Top 30 Horror Movie Theories That Turned Out To Be TRUE

“The Cabin in the Woods” (2011)


A clever subversion of the classic “cabin in the woods” movie, the, uh, “Cabin in the Woods” is all about one big setup. You see, these scientist guys lure teenagers to a fake cabin and then sick all sorts of creepy monsters on them in an effort to kill them, harvest their blood, and satiate subterranean demons. As you do. While the extent of the twist wasn’t guessed beforehand, people correctly assumed that it was all a setup. There are numerous shots in the trailer showing some type of lab, and that - combined with the very “tropey” nature of the story - had some correctly deducing that not all was what it seemed.

“Don’t Worry Darling” (2022)


While it’s more of a psychological thriller, “Don’t Worry Darling” still contains some disturbing imagery and follows many classic horror movie tropes. It’s very “Black Mirror.” And that includes the presence of outlandish technology, including simulations. We learn that Alice is a modern woman living in an idealistic simulation of the 1950s. Once again, this twist was correctly guessed beforehand by many people based solely on the evidence in the trailer. In fact, the movie received a middling reception, with many people criticizing its too-obvious twist. A twist we all knew was coming, and one that the movie was way too late in introducing.

“Candyman” (2021)


What if Daniel Robitaille wasn’t the only Candyman? This is what some fans have been theorizing for years, and the answer was finally given in the 2021 requel. This movie had a fresh cast of characters and a modern setting, and it was also co-written by Jordan Peele, who loves him some social commentary. Add the two together, and fans were theorizing that the “Candyman” legend could actually relate to some type of social justice theme. This theory was confirmed through the Candyman “hive,” which is where the souls of murdered Black men go to be reincarnated as vengeful killers. Daniel is seemingly the figurehead of this collective “hive,” as evidenced by the resurrected Anthony morphing into him at the end of the film.

“The Visit” (2015)


Hey, look. Another trailer. Another twist we all correctly theorized. M. Night Shyamalan is known for his wild stories, but this one is refreshingly simple - some kids go to visit their grandparents, and Nana and Pop Pop sure are acting weird! Unfortunately, simple stories tend to breed simple twists, and this had to be one of Shyamalan’s easiest. Once again, people theorized from the trailer that Nana and Pop Pop were imposters, and, well, yep. That’s exactly what they were! The elder couple are actually escaped patients from the psychiatric hospital in which the real grandparents worked, having assumed their identities after murdering them.

“Saw II” (2006)


The first “Saw” was a simple enough movie, but like most sequels, “Saw II” ramped up the production values. Rather than a decrepit bathroom, this one takes place in a massive house and involves numerous elaborate traps - not to mention a side plot going on with Detective Matthews. The first movie established that Jigsaw was sick, and in this film he can barely stand. Naturally, many theorized that the killer had an accomplice, as he couldn’t possibly have done this all by himself. And wouldn’t you know it, it was that woman from the first movie! In the climax, Amanda reveals that she has been working with Jigsaw ever since her first game and that she helped him set up the elaborate test.

“Shin Godzilla” (2016)


No one really knows where the name “Gojira” comes from, but it’s widely thought to be a portmanteau of the Japanese words “gorira,” meaning “gorilla,” and “kujira,” meaning “whale.” Yep, Godzilla is a gorilla whale! When the title was translated to English, it morphed from “Gojira” to “Godzilla,” and many people thought that it meant “God lizard” or something to that effect. This is in keeping with the movie’s themes of divine retribution, as Godzilla serves as a warning against nuclear war. This theory was confirmed, or at least acknowledged, in the 2016 film “Shin Godzilla.” “Shin” can translate to “new,” “true,” or even, you guessed it, “God.” This is also confirmed in-movie by Patterson, who explicitly refers to Godzilla’s divine origins.

“Shutter Island” (2010)


The twist ending of “Shutter Island” is often praised, but some people nailed it solely from the trailer. So here’s the deal - a detective goes to an isolated psychiatric hospital to inquire about a missing patient. These types of “mysterious remote location” movies almost always have a twist, so viewers were already on edge. Furthermore, the trailer shows Teddy having visions and suffering from some type of delusion. There are also numerous shots of a blonde-haired woman and a child, including one where the woman disappears, one where they’re engulfed in fire, and one where Teddy is screaming over a body. Put them all together, and you’ve guessed the twist - Teddy is the patient, having murdered his wife after she drowned their children.

“Puppet Master II” (1990)


This franchise has a weird chronology, with the third, fourth, and fifth movies serving as prequels to the first and second. In the latter, the titular puppet master André Toulon is reanimated by Pinhead and walks around in the guise of Eriquee Chaneé. He is violent and murderous in this film, which contrasts highly with his characterization in the prequels. This led many fans to believe that, as is often the case in horror, his resurrection went wrong and he came back different. This was finally confirmed in the “Puppet Master” comic books, a canonical series made by Action Lab Comics between 2015 and 2018.

