Everybody Dies: Alternate Endings That Don’t End Well

Published by Interrobang Staff at September 10, 2014

clerks

Some of our favorite films of all time were never meant to end the way they did. Directors and writers original visions for these films didn’t mean to end on a high note. A lot of the time the characters we loved were meant to die unfortunate deaths. That doesn’t always fit well with the viewing public. Thanks to DVD’s we got to see these endings in the bonus footage. And thanks to studio executives and test screenings we get the original endings we’ve all seen.

Clerks: Dante Was Supposed To Die

Kevin Smith cut the ending short in the theatrical release. The original ending had Dante getting shot to death by a guy robbing the Quick Stop. The depressing ending got nixed after criticism. Smith himself later said he ended it that way because he didn’t know how to end a film. He also implied the killer would never get caught, on an even brighter note.

First Blood: John Rambo Was Going To Kill Himself

The war vet John Rambo was supposed to kill himself in an alternate ending of the film where he breaks down, and shoves a gun held by the Colonel into his gut and fires it. Thankfully, for Stallones carreer, this never saw the light of day until a DVD release. We would have never seen the Rambo sequels.

Army Of Darkness. Everyone But Ash Dies

In Sam Raimi’s preferred ending, Ash oversleeps in his cave and wakes up to a post Apocalyptic Earth. Studio executives wanted the film to end on a high note for Ash, which is why the S-Mart ending was tacked on for the US release. Sadly, the over sleeping ending is the more believable one in a film about time traveling and a medieval army of the undead.

Little Shop Of Horrors. Seymour And Audrey Die

David Geffen was totally against the original ending of the Off-Broadway musical where Seymour and Audrey are killed and the plant takes over New York City. The scenes were shot and Geffen changed the ending completely after it tested badly with audiences. God forbid an audience member has a bad time!

Pineapple Express. Dale and Saul Get Whacked

Possibly made just for the DVD, this ending has the two buddies getting whacked, meaning we’d never get the diner scene at the end of the original. Though their friendship is sweet, this ending would have freaked people out to no end.

True Romance. Clarence Never Survived The Shoot Out

This was Tarantino’s original ending. Clarence dies in the shoot out and Alabama takes the money and runs to Mexico. Tony Scott thought it was too much of a downer and betrayed the two characters on screen love. But really, who the hell would survive a gun shot to the face?