If you’re a fan of horror movies, you certainly know that there will always be a person who will pass the whole movie trying to escape from the villains, and in the end, they are the last to fight and survive the massacre, and in most of the cases, this character is a woman.
This phenomenon is so common that it even has a name: the final girl. That term first appeared in the book Men, Women and Electric Saw Cards written by Carol J Clover.
In the book the term is used to define the girls who manage to survive the horror movies, having practically a list of requirements to meet for this to occur.
They are usually pure, virgin girls, considered different by their friends and always show little interest in drinks or drugs, which makes them always alert and allows them to fight and flee from the killers during the film.
Throughout the history of horror films, these stereotypes have been reworked and now the idea is to focus much more on the independent personality of women and place them as saviors of themselves.
The best survival girls we have:
Scream – Sidney Prescott
One of the most famous owners of the title of final girls is the screaming Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell. The Scream franchise revolutionized the genre and has won the hearts of bloody horror fans since its first film, where we had our first contact with Sidney, a girl who revolutionized the end girls’ way of thinking.
Sidney enters into many aspects of the ultimate girl stereotype, but breaks one of the most important “rules” for surviving in horror films that were released at the time, Sid ceases to be a pure girl during the film, and yet survives, facing the ghost face several times and always showing all her claw and determination to end it, in this case, with them.
A Nightmare on Elm Street – Nancy Thompson
An icon of final girl is the beloved Nancy of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Because she is from an old film, the girl still holds many of the characteristics of the little girls of horror films, Nancy is a studious and calm girl who has no interest in having sex with her boyfriend and is always waiting for the right moment and proves to be weak and helpless at the beginning of the film.
However, Nancy has a big change of positioning during the course of the film, after realizing that she was the only one with awareness of what is happening to her and her friends. She then decides to take care of the villain Freddy alone and does so with a lot of creativity, Nancy sets traps and has many strategies to end Freddy, waging fights that leave the viewer blunt and make empathy for the character only increase.
Halloween – Laurie Strode
This is certainly one of the strongest and most determined final girls in the history of slasher films, Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The main character of the entire Halloween franchise, Laurie begins the saga as a curious and observant girl who was able to get rid of the killer Michael Myers because of her disinterest in dating and especially because she was able to turn everything she touched into a weapon against the killer.
Throughout the franchise’s films, we see Laurie transform into a woman totally obsessed with ending up with the man who always pursues her, she becomes an even stronger and more observant woman who is fully prepared to defend herself if he attacks her again. Laurie is a true survivor who learns more from every film.
Alien – Ellen Ripley
In addition to being present in the series killer movies and the crazy ones that appear in your dreams, we also have a final girl present in a sci-fi horror movie. Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, is one of the passengers of a ship that is invaded by an extraterrestrial being who wipes out all the crew, with Ellen being the only one who can fight the alien and survive in the end. Ellen represents a much more masculinized woman than the other final girls, allowing the male audience to identify much more with her.
Black Christmas – Jess Bradford
Jess was one of the revolutionaries for the final term girls, different from most of the examples mentioned earlier, she was not a sure girl, she was far from a pure virgin girl, and always showed herself strong and independent, not being a girl who needs to be saved by a man but a true fighter. Jess is certainly one of the best and most important characters that have the title of final girl.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – Sally Hardesty
This is an old film about one of the best-known final girls in pop culture. Sally enters into all the stereotypes of an innocent, blonde, gentle girl who needs the help of a man to survive at the end of the film, but we cannot deny her iconic role in her film, where even with the premise of being a helpless girl, Sally fights with all her strength and survives mainly thanks to herself.
Ready or not – Grace Le Domas
Grace is certainly an iconic character in her film, begins as a pure girl who is excited to join her husband’s family, whom she has just married, and ends up as a totally independent woman who is able to survive everyone in the family and has yet been able to kill them. Grace goes through the process of change throughout the film, and when she realizes what’s really going on with her, she doesn’t hesitate to fight with the best weapons she finds.
Happy Death Day – Tree Gelbman
Arrogant and with an air of superiority, Tree Gelbman wouldn’t normally survive in an ordinary horror movie. Tree is an interesting character and a somewhat controversial final girl, as she dies several times and in different ways during the film, however, this is exactly what makes her a revolutionary girl ending, which serves a wonderful interpretation and knows how to captivate audiences during the film. Tree also became a reference and inspired new final girls who don’t have to be charismatic all the time to win the affection of viewers.
Us – Adelaide
Even though we’ve had major changes in character building that survive until the end of the movies, one thing still remains the skin color of the final girls. Adelaide from the movie Us, is one of the only final girls who aren’t white, and who break the pattern of black girls who die at the beginning of the movie, having a feature dedicated to her story.
However, Adelaide’s relationship with the role of good and evil is somewhat troubled, we can’t put her as the good girl or as the villain of the film, but surely she’s a truly final girl.
Fear Street – Ziggy Berman
One of the latest owners of the title of final girl is Ziggy Berman, one of the main characters in the second film in the Fear Street trilogy. Ziggy is a totally deconstructed version of the stereotype imposed on the final girls, she is a “raw” girl who does not spare the swearing and also does not hide her passion and desire to have a relationship with a boy she meets at the summer camp she went to with her sister. During her stay at the local Ziggy and her colleagues face a killer and most of them are brutally murdered, even our final girl almost died after a direct confrontation with the murder, and she just stays alive by luck, so she can narrate her story.
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The article above was edited by Anna Maria Prado .
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