerie house with her boyfriend, the conniving William (Félix Moati), and his loser brother, Ben (Jérémy Kapone). Hey, instant treasure-wealth sure sounds a lot better than cleaning people’s bedpans. Naturally, this treasure isn’t so easy to come by (a persistent theme here), and Lucie and the bros find themselves in a maze-like house of horrors, laden with scary taxidermy critters, unexpected moths, and dark, secret rooms…

So, plot twist, the “treasure” they’ve been looking for is actually metaphorical in nature: it’s a sort of dark magic. This mystical power is responsible for keeping the once thought to be deceased daughter of Madamoiselle Jessel, Anna (Chloé Marcq), alive, in a way of speaking. She’s of the vampiric persuasion. Lucie and crew endure countless scares and striking struggles (one involving a procession of undead ballerinas) before the thrilling climax. As things morph into a surreal space (moths exit Anna and Lucie’s mouths, and reenter into their opposite hosts), Lucie appears to escape the murderous mansion, with Anna at her side. The real twist is, they’ve swapped bodies/souls. “Lucie” approaches a cliff, and dives off, head-first — only, she doesn’t plummet to her death, she flies away — her physical and metaphorical scars evaporating into thin air.

3 ‘The Babadook' (2014) — Australia

Amelia holding her son and looking ahead with a scared expression in The Babadook.

Generally regarded as one of the best supernatural thrillers of all time, Jennifer Kent’s exploration of stifled heartache and motherhood alienation truly is a classic. The titular monster (the embodiment of inescapable trauma) is also one of the coolest conceived antagonists ever. On the surface, The Babadook’s story is a relatively straightforward one. Grieving widow Amelia Vanek (a tremendous Essie Davis, in a career-defining role) tries to care the best she can for her troubled son, Samuel (the wonderfully weird Noah Wiseman). The issue is that he keeps seeing this monster in his room, a cartoonish shadow man in a top hat: the oddly beguiling Babadook.

Amelia naturally does everything in her power to quell Sam’s fears. Nothing works, and the kid gets loonier by the day. When she finally realizes that the Babadook is indeed real, she attempts to re-calibrate. Together, mother and son face off against the vile creature, as it subverts reality and causes Amelia to become monstrous herself (this part is a metaphor for the guilt a mother must feel when she actually wants to kill her annoying kid). The end of the movie sees redemption for mother and offspring, as they defeat the Babadook. They essentially keep him shackled in the basement, and satiate him with worms. This symbolizes the fact that guilt and trauma will always be with a person, and these feelings can never be fully ignored. The final image: after Sam performs a magic trick outside on a nice day, Amelia hugs him, and smiles genuinely. It’s a very comforting way to end the nightmare.

2 ‘Talk to Me’ (2022) — Australia

talk to me, with sophie wilde as mia, looking scared

Kids do the darnedest things, don’t they? Like using a disembodied hand to speak to the deceased. Well, that’s apparently what they do in Australia. Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou’s highly watchable and compelling Talk to Me sees breakout star Sophie Wilde, as Mia, peer-pressured into playing this macabre party game. She connects with her mother’s spirit, and from there, things spiral into a nightmarish, twisty realm of pure supernatural terror.

After spending the duration of the film trying to figure out just what is going on (with some bodies piling up along the way), Mia finally thinks that she’s uncovered the answer to “fix” things. However, she’s been tricked by the specters of the other realm, and ends up dead herself in a horrific accident. In the final scene, she walks through a hospital emergency room, as it slowly dawns on her that she may not be, well, living. She enters a dark room, and over a candle, a hand reaches out. She grasps it, and connects to a man in another country, playing the same game she initially did. The shock on her face is priceless, as she realizes that she is now trapped in the world of the dead.

1 ‘Ju-on: The Grudge’ (2002) — Japan

Domestic violence is about as horrible and serious a topic that any filmmaker can tackle. Here, writer-director Takashi Shimizu handles the brutal story of a mother and her son murdered at the hands of an awful patriarch in a bold, thoughtful, and absolutely terrifying manner. It’s also another non-linear story, so strap in for some strategically placed time-jumps.

