16 Movie Scenes That Are So Clever, I Can't Believe Someone Thought Of Them

Scream and Parasite are actually genius, tbh.

We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which scary movie moments were so smart, they couldn't believe someone actually thought of them. Here are the genius results.

🚨 SPOILERS AHEAD 🚨

1. In Scream, when Ghostface asked Casey which door he was at, it seemed like she had a 50% chance of guessing correctly and surviving, but at the end we learned there were two killers, so she was actually going to die either way.

Dimension Films

When you finish the movie, you realize there are two killers, so it doesn't really matter which door she chooses...she's going to die no matter what. This moment is super diabolical because it gives Casey (and the viewers) hope for survival, and only the killers know her true fate.

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

2. In Get Out, when Chris saw Georgina fixing her bangs in the reflection of the window, she was actually making sure her lobotomy scar wasn't showing. That's the same reason Walter was never shown without a hat on.

Blumhouse Productions

These are such small and subtle details, but after you see the end of the movie, you're able to piece everything together. The whole movie was riddled with tiny moments like this that prove how clever Jordan Peele is.

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

3. In The Sixth Sense, when it was made to look like Anna ignored Malcolm because he was late to their anniversary dinner, and that's why she left the restaurant. However, he was actually dead, so she just couldn't see him.

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. Malcolm walks in and apologizes for being late, so we think that's why Anna is dismissive and leaves. We think she says "happy anniversary" to Malcolm, but the viewer doesn't yet know that he's dead, and she's actually alone and saying this to honor their relationship. This whole scene tricks the viewer and makes the final twist that much more jaw-dropping.

4. And in that same scene, Malcolm's chair was already pulled out for him to sit in, and he didn't move any objects on the table. If he had moved something, it would have revealed the twist to the viewer because Anna would have reacted to inanimate objects moving on their own.

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

"The restaurant scene is really neat when you watch it the second time. His chair is already pulled out, so he doesn't move it, and Anna grabs the check first, not him. If he had moved these things on his own, that would have scared the crap out of his wife and the other diners and given away the twist ending. The scene itself is a gut punch because you're actually watching a widow commemorate her anniversary all alone."

—delorienaz

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

5. In Hereditary, when a bunch of people at the party were watching a movie that featured a guillotine, and the next scene that happened was Charlie's unexpected decapitation.

Warning This image is graphic Tap to reveal Click to reveal

A24

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

6. In Saw, when Jigsaw was actually in the room the whole time, and he cleverly revealed himself to be one of the "dead" victims.

Lions Gate Films

"The twists and turns in the whole franchise are great, but especially in that first film when the ‘killer’ is in the room with the victims the WHOLE TIME. James Wan is a mastermind of horror and psychological thriller."

—savannahg4

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

7. In Parasite, when Da-song's ghost encounter was quickly dismissed as fiction because he was just a child, but then you learned about the man secretly living in the basement, and you realized the "ghost" was real.

CJ Entertainment

"The 'ghost' was really just Geun-sae, who escaped the basement at night to retrieve food from the fridge."

—charliv

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

8. In A Quiet Place, when the pharmacy in the opening scene was completely empty except for the bags of chips, because they'd make too much noise and would alert the monsters.

Paramount Pictures

"It was the only food left in the whole store. I thought it was such a clever detail."

—leoness13

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

9. In Midsommar, when Dani's gray outfits slowly started to get more colorful as the movie progressed — ending in a full-on rainbow/flower costume, which symbolized how much she blossomed and matured.

A24

—o4a4b1

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

10. In Searching, when David pieced together that Vick, the cop who led the case, was actually responsible for his daughter's disappearance and potential murder.

Sony Pictures Releasing

—l4ca1b

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

11. In The Others, when it seemed like Grace and her children were being haunted throughout the entire movie, but then the séance revealed they were the ghosts all along.

Warner Sogefilms

"There are so many little hints dropped throughout the entire movie about what is actually happening, and there's no way you can catch them all at first. It's not until you see the plot twist and then go back and rewatch the movie that you notice all of the movie's hints and brilliance."

—fredzesty

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

12. In Shutter, when Tun threw his camera and the flash went off, showing that Natre's spirit was on his shoulders the whole time, and then evvvvverything started to make sense.

GMM Grammy

"The realization that the white strands in the pics were the ghost's hair on his shoulders absolutely blew my mind."

—biggers999

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

13. In Ready or Not, when the sun came up and everyone thought the curse was fake, but then they all started to explode, and Grace couldn't help but laugh.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

"The ending is kind of genius. The whole time, the family does these wild things because they worship the devil, and Grace is like, 'Yeah, right, that's stupid,' but at the end, she sees the spirit for a split second and is just like, 'Oh, okay.' Like, after all she's put through, seeing the spirit is the least of her worries."

—ktk8895

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

14. In Us, when there were hundreds of subtle and not-so-subtle "11:11" markings throughout the film, which referenced the Jeremiah 11:11 Bible verse and symbolized each human and their tethered counterpart.

Blumhouse Productions

The "11:11" markings were sprinkled throughout the entire movie, from the number on the ambulance at the end, to the clock, and even to the scissors they used as weapons.

And if you're curious, here's what the full Bible verse for Jeremiah 11:11 says: "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them."

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

15. In Shutter Island, when Teddy found out he was a patient in the asylum, not a US marshal who was working on a case, and your jaw completely dropped.

Paramount Pictures

"This plot twist had me questioning everything I had just watched! I had to go back and rewatch the movie, knowing how the ending would turn out, so I could look for all the foreshadowing (and there’s A LOT)."

—laurenc429

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

16. And in Scream, when Randy cleverly revealed every plot twist and the ending of the movie, which made the viewer think that's exactly what wouldn't happen.

Dimension Films

Scream is a perfect movie, but this scene is especially brilliant. Randy is the movie mastermind, so he reveals exactly what he thinks is going to happen, correctly predicting the entire movie and forcing the viewer to assume he's wrong...because why would a horror movie spoil its own plot twists?! First he says Billy is the killer (which he is), then he says that killers don't need a motive to kill their girlfriends (keep in mind that Stu killed Tatum, his girlfriend, without a clear motive), and then he says Sid's dad is going to pop up at the end of the movie, all bloody (and he did!). This whole movie is so incredibly clever.

Here's the full scene:

youtube.com

Note: Submissions have been edited for length/clarity, and not all submissions are from Community users.