The end of this episode reveals the face of the mysterious force guiding the events, that of Weng-Chiang the apparent Chinese god. It comes to us as a surprise, because we haven't received too much information about his face. The Doctor offhandedly mentions that it would be deformed in the previous episode, but beyond that all we see is the mask that covers it and we are content to leave it at that. Seeing this grotesque visage, therefore, is a great shock, and probably makes quite a few children scurry to the other side of the room or yelp out in terror.
It's also worth mentioning the way in which the cliffhanger is set up. We are led to believe that it is the type of cliffhanger whereby a regular is put in mortal peril. Greel (at this point masked) goes to attack Leela but she fights back. This subverts the expected nature of the cliffhanger, therefore making the reveal of the face more of a surprise. Also, thanks to David Maloney's direction the face is only on screen for a fraction of a second, thus preventing the audience from being able to get used to the face, only leaving it as a quick image that instantly burns itself into the mind. Also, the audience is able to imagine any parts of the face that don't stand out, which creates something more horrible than was achievable on screen in their minds, and a truly memorable cliffhanger.
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