7 Horror Movies That Were Almost Even Darker

Horror movies are often known for being grim, scary, and violent, yet these seven horror movies were almost even darker. Tons of different tones can be found across the horror genre. Horror comedies and campy horror movies take on a more lighthearted feel, while horror dramas, horror thrillers, and psychological horror tend to be much more dour.

However dark a movie may be, it can always be darker. Horror movies often play a game with their audiences, where the films attempt to push the line as much as possible while still avoiding turning the audience away from the film. Sometimes, movies realize they’ve gone a little too far, as the original plans for these seven movies prove.

7) Weapons

Zach Cregger’s Weapons is one of the most critically acclaimed horror movies of 2025, and it was almost even darker. At the end of Weapons, Gladys is killed, freeing the missing children from her mind control. However, the prolonged effects of being under her spell have caused the children to still be unable to speak. As the film’s final narration explains, the children slowly start getting their speech back over time.

As Zach Cregger has explained, this ending is slightly different from his original plans. Early cuts of Weapons didn’t have the final narration, with the film ending as Matthew blankly stares off. During test screenings, audiences weren’t fond of this depressing finale, causing Cregger to add the narration in.

6) Happy Death Day

Happy Death Day is a horror comedy, and while there is a lot of death, it isn’t a particularly dark film. However, the original ending was pretty grim. The final version of the film ends with Tree killing Lori, breaking the time loop. The next morning, Tree and Carter kiss, with everything going back to normal until the events of Happy Death Day 2U.

Originally, Tree didn’t get off so easily. After the fight with Lori, Tree is taken to the hospital. There, a nurse enters the room and reveals that she is the wife of Dr. Butler, the professor that Tree has been sleeping with. She murders Tree, ending the film. Test audiences weren’t fans of this finale either, causing it to be swapped out with the more optimistic version.

5) Evil Dead (2013)

2013’s Evil Dead remake is the black sheep of the franchise, with it taking a much more grounded look at the goofy world of The Evil Dead. The film is notable for being incredibly dark when compared to its predecessors, but it was almost even darker. In the final film, Mia manages to kill the Abomination with a chainsaw, after which she escapes the cabin.

Originally, an ending was shot where Mia was attacked by the evil force from the forest, akin to the ending of the original The Evil Dead. But it gets worse. Director Fede Álvarez has said that he originally wanted the evil force to cause Mia to levitate into the air, with her exploding in a burst of blood.

4) Event Horizon

Event Horizon is all about Hell, cementing it as a pretty dark film. The final version of the movie ends with Captain Miller taking on the demonic entity known as Weir, who haunts him with visions of his crew being torn apart. Miller sacrifices himself to save his crew, although a survivor named Starck has a hallucination where she envisions Weir as one of their rescuers.

The first alternate ending saw Weir taunt Miller with a specific vision of one of Miller’s former crewmates. This crewmate burned to death on one of Miller’s previous missions, with him being haunted by the burning man. The second alternate ending changes Starck’s vision of Weir to hallucinations of her crew’s screams and hand being all over her body.

3) Get Out

Jordan Peele’s Get Out puts Chris through the wringer, but in the end, he escapes relatively unscathed. Just as he is about to kill Rose, Chris stops choking her. A police car pulls up, and while it is assumed that they will arrest Chris, it is revealed that the driver is Chris’ TSA agent friend, Rod. Rod and Chris drive away, leaving Rose to die.

In the original ending, Chris is arrested by the police. Rod shows up at Chris’ jail in order to get more information on the Armitage family, but Chris doesn’t tell him anything. While this ending was meant to add to the film’s political commentary, Peele decided to give Get Out a happier ending after test screenings.

2) Alien

Ridley Scott’s Alien is one of the most iconic horror films of all time, and this is in large part thanks to its ending. While in her final fight with the Xenomorph, a hole is blown in the ship’s wall, causing the alien to be sucked into space. Although it manages to attach itself to a grappling hook, Ripley breaks it, killing the Xenomorph.

In 2017, Ridley Scott revealed that the original Alien was supposed to end with Ripley’s death (via Slash Film). Ripley was supposed to harpoon the Xenomorph. This wouldn’t have had an effect on the alien, with it ripping Ripley’s helmet open and decapitating her.

1) Gremlins

Joe Dante’s Gremlins is one of the definitive horror comedy movies, with it mixing terror and slapstick. However, the entire movie originally had a different tone. In the scene where the Gremlins attack Billy’s mom, the original script has them decapitating her. They then roll her head down the stairs when Billy arrives home. This would have been the film’s most shocking moment, pulling Gremlins away from its current comedic tone.

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