Gangster movies are known for their shocking endings, but some of the best in the genre had some seriously messed-up endings that floored viewers. Since the advent of cinema, gangster films have been a staple of Hollywood, with silent-era masterpieces like Intolerance and Golden Age features like The Public Enemy.

One thing gangster movie fans know is that they are following the story of criminals who will end up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ or ruined by the end. While this has led to falls from grace in movies like Goodfellas to brutal deaths in films like Bonnie & Clyde, the gangster genre has had some even more disturbing endings over the years.

Donnie Brasco (1997)

The ending of Donnie Brasco is messed up because no one got out in one piece. This includes Donnie himself. Johnny Depp plays FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone, a young agent who goes undercover in the Bonanno crime family under the name Donnie Brasco. He becomes friends with Lefty Ruggiero, an aging enforcer.

Al Pacino plays Letty, and he is one of the most likable characters in the movie, someone who takes Donnie under his care and puts his own life on the line to stand up for the undercover agent, not knowing he is being used. Donnie does his job perfectly, though, and helps the FBI infiltrate the Bonanno family.

The movie changes the real-life story. In real life, Letty ended up going to prison for his crimes. In the film, the mob realizes Letty is to blame and calls him in, with the ending hinting they plan to kill him. For his part, Pistone only received a medal and a $500 check, along with a $500,000 contract on his head.

The Godfather Part II (1974)

The first Godfather had a sad ending, with Michael Corleone’s sister declaring her hatred for her brother after he had her husband killed, and Michael’s own wife seeing that he had become just like his dad. Michael, who started as a good person, ended the movie as the kind of person he had tried to avoid turning into.

The Godfather Part II took that idea one step further, cementing Michael as a pure evil man. The first movie saw Michael murder men in cold blood in a diner and order several murders while attending a baptism. The second Godfather movie had Michael order the murder of his brother, Fredo.

Michael learned Fredo betrayed him, which led to an ᴀssᴀssination attempt. While Michael said no one would kill Fredo while their mother was alive, after their mom’s death, he had his own brother murdered while he watched. There was no coming back, as Michael hit his lowest at the end of this movie, sitting alone.

The Public Enemy (1931)

The Public Enemy is one of the earliest gangster masterpieces in cinema history. Directed by William A. Wellman, this was the gangster movie that turned James Cagney into an icon in the genre. He played Tom Powers, a young up-and-coming gangster on the streets who rises through the ranks to become extremely powerful.

However, the faster a person rises, the harder they will fall in the gangster genre. This happened to Tom Powers, who was violent and destructive and who didn’t believe anyone would ever bring him down. What made this ending so messed up was what happened after his fall.

Tom’s mother still loves him, despite anything he might have done. That makes the final scene all the more shocking and disturbing when she learns her son is coming home and goes to make his bed. However, the killers deliver his body, completely tied up, to his front door for his mother to see.

White Heat (1949)

James Cagney was one of the most famous gangster movie actors in the 1930s and 1940s, and one of his last great gangster roles in the genre came in 1949, in the movie White Heat. Cagney played Cody Jarrett, a ruthless criminal and the leader of the Jarrett Gang, who also has an Oedipal complex with Ma Jarrett.

As with almost all of Cagney’s gangster movie roles, he ended up falling hard at the end. However, the ending of White Heat is one of the most iconic of any film in the genre, as he ends up taking his own life in a blaze of glory with one of cinema’s most remembered quotes.

Cody Jarrett is in a gunfight with the police after his mother is arrested. However, even after taking bullets, he refuses to go down that way. Instead, he yells out to his mother that he is on “top of the world,” shoots an oil tank, and blows himself up. It was one of the most explosive endings in any gangster movie.

The Departed (2006)

The Departed is a Martin Scorsese gangster movie that is a remake of a brilliant South Korean film franchise called Infernal Affairs. While a remake, Scorsese made his just different enough to help it stand on its own and even win four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The film follows an undercover cop infiltrating the mob, while a mobster infiltrates the Boston PD in a long con starting in the police academy. Neither man knows there is a mole on the other side until later in the movie, and after the dirty cop (Matt Damon) kills the undercover cop (Leonardo DiCaprio), the film has one more twist.

