Most Bizarre End Credits You've Never Seen
We've all become very, very familiar with the post-credits scene since the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought it into vogue, but it's really been a favorite trick of sneaky filmmakers for decades. Here are a few movies we're betting you didn't know had scenes after the credits—and not one of them involves Nick Fury. (Or, for that matter, Ferris Bueller.)
Lethal Weapon 3
1992's Lethal Weapon 3 might not be anybody's favorite in the series, but it was a perfectly functional Riggs and Murtaugh delivery device with cinematography by Jan DeBont, who'd soon make his directorial debut with Speed. In the first scene, the pair bungle the defusing of a bomb and inadvertently blow up an old building—which only gets them busted down to patrol duty since the building was empty, and this is a movie. The post-credits scene creates a nice little bookend for the opening, as recent history (sort of) repeats itself.
Riggs and Murtaugh are seen driving up to yet another old building where a bomb threat has been made, with Riggs commenting that the bomb squad is nowhere in sight, and maybe they ought to just take a look. Murtaugh tries desperately to talk him out of it, but there's no need to bother; the building blows up before they can even get out of the car. Interestingly, this building was the 68-year old Soreno Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida. The film's producers agreed to help the city bring the old structure down just for this sequence after the credits.
Airplane!
The father of all slapstick parody films, 1980's Airplane! began a trend that continues—for better or worse—to this day. Any comedy that ends in the word Movie owes this film a debt (and in many cases, also owes filmgoers who bought tickets an apology). But Airplane! created the template for a slew of future send-ups by combining inspired, rapid-fire gags with a formula that was familiar to audiences of the time—in its case, the disaster movie.
The film's post-credits scene is exactly as deadpan as you would expect. Our hero, Ted Striker, is introduced at the beginning of the movie working as a cabbie. He tells his stiff-looking businessman passenger that he'll be back in a minute, runs into the airport, and is promptly distracted by the utter mayhem of the film's plot. In the six-second scene after the credits, we see Striker's fare, still in the back of the cab. He looks at his watch and announces, "Well, I'll give him another 20 minutes." He's probably still waiting.
Super Mario Bros.
1993's Super Mario Bros., one of Hollywood's first attempts to cash in on the popularity of video games, was an unmitigated disaster. Despite the presence of overqualified actors Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper, the big-screen adventures of these mushroom-stomping Italian plumbers didn't sit well with critics or fans. As huge a misfire as it was, the fact that it got made at all stands as a testament to just how big a deal the Super Mario Bros. game series was, and it helped open the floodgates for the many video game adaptations that would soon follow.
Two of the film's villains, Iggy and Spike, are cousins of the villainous King Koopa (Hopper, in his most thankless role). The post-credits stinger sees two Japanese businessmen whom we assume to be talking to Mario and Luigi, proposing an idea for a video game based their adventures—but it turns out Iggy and Spike are actually on the other end of the negotiations. They kick a around couple of ideas for the name of their game before settling on "Super Koopa Cousins," which actually has a pretty nice ring to it.
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series served as his extended and bloody love letter to grindhouse cinema and martial arts films. Originally intended to be released as a single film, the four-hour opus was divided into two, with Volume 1 released in 2003 and Volume 2 in 2004. Tarantino and lead actress Uma Thurman conceived of the project together while working on Pulp Fiction, and encountered many roadblocks—not the least of which was Thurman's unexpected pregnancy—while getting their vision on the screen.
This seems to be acknowledged with Volume 2's multiple post-credits sequences, one of which is an alternate set of credits. This sequence is shown in black and white, with the credits superimposed over a shot of Thurman's character driving down a long road—but one last Easter egg remains for those who make it all the way through the second credits sequence. It's a brief effects shot of Thurman ripping an eyeball out of a gang member, complete with offscreen cues of "Action!" and "Cut!" After the film stops rolling, Thurman breaks character, giggling and asking to do the shot again.
Paranormal Activity 4
The Paranormal Activity series revitalized the found-footage horror genre by adding new wrinkles to its central conceit—like security cameras, or cameras mounted on oscillating fans—with each new entry. They're also more smartly written than they need to be, and deploy their scares like well-oiled machines; however, by the fourth installment, plot connections to the series' central storyline had started to grow strained. Paranormal Activity 4's post-credits sequence was meant to tease the next installment in the series, a film that may have ended up helping to kill the franchise for good.
