10 Movies WAY Darker Than Originally Advertised

The unexpectedly depressing comedies, bleak superhero movies and tragic blockbusters.
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[@paulfreeborn1493]

Read Bridge to Terabithia as a kid--no surprise there. Hit hard when I read it in 5th grade, so wouldn't expect the movie to be any different...

[@kindseyvaughn8667]

Yeah that was a bit, tell me you haven’t read the book without telling me you didn’t read the book.

[@kingjamos2422]

@@kindseyvaughn8667 To be fair, most movie watchers have not read the source material before going to see the adaptation. A lot of them weren't even aware that the movie they decided to watch was based on a book. And I'm totally not projecting here... totally. Okay, that was me. I watched expecting a cute little flick. At the time, I was pissed by the girl's death, since it left me a blubbering mess. Now, however, I rather appreciate what it was doing. I'll probably give the book a read one day.

[@sslssg247]

Exactly. The book came out in the 70s, so maybe that's why it wasn't as well known, but I had to read it in school.

[@SNicolesPlace]

because I read it in middle school I knew I wasn’t emotionally prepared to watch it play out on screen…

[@jen9317]

I don't think these kids read anymore

[@wmarkdyer]

The Wiz was pretty depressing. Wasn't expecting it to be so bleak.

[@Tufferwear]

Not sure how one can have a list like this and leave off the Robin Williams movie "Jack". Robin Williams playing a big kid? Sign me up. That wasn't what we got.

[@jordault3321]

Yeah I remember watching it as a kid and thinking how scary it could actually be as a child in his situation, it seemed fun to start off but when he had to deal with a moron in a bar and be elderly as his peers were now adults it’s pretty dark

[@surferzapper20]

Robin Williams movies got to be notorious for that. Like how Bicentennial Man was advertised as a wacky comedy about a quippy robot. Instead of that, we got a tragic tale of a character desperate to find purpose in life that ends with his true validation finally coming in death.

[@jeffstreepy9911]

My Girl!!!!!

[@davidcarlisle9487]

Downsizing was much more darker than advertised.

[@paulelroy6650]

much better than advertised too

[@dougim]

Sucker Punch. I actually left the theater angry, and have distrusted Zack Snyder ever since.

[@angelosalvatoredelouisa]

I mean shit if you were shocked by the direction it took for some characters that says something on you i mean it was set in an asylum anyone coulda known how it would end

[@dougim]

@@angelosalvatoredelouisa Thank you for your unsolicited opinion; I will keep it in mind.

[@angelosalvatoredelouisa]

@dougim I apologize I've had a pretty shitty day and really it was uncalled for I don't even like snyder that much

[@dougim]

@@angelosalvatoredelouisa Forgiven. And very gracious of you. 😊

[@williamslater-vf5ym]

Lol you don't see interactions like this much on KZbin. Anyway, I completely agree. That movie was just savagely depressing the entire way through.

[@Jonas-lj8ul]

Anyone who didn't see the darkness n Jim Carrey's comedy when he played the Mask or Ace Ventura... simply wasn't paying attention.

[@starscreamthecruel8026]

I actually thought The Cable Guy was one of his best movies. It showed he can do other parts than just the quirky comic relief.

[@aimlessalix8066]

The bridge to terabithia hurt 😂 we rewatched it with my sil who didn't watch it as a child and I swear it hurts more when you are older

[@erikreber3695]

I remember watching click for the first and only time thinking. Man... This is a really depressing movie. And then Sandler kept making depressing movies for a while. Im glad he hot back into funny with grownups.

[@peterang6912]

Totaly not the same as the adult franse comic the film was made from.

[@davidwelch3887]

Hancock? 😂I love it! Especially when he said, I'm going to put your head up... and he did it! 😂😂

[@tagonistknightspublishing8972]

In the defense of the Oz movie, has anyone actually read the books? Watch the movie: Return to Oz. It was dark. Gritty. Moody. Grim. That was the tone of the books. Not the colorful, happy, everyone singing version that everyone is more familiar with. I thought the grim, dark, and scary version of Return of Oz was the best Oz movie ever made.