The messed-up ending of The Departed sees a good cop doing something shocking, and it completely throws the viewers for a loop. Sean Dignam, a good cop played by Mark Wahlberg, realizes Sullivan (Damon) is the mole, so he shows up at his apartment and shoots him in the head, executing him on the spot.

New Jack City (1991)

Released in 1991, New Jack City was a gangster movie directed by Mario Van Peebles and starring Wesley Snipes and Ice-T. Snipes is Nino Brown, the head of a NYC gang, while Ice-T is Det. Scotty Appleton, one of the police officers who wants to bring him down.

However, this film showed how powerful the gangs in NYC are, and the ending is a downer for anyone wanting justice in the American court system. Despite being the head of the gang he runs, Nino skirts the system and can plead to a lesser charge, testifying against another gangster to get out of a long prison term.

Ultimately, the really messed-up moment comes at the very end. As Nino looks on, satisfied at the situation, an “Old Man” (Bill Nunn), who had been begging the police to bring Nino down, shows up at the courthouse and murders the gangster in cold blood, with the police looking on, satisfied that justice was finally done.

Road To Perdition (2002)

Road to Perdition is a Sam Mendes gangster drama based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner. The movie stars Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, Sr., an enforcer for a mob boss named John Rooney (Paul Newman), who also raised him since he was orphaned as a child.

When Michael’s son accidentally witnesses a murder, John’s son orders a hit on Michael’s family. When Sullivan gets home, he finds his wife and other son ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, and he goes on the run with his other son. This leads to very uncomfortable situations between Michael, his father figure John, and his own son.

The ending came when Michael thought things were finally finished when he killed John and the mob boss’s son, with the other main mob boss promising that it would end things. It didn’t, as an ᴀssᴀssin shoots Michael in the back, only for Michael to get off a sH๏τ of his own to ensure his son lives.

Scarface (1932)

Both the 1932 and 1983 versions of Scarface are masterpieces, and both movies end in close to the same way with a big shootout to end things. The shootout in the 1983 version is impressive, with Tony’s sister gunned down after taunting him in his office, and then Tony in a huge gunfight that sees his eventual death.

However, the ending of the 1932 Scarface is more messed up because it concluded a movie that was nowhere near as violent as the 1983 version. The 1932 film was a pre-code gangster film, but it kept much of the violence understated, and that made the entire conclusion a surprisingly violent scene.

This ending didn’t see Tony’s sister taunt him Sєxually, but instead it showed her planning to kill him before she couldn’t bring herself to do it. When the police open fire on his apartment, his sister dies, and Tony tries to run before the police gun him down in the streets.

The Long Good Friday (1980)

What makes The Long Good Friday’s ending so messed up has nothing to do with an excess of violence, like many other movies. Instead, the ending here was more of a sense of dread, and what happened was really wrong considering what had happened up to that point.

The 1980 British gangster film stars Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren in a story of police corruption and the danger of the IRA. Bob Hoskins stars as Harold Shand​​​​​, a London gangster who wants to go legitimate. However, things out of his control bring his entire operation to the ground and mark his demise.

The ending was messed up because of what the final scenes hint at. Just when Harold believes he has solved all his problems, he gets into his car only to see that his driver has been replaced with an IRA ᴀssᴀssin, and then sees another car has abducted his girlfriend, and he realizes both of them are about to die.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

In Quentin Tarantino’s breakout movie, Reservoir Dogs, a group of gangsters known only by colors end up in a botched jewelry store robbery, and not everyone makes it out alive. One of the criminals, Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), is helping an injured Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), but everyone knows someone betrayed them.

Of course, the traitor was Mr. Orange, who is an undercover cop, and the two criminals who suspect something are Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) and Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi). However, by the end of this shockingly violent movie, neither of them are able to do anything about it.

This is a movie where the final scene shows that the last gunfight involves the two men closest to each other, one knowing the other betrayed him. The last scene sees a sH๏τ of Mr. White with his gun to Mr. Orange’s head when the police come in, and the gangster movie ends with gunsH๏τs ringing out, likely meaning the death of both men.