After the aforementioned mom, Kayako Saeki (a wonderfully wicked Takako Fuji), and child, Toshio (the appropriately creepy Yuya Ozeki) are killed in their home, their tortured souls become trapped there, seemingly for eternity. These spirits are not of the friendly, Casper nature either. Having been forged by violence, they seek to impart devastation and death to any new inhabitants of the house. Unfortunately for social worker Rika Nishina (Megumi Okina), she’s about to learn this in the most unpleasant way (check out the shower scene, for one). What makes this film so effective is not only the use of spine-chilling imagery, but the unforgettable sound that Shimizu employs. The eerie crackling noise that the ghosts emit has become synonymous with this title, and imitating it is a surefire way to freak out one’s friends. Ju-on: The Grudge ends with Rika succumbing, and getting murdered herself. In the final shot, she, too, is tethered to the house now; in the attic, she opens her bloody eyes…and lets out the signature croak…

Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky

Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you're not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.

🏕️Jason

🔪Michael

💤Freddy

🎈Pennywise

🪆Chucky

TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →

Something feels wrong. You can't explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty.

ALeave immediately. I don't need to understand a threat to respect it. BStay quiet and observe. If I can see it, I can understand it. If I can understand it, I can avoid it. CStay awake. Whatever this is, I am not going to sleep until I feel safe again. DConfront it directly. Fear grows in the dark — I'd rather know what I'm dealing with. ECheck everything, trust nothing. The threat might be closer than I think — and smaller.

NEXT QUESTION →

Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.

ASomewhere remote — a cabin, a campsite, off the grid and away from people. BA quiet suburban neighbourhood where nothing ever happens. Except tonight. CIn my own head — the most dangerous place of all, depending on what's already in there. DWherever children are — because something about this place attracts the worst things. ESomewhere ordinary — a house, a toy store, a place where the last thing you'd expect is a threat.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn't account for. What's yours?

APhysical fitness — I can run, I can swim, I can outlast something that relies on brute persistence. BSpatial awareness — I always know the exits, the hiding spots, the fastest route out. CPsychological resilience — I've faced my worst fears before. They don't have the same power over me. DEmotional steadiness — I don't panic. Panic is what gets you caught. EScepticism — I don't underestimate threats because of how they look. Size is irrelevant.

NEXT QUESTION →

What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it.

AThe unstoppable — something that will not stop, cannot be reasoned with, and is always getting closer. BThe invisible — a threat I can feel but can't locate, watching from somewhere I can't see. CThe psychological — something that uses my own mind and memories against me. DThe unknowable — something ancient, shapeless, that feeds on the fear itself. EThe mundane — a threat so ordinary-looking that no one will believe me until it's too late.

NEXT QUESTION →

You're with a group when things start going wrong. What's your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn't.

AThe one who says "we need to leave" first — and means it, even when no one listens. BThe one who stays quiet, watches the others, and figures out the pattern before anyone else does. CThe one who holds the group together when panic sets in — because someone has to. DThe one who asks the questions nobody wants to ask — because ignoring them gets people killed. EThe one who takes the threat seriously when everyone else is laughing it off.

NEXT QUESTION →

What's the horror movie mistake you're most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not.

AGoing back for someone — I know I shouldn't, but I can't leave them behind. BAssuming I'm safe once I've found a hiding spot. That's when it finds me. CFalling asleep when I absolutely cannot afford to. Exhaustion is its own enemy. DLetting my curiosity override my instincts — I always need to understand what I'm dealing with. EDismissing the threat because of how it looks. That's exactly what it wants.

NEXT QUESTION →

What's your best weapon against something that can't be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it.

AThe environment itself — I use the terrain, the water, the geography against it. BPatience — I wait, I watch, and I strike at the one moment it doesn't expect. CLucidity — if I can stay in control of my own mind, it loses its primary weapon. DCourage — facing it directly, refusing to run, taking away the fear it feeds on. EImprovisation — I use whatever's at hand, however unconventional. Creativity over brute force.

NEXT QUESTION →

It's the final scene. You're the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What's yours?

AI kept moving. I never stopped, never hid for too long, never let it corner me. BI figured out the pattern before anyone else did — and I used it against the thing following it. CI stayed awake, stayed lucid, and refused to give it the one thing it needed most. DI stopped being afraid of it. And the moment I did, everything changed. EI took it seriously from the start — and I never once made the mistake of underestimating it.

REVEAL MY VILLAIN →

Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…

Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.

Jason Voorhees

Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.

He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn't strategise, doesn't adapt, doesn't outsmart. He simply pursues.
Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.

Michael Myers

Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it's too late for anyone who isn't paying close enough attention.

But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
Michael's power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.

Freddy Krueger

Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.

You are harder to destabilise than most. You've faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven't looked away.
The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
Freddy's greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.

Pennywise

Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.

The Losers Club didn't survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise's worst nightmare.
It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.

Chucky

Chucky's greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it's already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.

You don't have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.

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