[@nocursewm2938]

The only problem I had with Click is its pacing. It went from moderately gross humor to heartbreaking sadness in 0.3 seconds. That’s just not fair. If that’s where the movie ended, I would’ve hated it.

[@starfire451]

The biggest offender was Shazam. All of its trailers pointed to a fun movie like Big (Tom Hanks). Took the kids to see it and the man eating demons, who weren't in any of the trailers, traumatised them. That boardroom scene was mental lol

[@maestroclassico5801]

It was a DCEU film. DC from 2006 on is all about the DARK.

[@ParodyKnaveBob]

To be fair, it was only one scene that went SO VERY FAR OFF EXPECTATION, but boy did it...

[@rome8180]

The Bridge to Terabithia was only a surprise if you didn't read the book as a kid. Almost everyone my age did. But maybe it's not as widely read in the UK.

[@kingjamos2422]

I never knew that it was a book until today, sadly. I doubt I'm the only one too. I'm from the US, btw. I was quite shocked.

[@LeadrynMcKrotch]

It was not required in my school. Though we did read other just as traumatizing books. Lol like hatchet. Reading about him accidentally ripping his fingernails out with all the details the book gave still sits in my brain all these years later

[@kayla_eeve]

At World's End is my favorite of the original Pirates trilogy. I know some people don't like the darker tone or the more explicit magical elements but I love it so much. The Bridge to Terabithia was the first movie to ever make me cry and that was *with* having already read the book.

[@allison5591]

I adored Chicken Little, It was an odd one but man it was good for us kids that were into darker/semi scary stuff.

[@StatRM]

If you ever make a part 2 to this list, the live-action adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are should be included. When I first watched it I thought it was going to be a fun, goofy, family friendly version of the beloved children's book (I can't remember if that's how it was advertised, though), and I was completely taken off guard by how dark, creepy, and even somewhat violent it ended up being.

[@magnuskallas]

I agree! Came here to mention Where the Wild Things Are. In fact they edited/reshoot parts to make it more family friendly. I think I would add Pan's Labyrinth to the list. Dark fantasy tale of a young girl contained some surprisingly nasty fachist face demolition violence... I know it is fantasy horror, but went to the themes of Schindler's List in a sense.

[@WrenFaithBridger]

I was deeply disappointed in this movie. While visually it was incredible, there was simply too much dialog. Talking while sitting. Talking while standing. Talking while walking. Talking while being in a big pile of monsters. Talk, talk, talk. I can't honestly recommend it to anyone. This is aside of the character assassination of Max. He was kind of a jerk in the book; in the movie he was the absolute worst.

[@dicksonfranssen]

*Why is Casino on this list?* The mob in Vegas, what did you expect? A Disney movie where Mickey shows how to play Blackjack?

[@BlackoutCreature]

I'd totally watch that movie.

[@califinn]

Yeah, no shit.

[@donnamurphy8551]

Well, I didn’t expect to see a person be beaten near to death and buried alive!

[@dicksonfranssen]

@@donnamurphy8551 There's another channel that does a lot of Sopranos stuff and more than a few people who apparently know say a real disregard for human life is typical in the mob. If they have the time they'll drag it out and enjoy making it hurt. I met a sociopath once about 40 years ago, it was instantly creepy and I knew better than to say a single word. The big handgun on the table was my first clue.

[@donnamurphy8551]

@@dicksonfranssen Ok, but the question was about expectations. I expect a mob movie to have violence. But that scene was more brutal than you usually see.

[@nesto2947]

I just realized the wizard of oz is now a trilogy with the prequel and that weird sequel

[@ParodyKnaveBob]

_Return to Oz_ rocks!

