2014 Horror Film Ranked as Having the 'Most Terrifying Final Shot' Ever

While not always the case, a scary movie with an incredible, intense finale will often stay in the minds of the audience. The publicationColliderrecently released a ranking of the "8 most terrifying final shots in movies." The list highlighted spooky films like REC from 2007, 1980's The Shining, The Blair Witch Projectfrom 1999, and 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

According to Collider, the scariest "final shot" is from the 2014 horror filmIt Follows. The publication reported that the film's ending is bleak, as it appears that the shape-shifting creature is still trailing Jay (Maika Monroe) and Paul (Keir Gilchrist), despite their best efforts.

The Film's Writer & Director, David Robert Mitchell, Revealed the Inspiration Behind 'It Follows'

In a Q&A segment during the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, the writer and director of It Follows, David Robert Mitchell, revealed that a childhood nightmare was a source of inspiration for the film. He explained that when he was around 10 years old, he would experience a recurring dream "where [he] would see someone in the distance, like, walking towards [him]."

"In the dream, I was a kid, obviously, and I would see this other little boy walking towards me, and in it I knew that this kid was somehow a monster [that] was going to kill me. And I would run away from, like, the playground and run down the street," said the director before an audience.

He said that once he would make it to his childhood house in the dream, the mysterious person "would walk just right through the front door," eliciting no reaction from his family. Mitchell also said the creator never caught up to him, which "in a way that made it scarier to [him]."

Mitchell then noted that after working on the story for "the past few years," he came up with the idea that the entity is passed through sexual contact, which is seen in the film.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 10:51 PM.