“What Lies Beneath” (2000)


If you learn one thing from this list, it’s that you shouldn’t watch trailers for horror movies. The marketing for “What Lies Beneath” makes it seem like a simple haunted house story, only with one major twist - a twist that the trailer essentially revealed. It makes explicitly clear that Norman ended an affair, the woman took her own life, and her ghost is now haunting Norman out of vengeance. It straight up tells us that! Yes, it leaves out the detail that Norman actually killed her, but this “twist” was instantly theorized by virtually everyone who saw the trailer. The film ended up receiving mediocre reviews, with many critics calling out its painfully obvious story beats.

“Alien” (1979) & “Blade Runner” (1982)


How much do easter eggs and director statements matter to the established lore of a franchise? If they’re highly regarded, then it’s a fact that “Alien” and “Blade Runner” exist within the same universe - a theory that fans have suggested for years. They both share themes of dystopia and artificial intelligence, and they both have established interspace colonies. Furthermore, easter eggs seemingly connect the two franchises, including an identical computer screen shared by Ripley and Gaff, and the “Alien” DVD confirms that Dallas once worked for Tyrell. Finally, Scott confirmed the connection in his “Blade Runner” commentary, claiming that the “Alien” crew might live in the same city as Deckard.

“The Thing” (2011)
As you surely know, the Thing’s key feature is its ability to mimic any form of life it assimilates. This led fans of the 1982 classic to wonder what it would look like if stripped of all its glamors, if anything. With the 2011 prequel of the same name, director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. answered this one question, by claiming it’s less like an actual creature and more like a “virus.” Sure, we’d prefer info from the OG maestro John Carpenter, but he’s been deliberately cagey about details, saying he knows who the Thing is at the end of his film, but that we never will.

“Nope” (2022)
Since “Get Out,” Jordan Peele movies have inspired endless analyses and theories, even when they have yet to be released. Promotional materials have loved to tease in this way, too, with the first posters featuring certain motifs. While the first one for “Us” showed a character holding a pair of scissors, “Nope’s” poster only gave us a cloud with a kite tail to go off of. With story details pending, fans immediately began to speculate that inside that cloud was an Unidentified Flying Object. Sure enough, the movie ended up featuring just such a UFO, only no one could have predicted its true, beastly nature.

“Scream 3” (2000)
Sidney Prescott has not had the best luck with relationships, even though she deserves a happily ever after. She finally got it, but we didn’t know about it for some time. In “Scream 3,” the franchise’s final girl seems to have some chemistry with LAPD Detective Mark Kincaid, but nothing is explicitly stated or acted upon. Mark’s last seen in the film’s epilogue getting chummy with the gang, leaving fans to wonder if this is only in a friendly capacity or something more. When it seemed like no sequel would ever be acknowledged, the fifth entry twenty-two years later finally confirmed that Sidney and Mark were not only married, but had kids. Now, what are the odds of getting McDreamy back on a “Scream” set?

“Friday the 13th” (2009) & “Transformers” franchise (2007-)
This one’s a little tenuous, so bear with us. As many will know, Michael Bay directed the first live-action “Transformers” movie. As less will know, he’s also produced several horror remakes, including 2009’s “Friday the 13th.” What both films share is actor Travis Van Winkle, who plays characters named Trent in each. Granted, the characters have different last names in novelizations and deleted scenes, which we’ll let you decide if it’s a canon killer. But the characters’ same jerky attitude has led many to believe they’re one in the same. Several publications have reported on Bay confirming this, but the primary source seemingly can’t be found. Still, Mikaela was right to dump him, else she too end up at Crystal Lake.

“Midsommar” (2019)
This one delves more into themes than plot dynamics, but remains fascinating all the same. Ari Aster’s visually arresting film “Midsommar” follows Dani, a young woman who suffers the tragic loss of her family in the opening minutes. She later joins her boyfriend and his pals on a trip to Sweden, where they study and ingratiate themselves into a pagan cult. Things of course don’t go well, as Dani’s friends are killed before she’s crowned the May Queen. Early viewings had many likening it to themes of old-school fairy tales, and it wasn’t long before Aster shared the same sentiment. Now that it’s a fairy tale, there’s only one thing to do: wait for the Disney version.