[@patrickstiadle3857]

Cable Guy was awesome, and Carey & Broderick were great in it. But it always seemed like Hancock's really underrated. First one where I got to see what grown-up Bateman could do with a more serious role. And Smith gives this rather complex character some gravitas

[@erikthompson619]

"The cable guy" was, in fact, very successful. Just not on par with the Carrey movies immediately preceding it.

[@aquabuddha]

Never heard someone call Chicken Little an unlikeable character before.

[@CooperAATE]

I hear that regularly lol

[@WrenFaithBridger]

I hope that rock that you are under is comfortable. Just kidding. I hear it all the time, and, having seen it, I heartily agree.

[@Miller54K]

Very Bad Things with Cameran Diaz. Billed as a comedy but was a "dark comedy". One of the most messed up movies I have ever seen. After seeing, I felt so depressed and even now, thinking about 25 years later, I cringe.

[@kev3d]

I thought it was hilarious.

[@markjames1908]

In video after video you guys keep telling me everyone hated Hancock and yet in real life I’ve never met a person who’s seen it and doesn’t love it. Not saying it didn’t bomb or whatever but it definitely has a cult following.

[@sammykewlguy]

I read Bridge to Tarabithia as a kid but started the film without remembering it. Then the scene where she wore boots to church jogged my memory. “Oh no…” I sat there with my family knowing what was going to happen and knew how heartbroken they would be. But I didn’t spoil it for them.

[@Lyca31]

I saw a trailer for Bridge to Terabithia and rented the movie out to watch with my partner and kids. We'd all never heard of the novel and from the trailer we were expecting a cute, family fantasy movie. We were all in tears at the end.

[@stephanhuebner4931]

I feel like "Pans Labyirinth" would belong on that list, too. I'm pretty sure that not much, if anything at all regarding the spanish civil war was in the trailer, let alone some very bloody scenes. the trailers heavily concentrated on that dream world instead.

[@starscreamthecruel8026]

I wouldnt have bought the DVD if I knew the majority of the movie was in black and white and was mainly tied up with events from the Spanish Civil War. I think it had a very limited cinema release in the UK before going straight to DVD where I saw a trailer for it playing at a Pagan festival a year later.

[@stephanhuebner4931]

@@starscreamthecruel8026 I hear you. While I didn't mind the scenes that much (being used to horror movies) I know at least one guy who had a bad time in the cinema with his daughter because he went there under the impression that the film consisted mostly of these dream-like sequences. He was certainly not prepared to expose his child to these brutally realistic scenes.

[@patrickdodson1713]

Yes, definitely agree. I went to see it with a friend and didn't know anything about it going in, and I wasn't prepared for how dark, brutal and bloody it actually was. In that sense, I really feel the trailers misrepresented the movie and sold something else entirely. Even her supposed 'dream world' was dark and cruel and offered her not much in terms of escape. I actually came away feeling sick for days. Dark adult fantasy, indeed. To this day,. it's a movie that profoundly affected me in a negative way.

[@stephanhuebner4931]

@@patrickdodson1713 Sorry to hear that. It's bad enough if one's going into a movie, knowing that there might be scenes too brutal for them, but being basically lied to by a studio and suffering from it mentally is so much worse.

[@patrickdodson1713]

@@stephanhuebner4931 I know, right? The effect was almost like whiplash. I almost feel like they should have put a disclaimer in the trailers since it was so wildly different than what they were selling. But perhaps what also didn't help was that it was up for awards, and there were heaps of praise poured upon it, and one can only be curious. And while I can understand the artistic intent of the movie, it was just too much. I'm not shy about violence myself, but I think it says something about how much the public is being desensitized. The scenes in the movie are highly affecting for different reasons because they are very much 'in your face'.

[@eparrishable]

While I agree that number 9 absolutely belongs on here, I'm always feel like it was slightly the parents' fault if they weren't prepared since the book was RIGHT THERE. The end comes as surprise in the book too and was absolutely devastating to read. Never could bring myself to watch it, despite how lovely it looked, knowing I would absolutely bawl my eyes. out.

