(Note:  this entire article is, in some sense, one big spoiler)

Recently, the folks at Premiere.com came up with a fairly serviceable list of the top

movie twists.Not my intention here to debate each selection—I’ll leave that to others. However, for your benefit, dear reader, I’ve broken down the list by genre.  I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked that musical comedies don’t appear, but I’m a bit taken aback that no Western does:  I thought some old-time Hollywood fans would at least push The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) onto this list.Perhaps even more odd, if one considers the intentions of its genre, is that there’s also no straight-ahead mystery represented—that is, a conventional whodunit.  And no, Chinatown (1974), that great deconstructionist noir, doesn’t count.

Horror

The Sixth Sense

Psycho

The Cabinet of Dr.

Caligari (1920)

The Wicker Man (1973)

Friday the 13th


Thrillers

Old Boy

The Usual Suspects

Chinatown

Fight Club

The Game

Angel Heart


Science Fiction

Planet of the Apes

The Empire Strikes Back

Soylent Green

12 Monkeys*


Drama

Citizen Kane

Jacob’s Ladder**

The Crying Game

Eddie & The Cruisers


Action/Adventure (?)

Mission Impossible (note that since I’m not a fan of this movie, nor its ostensible twist, I’m loathe to place it with the other thrillers for fear of contamination)


*…and not La Jetée?  I guess the argument is that it’s a short subject and, technically speaking, barely a “movie”; also, the twist that Premiere identifies in 12 Monkeys is nowhere present in the film that inspired it.

** and not Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge?  Well, that makes sense as it’s also not feature-length—but it’s hard for me to get excited about a twist that I’ve experienced previously.

Anyone care to add their two cents’?  Premiere’s message board has several suggestions but these are more often depressing than not.