“Cloverfield” (2008)
The “Cloverfield” franchise has embraced mystery, even going back to the first film’s marketing campaign. Naturally, being a found footage POV movie, “Cloverfield” focuses more on the characters’ first-person experiences in the monster attack and less on creature backstory and exposition. This prompted fans to come up with their own explanations, like Clover being from outer space, but this was denied by producer J. J. Abrams. Rather, the alternate theory that it came from the Atlantic Ocean after being awakened by humans was confirmed in supplemental material. Abrams also confirmed that this Clover was a “baby,” which explains why the one seen in “The Cloverfield Paradox” is so much bigger.

“Scream VI” (2023)
This isn’t the first “Scream” entry, and it won’t be the last. While beforehand not a constant, it seemed like the franchise had gotten comfortable with having two killers per film. But upping the count to three has been a popular theory for each sequel, so it makes sense that the fans would eventually be right. While “Scream 2” originally went this way before a script leak forced them to pivot, it finally happens in “Scream VI” when it’s revealed the Bailey family is behind the killings in New York City. Technically speaking, though, you could count four killers if you include Jason from the film’s opening.

“Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday” (1993)
Again, this is just one sequel director’s interpretation, but it still counts for this list. In the ninth “Friday the 13th” film, “Jason Goes to Hell,” spotted can be the Necronomicon - aka the Book of the Dead - along with the Kandarian dagger from the “Evil Dead” franchise. It’s just an Easter egg, but according to director Adam Marcus, it’s an entire explanation. His reasoning for Jason’s evil and undead nature stems from Mrs. Voorhees reading from the book to bring her son back to life. Whether you believe this or not, it did reportedly get the approval of “Evil Dead” creator Sam Raimi. And like as not, the closest to an actual crossover we’ll get is the comic book miniseries “Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash.”

“Alien vs. Predator” (2004)
Sure, the “AVP” movies exist firmly in their own branch of the universe, but it undeniably answers a few questions regarding the two species. In “Predator 2,” fans noticed a trophy Xenomorph skull aboard the Yautja ship. Given the animalistic nature of the former and hunting nature of the latter, this essentially confirmed that one species preyed on the other. But some fans speculated it went deeper than that. Given that Xenomorph breeding can be a controlled process, some thought that the Predators might’ve been doing so for the express purpose of hunting them. Sure enough, the first crossover movie reveals they’ve been doing this for thousands of years, with human incubators, no less. Whether the Predators created the Xenomorphs outright is a whole other theory.

“The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
“The Blair Witch Project” is a film better left ambiguous, but what are you gonna do when sequels come along? With the few details given regarding the first film’s actual plot, some fans have come to the conclusion that the three characters were transported back to the 1940s by the titular witch before coming across Rustin Parr’s cabin. It’s a little complicated to fully explain here, but the manipulation of time is at least confirmed in the 2016 sequel, simply titled “Blair Witch.” In it, the main characters separate in the woods before reuniting, only there’s significant disagreement in how long it’s been. Since the existence of the witch is also seemingly confirmed, so too is its ability to manipulate one’s perception of time.

“Pet Sematary” (2019)
When you’re remaking a well-known horror movie, you often want to stay within the general confines of the original but tweak a few small details to keep things fresh. With this in mind, fans foresaw a way that 2019’s “Pet Sematary” could make the classic story its own. In the Stephen King novel and 1989 adaptation, toddler Gage Creed is tragically killed by a speeding truck, and his father Louis revives him in the mystical grounds past the titular cemetery. Trouble is, nothing comes back the same. Seeing as Gage has an older sister Ellie in every version, fans figured it might be interesting if she was the one who turned. This was confirmed when the second trailer for the remake was released.

“Halloween” franchise (1978-)
The ‘80s were inundated with seemingly unkillable slashers, most of them of the silent, lumbering variety. While fans are naturally going to come up with a slew of explanations, this 1995 sequel may be proof that some things are better left to the imagination. In “The Curse of Michael Myers” - the producer’s cut, anyway - it revealed that the titular villain was actually inducted into the Cult of Thorn, whereby he’s imbued with supernatural abilities and the drive to kill his family to ensure prosperity for the community. It’s honestly bad storytelling whatever way you slice it, but thankfully, this is just one of the multiple “Halloween” continuities, so you’re not beholden to it if you still want to enjoy the franchise.

“Scream 4” (2011)
The “Scream” franchise has so many fan-favorite characters that it became known for revealing at least one survivor some time after the climaxes. However, one character’s fate that was left up in the air for several years was “Scream 4’s” Kirby Reed. After being stabbed twice and left for dead by Charlie, it seemed likely she bled out before authorities arrived. Dewey later only informs Jill of Sidney’s survival, but fans theorized that family confidentiality laws might’ve prevented him from mentioning Kirby. It seemed we’d never know when initial plans for sequels became shelved, but finally 2022’s “Scream” confirmed her survival with a subtle Easter egg. Hayden Panettiere then reprised the role in “Scream VI,” only her survival this time is much more definite.