[@burtonsankeralli5445]

Perhaps the biggest shock in cinema history, 2001: A Space Odessey ... was pitched as up beat sci fy.

[@brianprince3629]

Honorable mention: Patch Adams... Advertised as a Robin Williams comedy and ends up being about cancer. My mom took my sister and I to it in the theater as kids

[@Menuki]

This list is baffling…. What was supposed to be misleading about “Casino”? “The great and powerful Oz”? Did we not know about the original movie?

[@thembill8246]

Anybody surprised by bridge to terabithia didn't read the book, and that's your own damn fault. It's a great book, in the movie captures it really well.

[@underarmbowlingincidentof1981]

"Time Bandits" genuinley terrified me as a child I was expecting some fun silly action adventure movie and it is, sometimes teetering on the edge of horror.. And then it literally ends with the camera zooming out as the kid just lost both his parents and is left alone in his frontyard. ... I gathered my courage and watched it again 20 years later while drunk with my brother and had an amazing time, laughing the whole time, but the movie still terrifies me ... maybe its the visuals lol.

[@johnshepherd9676]

Casino was a highly accurate movie about Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. It was so true to the story that Rosenthal threatened to sue if they used his real name as does the book. My black sheep uncle worked for Lefty so the movie really resonated to me.

[@aimlessalix8066]

Im starting to think I just like a little surprise darkness

[@jonsrecordcollection7172]

Bridge to Terabithia was a Newbery Award winning book from the 1970s. Any Generation Xer could have told you the movie was going to go dark.

[@regalseagullGA]

I was surprised by Oz the Great and Powerful cause I expected Rachel Wiez to have been the wicked witch

[@Ishgard_Trash]

My Girl should have been on this list.

[@TheVampireAzriel]

the ending to this video where he fades out in mid-sentence was pretty dark

[@yvetteturner6280]

Downsize was also darker than advertised

[@flowercrown-eevee]

My parents were the ones that took me and my sister to Bridge to Taribithia thinking it was a light hearted fantasy movie. I left the theater in tears and with trust issues. My dad was so mad cause it was such a depressing movie that we weren't expecting in the slightest. To this day i'm so pissed at the terrible and misleading trailers.

[@kingjamos2422]

I watched it in the comfort of my own home. Which was a good thing since I needed lots of comfort after watching it. The sad thing is that the movie itself didn't really do anything wrong. It did exactly what it intended to do. It was the fault of the damn trailers.

[@ParodyKnaveBob]

If the trailers set up the surprise gut-punch tragedy, there'd be no surprise and no real gut-punch.

[@ultrustic]

How about the Man of Steel? No one expected the tone to be that dark.

[@robertaitken5469]

Yoooooo Click was so dark!!!!!

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

I remember going to the theater to see the cable guy, expecting dumb and dumber and getting, well, whatever that was!

[@kris242]

“Everything is Illuminated” is definitely one that caught me off-guard. It was marketed as your typical quirky light-hearted Wes Anderson-esque comedy. But as I always like to put it to the people I recommend it to: “The first half will make you cry from laughter, and the second half will make you weep bitterly.”

[@KadenJ-ie1ji]

I thought these people liked Dead Man's Chest and At World's End now. People who watched Will and Elizabeth's final scene were bawling out their eyes and I don't understand how you can mention how dark this movie is but not mention the fact that it STARTS with a child being hung. Also, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish should've been on here because the trailers were showing this colorful adventure and it was that but then Death happened and people were legitimately terrified. He blew Fairy Godmother out of the water.

[@abeautifulmess6687]

Could throw the Brave Little Toaster and Once Upon A Forest on a list like this tbh. Both of those traumatized me a little as a kid

[@alexmeza6486]

Darkness is the best part of a Franchise

[@someOldBaldguy]

Click and Cable Guy have stuck with me well into my adult years.

[@bcleary2000]

I always felt that Click was very underappreciated despite the deeper meaning in the movie while some of the comedy drew you in for it to later have a greater realisation hit you.