In the sequence, unknown videographers are shooting inside what looks like a bodega, with crosses and other religious iconography briefly in view. Suddenly, a creepy old woman appears out of nowhere speaking Spanish, and the guys behind the camera promptly flee. This was a teaser for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, a spinoff aimed primarily at the Latino market. Unfortunately, the film itself just wasn't very good, garnering terrible reviews and grossing far less than any previous film in the series. A final film, subtitled The Ghost Dimension, fared even worse critically and commercially, putting an end to the Activity once and for all.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Harry Potter film series was wildly ambitious, allowing its child actors to grow up onscreen and remaining mostly faithful to dense source material with elaborate mythology. Oddly, the second film in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, is the only one to feature a post-credits stinger—and it does so for the sake of a throwaway, if inspired, gag.
Fans of the series will remember that an appointment to the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher always ended badly for the appointee, and Chamber of Secrets' Gilderoy Lockhart was no exception. A self-proclaimed expert on everything (and in reality an incompetent imbecile), Lockhart's supposed expertise with memory charms literally backfires when he blanks his own memory while attempting to do the same to Harry and friends. In the stinger, we see a poster advertising Lockhart's latest book, hilariously titled Who Am I? and featuring a living portrait of an extremely confused Lockhart in a straitjacket.
Evil Dead (2013)
The 2013 reboot/remake/possible continuation of The Evil Dead is one sterling example of how a revival of a decades-old property doesn't have to suck. Its relentless, masterfully executed barrage of demons and gore was accomplished using nearly all practical effects as opposed to CGI, and first-time director Fede Álvarez displayed a veteran's mastery of composition and pacing. It was among the most well-received horror films of this decade, and gave Álvarez license to have quite a bit of freedom with his next project, 2016's similarly acclaimed Don't Breathe.
Of course, fans of Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead trilogy couldn't help but feel the absence of Bruce Campbell, whose iconic lead character Ashley J. Williams was the series' ferociously determined, slightly unbalanced heart. Give Álvarez credit for giving them what they want: filmgoers who stuck around after the reboot's credits suddenly hear a dramatic musical cue as their hero's face appears in backlit profile to utter one word: "Groovy." Of course, this quickly gave rise to rumors that Ash would be featured in the sequel and team up with the reboot's protagonist, Mia; while Álvarez hasn't specifically shot this down, he has said it's only likely to happen if Raimi agrees to direct.
Finding Nemo
Pixar's Finding Nemo is an undisputed classic; the only question among fans of modern animation is whether Finding Dory might be just a little bit better. At certain points in the film we meet the terrifying anglerfish, an actual species that is almost as ugly in real life as it is when rendered by Pixar animators, and a tiny green fish with googly eyes also shows up from time to time. These two meet in a dramatic post-credits stinger...but it's the exact opposite of what you'd expect.
After the credits roll, the tiny green fish comes into the center of the frame and is slowly illuminated by the glowing bait of the anglerfish. We think that the lurking horror is finally about to get its lunch—but it's about to become lunch instead, in a quick and shocking gag that must be seen to be appreciated.
Finding Dory
Speaking of Finding Dory, the belated yet fantastic sequel kept the post-credits tradition alive by unexpectedly revisiting some characters from the previous film, which Nemo spends a good portion of trapped in a fish tank at a dentist's office. His fellow prisoners call themselves the Tank Gang, and Finding Nemo's mid-credits sequence reveals how they were able to escape the dentist's office and make their way to the harbor—each still trapped inside their own individual plastic bag, but hey, freedom is freedom.
After the credits of Finding Dory, we finally catch up with them. Their algae-caked plastic bags roll into view alongside the sea lions' rock, and they congratulate themselves on having made it so far. The words "we won't have any problems from here on out" are barely out of the mouth of Gill, the leader, before staff members from the Marine Life Institute scoop them up and haul them off to be quarantined. At least we know they'll be taken good care of—it's just too bad they just missed their old friend Nemo.
Idiocracy
Mike Judge's 2006 satire Idiocracy became a cult classic despite being infamously, shall we say, mishandled by its studio. The film barely played in theaters and grossed less than a million dollars worldwide, but gained an enduring following when released to home video; it has also re-entered the public consciousness recently thanks to certain major world events. Its hero, a man of average intelligence who awakens after 500 years of suspended animation to find himself far and away the smartest man on Earth, manages to keep the world from falling completely apart with the help of his fellow experiment subject, a prostitute named Rita who spends the entire film in fear of her pimp, "Upgrayedd."
Of course, the gag is that Upgrayedd was left behind in the past—except in the sequence after the credits, we see that this isn't true. As the camera zeroes in on a heretofore unseen third hibernation pod, Upgrayedd—played by Houston rap legend Scarface of the Geto Boys—climbs out in full player regalia. He mutters, "I'm gonna find this ho," and pimp-walks off into the distance as a heavy hip-hop track comes crashing onto the soundtrack. We're not saying this begs for a sequel to be made, but...this begs for a sequel to be made.