“Get Out” (2017)
Okay, this one is almost too ludicrous to actually be true, but when the creator confirms it, can we really argue? This theory stems from the movies’ inclusion of shared actor Catherine Keener. Supposedly, Keener plays the same character, who, after having experience managing a business whereby people can enter and control the mind of John Malkovich, takes on a new identity and teams with the elders to shake things up. She marries into the Armitage family, who has experience with neurosurgery, and together they’re able to perfect the process and start importing people into black bodies on a wide scale. Ludicrous, yes, but “Get Out” creator Jordan Peele has been quoted as saying, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s true.” So, there you go.

“It” (2017)
This theory actually goes all the way back to the original Stephen King novel. Readers inferred Richie Tozier’s playful ribbing of Eddie Kaspbrak as being more than friendly, even though King didn’t intentionally write it that way. The theory resurfaced in 2017 with the advent of the first theatrical adaptation. With the release of 2019’s “It Chapter Two,” Richie’s sexuality was indeed confirmed. Not only that, but it all but solidified the notion that Richie indeed had feelings for Eddie prior to the latter’s death. Though King’s been known to criticize major changes in his adaptations, he actually approved of the official inclusion, calling the added character detail “kind of genius.” It just goes to show that stories are constantly evolving, often for the better.

“Split” (2016)
For many, the release of 2016’s “Split” marked a return to form for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan. For some, they suspected beforehand that it was a backdoor sequel to 2000’s “Unbreakable.” While “Split” is at heart a standalone psychological thriller, the fact that it centers on a killer with dissociative identity disorder - with one personality able to alter physical makeup and imbue superhuman abilities - had people wondering. Seeing as talks of a sequel to Shyamalan’s grounded superhero movie “Unbreakable” were heating up around the same time, fans wondered if that and “Split” were one and the same. Thankfully the secret was well-kept for most audiences, so the appearance of Bruce Willis’s David Dunn at the end remained a surprise.

“Final Destination 5” (2011)
You’d think a movie called “Final Destination 5” would follow up the events of the first four. But that’s just what producers were counting on when they released it in 2011. Though the movie goes through the motions of a regular “Final Destination ” film, the final scene reveals it takes place in the year of 2000 and that the main protagonists are actually on the doomed Flight 180 from the original film. It’s a neat twist, and the movie surprisingly earned the highest marks of the franchise. Still, you can’t keep deductive fans down, as this plot point became a popular theory online beforehand. By the time they saw the movie and noticed subtle clues like out-of-date license plates, they knew the reveal was imminent.

“Saw” (2004)
The “Saw” franchise saw seven movies released every October between 2004 and 2010, but it wasn’t until the supposed “Final Chapter” that the most long-standing question got answered: what happened to Dr. Gordon? In one of the most shocking endings in movie history, the original “Saw” sees Gordon amputate his foot and crawl away in search of help. The idea of Gordon bleeding out seemed anticlimactic to fans, so his survival made the most sense. However, seeing as he’d need immediate medical attention and the fact that the bathroom never gets discovered led fans to believe he was helped by his very captors. And since Jigsaw recruits multiple victims, it made sense Gordon would join the team with a new lease on life. Sure enough…

“Prometheus” (2012)
This revelation doesn’t actually come about in the film itself, and it would frankly be quite crazy if it did. But it has been confirmed by director Ridley Scott all the same. In this sci-fi / horror prequel to the “Alien” franchise, it’s revealed that humanity was planted by a biologically similar extraterrestrial race known as the Engineers. About 2,000 years before the film’s events, Engineers attempted to wipe out humanity, but failed to even make the trip to Earth. Timeline-wise, fans theorized this was in conjunction with the days of Jesus Christ. Indeed, Scott later clarified that the attempted genocide would’ve been in response to humans crucifying an Engineer emissary, but Scott later removed this detail for being “a little too on-the-nose.”

“The Shining” (1980)
“The Shining” is one of those movies that transcends any one interpretation, perhaps even of its writer-director. But for the sake of this list, we’ll defer to Stanley Kubrick’s statements circa 1982. Though the film’s classic status took time to develop, hardcore cinephiles were already dissecting it. In this case, some took Jack Torrance’s appearance in a photograph taken at the Overlook in 1921 as an indication that he was a direct reincarnation of a previous caretaker. While others infer other things, like Jack was instead absorbed into the hotel, Kubrick was actually a proponent of the reincarnation theory. While his take certainly holds more weight than others, we’ll always love ruminating on multiple interpretations with this endlessly mystifying film.



Did you personally think that any of these theories were true? Let us know in the comments below!