[@peterang6912]

Totaly not the same as the adult franse comic the film was made from..

[@GoddessPallasAthena]

I would have also included "Pan's Labyrinth" which, while DID look dark and surreal in the trailer, didn't tell you just how BRUTAL it was going to be. The realistic parts were so savage and depressing. In fact, I heard that in certain countries, they put up a sign outside the theater warning people that this was NOT a kid's movie. Coreline was darker than I had expected as well.

[@samkingsway6564]

Bridge to Terabithia should really not be here. I doesn't deviate from the book at all. With a little research any parent would know the ending before taking their child. It's also a bitter sweet book and movie. I highly recommend this.

[@user-yl5rl7tg2j]

WOA how the hell can you not expect a dark turn in OZ??? its Raimi, master of horror and obviously at some point theres a transformation

[@nicolehall694]

The Bridge to Terabithia wasn't a surprise ending. Anyone who had read the book published THIRTY YEARS before the film would have known the ending

[@aintyouthatguy7855]

Mother has to be on this list

[@alexisauer1477]

Most of those parents that took their kids to bridge to terabithia...probably read the book in school and knew what was coming

[@timkasansky2528]

You can add the movie Iron Claw with Zac Efron already. I watched the movie first, then i watched the trailer, and the trailer is upbeat with Rush's Tom Sawyer that doesn't suit the mood of the movie at all. One could probably get into it expecting a Rocky'-like movie, a sports drama with an inspiring ending, that could not be farther from the truth.

[@evancallow4356]

In the original bridge to terabithia film the whole third act is the boy couping with the loss of his best friend it's a kids movie

[@starhawke380]

I would have gone with the original Jurassic Park. Commercials all about a nice dinosaur park, Theater PACKED with families on opening night... 15 minutes into the movie it was 2/3 empty. Screaming crying kids being carried out after the first one got loose and killed people. Fun movie!

[@cannibalbananas]

How was the Bridge to Terabithia audience unsuspecting? It was required reading for my generation. Heck, even my daughter brought the book home from school. Now My Girl - that was an unsuspecting audience 😭

[@tagonistknightspublishing8972]

I remember reading Bridge to Terabithia in school and hating the ending. It pissed me off. Years later I forgot how it ended, and I was tricked by the promotion of the movie.

[@danielinthewolvesden]

But the #1 film here of all time was- Sucker Punch. Bridge to Terabitha was pushed as a light fun fantasy. Yeah Click went DARK.

[@ryanfowler3285]

Bruh I remember reading this... They tackle not only death but cremation. It definitely affected me lol

[@SheriffOutlaw]

The World's End comes to mind even though ending was comically hopefull

[@maestroclassico5801]

Its true Hancock's 2nd act didnt match the first but it still was a rush at the climax.

[@Sarappreciates]

The Piano was a shock to me. I paused it more than once in a ready to rage quit, "no more sadness!" rebellion against the movie itself. I thought it was gonna be about someone who loved music, FFS, 100% agonizing thing to watch instead.

[@michaelmontgomery6404]

Event Horizon. It's trailer made it seem like a sci-fi where maybe an alien presence was on the ship snd Larry Fishburn would pull a Ripley in the end. It's horror. It's Dead Space Hellraiser. And I mean horror.

[@KimsLantern]

Funny People with Adam Sandler was extremely depressing to the point that I regretted seeing it. It was NOT funny- at all. I knew it dealt with dark subject matter and might’ve been a black comedy but it ended up seeming really bitter and angry.

[@Kodeekat]

You know what part of "Casino" shocked the hell out of me? Yeah. Me neither. That because while not as great as "Goodfellas", it was otherwise pure Scorsese. Didn't belong on this list. I could pretty much extrapolate the tone accurately from the TV ads. As far as "Click" goes, Adam Sandler was in it. That was warning enough.

