One of the most chilling anime movies ever, “Perfect Blue,” watches a young idol singer, Mima, try to make a name for herself in movies, dealing with a deadly stalker and a weakening mental state. Her manager wants to take her place, and Mima just barely survives. At the end of the film, the manager is recovering in an insane asylum, and Mima is finally sure of who she is.
However, the manager’s voice actor has the final line, which we are led to believe is Mima speaking. Her hair might just be swept in the opposite direction…but she says, “No, I’m the real thing” at the end. But who is saying it?
A Serious Man
Throughout “A Serious Man,” stress and difficulties pile on Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg). By the end of the movie, he has finally built up peace – his son's Bar Mitzvah goes well, he and his wife have rebuilt their relationship, and it looks like he's moments from getting tenure. At the very end, not only does a doctor need to speak with him about an x-ray, but a tornado is headed right for his son's school.
Is it an illness? Will his son be alright? The film ends right there. It's a look at life in our modern world, with constant issues, but we aren't given any conclusion to the new issues.
The Birds
Alfred Hitchcock's famous horror-thriller “The Birds” fills uncertainty with fear. After surviving a movie's worth of vicious bird attacks, Melanie (Tippi Hedren) is injured and nearly comatose. Mitch (Rod Taylor) has to drive her and a few children to San Francisco. As they drive, birds are everywhere, watching the car roll.
The radio tells them that the attacks are spreading, and the military is even getting involved. The movie comes to a close, and credits roll, leaving us to wonder if the characters will survive when the horror ends and why it started in the first place.
The Prestige
Christopher Nolan appears again, this time with his magical mystery film “The Prestige.” It's the kind of movie you have to watch twice in a row, just to try and understand what was happening. The ultimate twist that Christian Bale's character, Borden, is actually twin brothers puts the entire rest of the movie into perspective.
But the movie actually spoils the twist early on. Angier (Hugh Jackman) reads Borden's diary. It says: “We were two young men at the start of a great career.” Viewers think it's referring to Borden and Angiers, but it's actually referring to the Borden twins. It's easy to miss but makes sense on repeated viewings.
House
On lists of strangest films ever made, the Japanese 1977 film “House” is bound to appear. It's a fever dream of nightmarish visuals that remain unforgettable. The ending is just as bizarre and difficult. After all of the girls in the house have been killed off, a new step-mother of one of them stops by to visit.
The girl, Gorgeous, is – we think – possessed by the spirit of her evil aunt. The two shake hands, and Ryoko, the step-mom, is burned away. For the entire movie, Gorgeous is furious that her father would remarry, and the ending represents her ideal situation – no step-mother for her.