These Unexpected Movie Moments Left Us SPEECHLESS...

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most surprising moments in cinema history that left us gobsmacked. We’ll only be picking from live action movies, so you won’t find any animation here. Beware of spoilers ahead, and enjoy! If we missed any of your favorite jaw-dropping moments, let us know in the comments below!

#10: Head in a Box

“Seven” (1995)

If you’re a child of the 1990s, you more than likely have a very specific memory of Brad Pitt screaming, “What’s in the box?” Well, the answer to that question broke our minds. David Fincher’s “Seven” is one of the most twisted Hollywood movies of all time right from the jump. A serial killer enacting his murders based on the seven deadly sins? Yeah, not exactly a piece of cake. But the real horror comes at the film’s end, when Detectives Somerset and Mills take the killer into the desert and he pulls off his last trick. He has the head of Mills’ wife delivered to the trio, sending Mills into a tailspin and completing the killer’s plan.

#9: Time Is Not Linear

“Arrival” (2016)

Denis Villeneuve’s science fiction masterpiece is the type of movie that quietly grabs you by the heart and never lets go, right up until the very end. Throughout the movie, we’re watching linguist Louise Banks try to figure out how to communicate with aliens that have landed on Earth. Periodically, we see flashbacks of Louise and her daughter, who has died from some unknown illness. However, as Louise starts to learn what the aliens want, we learn the truth of the flashbacks. The aliens wanted to give Louise their way of experiencing time, which is not linear. Therefore, the flashbacks aren’t flashbacks at all, but premonitions of the daughter that Louise will have and lose. It’s a heartbreaking revelation.

#8: Chestburster

“Alien” (1979)

For as much as this movie has gone down in history as one of the best science fiction horror movies of all time, it takes a minute to get going. However, we can pinpoint the exact moment where things turned on their head. And it’s one of the most shocking moments in movie history. After Kane is attacked by an alien creature, it detaches from him of its own volition and seemingly dies. Kane appears to be just fine, so the crew goes back to relative normal. But then, as they’re enjoying dinner, Kane begins to convulse. Before you can really get a handle on what's going on, an alien bursts straight through Kane’s chest. We were never the same again.

#7: It Was Earth All Along

“Planet of the Apes” (1968)

This franchise has done relatively well for itself over the years. But in our opinion, nothing beats the shock of the original 1968 film. The plot focuses on astronauts who crash land on a planet run by hyper-intelligent apes. The apes hunt the human astronauts, eventually capturing our main character, Taylor. He tries in vain to escape the strange planet he’s come to, only to realize it’s not so strange after all. At the end of the movie, Taylor comes upon the remnants of New York’s Statue of Liberty half buried in the sand. The planet he crash landed on is actually Earth, destroyed by nuclear war.

#6: Minutes From Rescue

“The Mist” (2007)

Who knew rescue could feel this bad? If you made it to the end of “The Mist,” we salute you. But it’s not a happy ending. The movie centers around multiple people who are caught in a supermarket when a mysterious mist full of nasty creatures engulfs the world. At the end of the film, our main character David escapes with his son and two other survivors. They don’t make it very far, and sure that the creatures are about to kill them, they all agree to kill themselves. David shoots the survivors, including his son, and heads outside into the mist to die. Then, the military shows up. Everyone is saved. Our jaws dropped.

#5: The Snap

“Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)

There are plenty of moments throughout Marvel’s run that had us shrieking with delight, but not many that had us silent with despair. But the end of “Avengers: Infinity War” did the trick. The film concludes with an all-out war with Thanos in Wakanda, and at one point, we think the Avengers might have defeated him. But, Thanos has the time stone, and thus he’s able to turn back the dial when the Avengers defeat him. When Thanos gathers all of the stones, he enacts his plan to disappear half of the universe’s population. That includes half of the Avengers. Watching our favorite characters disintegrate into dust left us speechless.

#4: The Narrator Is Tyler Durden

“Fight Club” (1999)

The second time you’re watching “Fight Club,” it’s easy to keep an eye out for the hints leading to the inevitable twist. But the first time you see it, that reveal is absolutely shocking. When our narrator meets Tyler Durden and starts Fight Club with him, we assume that Tyler is the one at the helm. But as the film goes on, it becomes clear something much stranger is at play. We finally learn that the narrator and Tyler are one and the same. The narrator has created Tyler as a separate personality and is using him to live out the life he really wants. Unfortunately, he’s unable to stop himself before things go too far.

#3: Bruce Willis Was Dead the Entire Time

“The Sixth Sense” (1999)

This film might have one of the most perfectly deployed twists of all time. It’s the sort of reveal that makes you say, “No! It can’t be!” But the more you think about it, the quieter you get as you come to understand how you’ve been fooled. Bruce Willis stars as child psychologist Malcolm, who is treating a little boy who believes he can talk to ghosts. It seems that the boy is telling the truth, but that’s not the wildest part. At the end, we’re shocked to learn that Malcolm himself has actually been dead the entire time. It’s a stellar feat of filmmaking.

#2: I Am Your Father

“Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)

“Star Wars” took the world by storm in 1977, but the sequel is probably the best of that original trilogy. And it inarguably includes one of the most shocking moments of all time. As Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have their final fight at the end of the movie, Darth Vader drops a huge truth bomb. Luke believes that Vader killed his father, but Vader reveals that he is Luke’s father. The movie basically comes to an end after that, leaving audiences with a huge twist that they had to wait years to find out more about.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

A Twin Thing, “The Prestige” (2006)

Ain’t Nothing But a Twin Thing

Keyser Söze, “The Usual Suspects” (1995)

It Was Kevin Spacey All Along

Man in the Basement, “Parasite” (2019)

That’s Not a Ghost, That’s a Person

Scheduled Texts, “Promising Young Woman” (2020)

Cassie Got the Last Laugh After All

He Faked All the Data, “Interstellar” (2014)

Never Trust Matt Damon

#1: The Shower Scene

“Psycho” (1960)

This moment is so famous, it might be difficult for some of us to understand just how shocking it was at the time. “Psycho” is arguably Alfred Hitchcock’s best known film, starring the very famous Janet Leigh. Well, almost starring Janet Leigh. Leigh takes over the first part of the film, heading to the Bates Motel to meet her boyfriend Sam with stolen money. But as she takes a shower that night, she’s attacked by a shadowy figure and killed. In 1960, it was almost unheard of to kill your star less than halfway through the film. That paired with the utterly terrifying nature of the shower killing makes this moment a classic.