[@tpet204]

Transformers: the Movie (1986)? For children cartoon the body count is astonishing and they killed most of the characters from original series, including main hero.

[@reecefrench4836]

Marley & Me!!!!!

[@carriesmigla-didier8900]

Oh no, I knew from go that it was gonna make me cry- still never watched it. Don't make the doggie die!

[@TuxKamen]

I'd have to put "In Bruges" in this list. The trailers made it look like a screwball comedy and that is NOT what we got at all

[@moniquevandoorn8347]

Yes, indeed. It got terribly violent in the end.

[@carriesmigla-didier8900]

Casino was amazing. I didn't see an issue

[@WrenFaithBridger]

"Falling Down". Soon after my younger brother died in 1994, I decided to watch this. The ads hinted at some very funny parts so I was ready for a laugh. I didn't realize that it was a BLACK comedy so I was rather traumatized. One of these days I'll watch it again with a better frame of mind.

[@Zombiesnyder13]

Just the way I like

[@MrShelbyrose84]

Click was awesome

[@hoju63]

Not really a surprise that ads are misleading. It’s almost like the people making them are trying to sell a lie.

[@mikes.7900]

Vanilla Sky was missing off this

[@maddalonefarms]

1:31 There’s no “The”

[@robincrockett5087]

Did you actually watch Goodfellas? Casino seems toned down from it, not up.

[@SalamanderTeeths]

Cbicken Little is a masterpiece fite me

[@epobirs]

A Scorsese film was surprisingly dark? Was this your first Scorsese?

[@Chrisusa119]

Requiem for a Dream

[@MrSlowestD16]

A lot of these aren't really dark, just not the ending you wanted, lol. Especially something like Casino.

[@JuliaL]

How is Colosall not on this list?

[@WrenFaithBridger]

If you mean "Colossal" with Anne Hathaway, I agree. The ads made it seem like a funny monster romp but the movie itself was far, far more...and better for it.

[@Sommertest]

You missed Marley and me

[@dylanogg347]

Little's not a very compelling protagonist, but I didn't find him particularly grating. Pops on the other hand can go Buck himself...

[@Chrisusa119]

Uncut Gems

[@user-in2fe6fy5g]

million dollar baby

[@drn.o.thunderfinger9738]

A youtube advert between every film on the list so far. I've had more than enough of that. Not watching any more of this youtube item or any other on this channel.

[@burtonsankeralli5445]

Click is scary.

[@felixbelanger2659]

Bridge to Therabitia? Pfft... My Girl was a lot worse IMO

[@kev3d]

No Bebe's Kids?

[@tagonistknightspublishing8972]

I didn't like practically everything about the Fantastic Four movie. When the Roger Corman version that never was officially released, made just to maintain control over the brand, is a better movie than the remake? Yeah... That's next level bad. I would rather sit through Ryan Reynold's Green Lantern then sit through that movie again.

[@Cat-Tiger-Taegi-Cult]

Falling Down should have been on the list. If you watch the trailer, it looks like a comedy, but trust me, it's not, not at all.

[@WrenFaithBridger]

I watched this the weekend my brother died to cheer myself up. Yeah, THAT was a mistake!

[@xwhatisthepointx]

mysterious skin

[@geoffreysmith3941]

Bridge to Terabithia was required reading in middle school...everyone should have known about it....

[@visualglitch91]

You know not everyone lives in your country, right?

[@ryandegrave8978]

Not at my middle school. The name barely sounds familiar, but that might be due to the movie.

[@stevenallport2610]

That depends where you live it wasn't here in the uk

[@problematicgoose]

Okay but like... read the book

[@WrenFaithBridger]

To be honest, most of these I didn't know were books first. The ads never said so, and I'm not going to research every movie I want to watch to see if there IS a book.

[@mousemd]

Carey lost me on his first film. I don't like his style. Whether it's him or the writers. I just never watched another thing that he was in

[@WrenFaithBridger]

I recommend "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". It's probably the least Jim Carrey Jim Carrey movie.