Halloween is the time for spooks and scares and what better way to get in the spirit of Halloween than by watching Horror Movies. There is a significant formula to follow when creating the perfect horror movie, besides the music and plot, the film must have well-developed characters. The monster is usually the centerpiece of the film, but the final girl plays a significant role as well. The final girl represents Good vs. Evil, the one character that must vanquish the antagonist at the end of the film. So, grab your favorite Halloween candy and let’s see which final girl is the ultimate warrior.
10) Sally from Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a popular slasher film. The effects, the costume design, and the plot all give the film its signature grotesque feel, however, what’s really memorable is Leatherface, the antagonist of the film. The other characters, on the other hand, are lacking and are merely there for creative death scenes. The final girl Sally survives from sheer adrenaline, she runs from Leatherface before getting captured and escapes from a series of coincidences. Sally is able to escape Leatherface but loses her sanity in the process.
Dana isn’t exactly innocent, but instead she’s forced into the category by the controllers. She is a bookworm and essentially summons the creatures that kill them by reading from a book. Dana isn’t the sole survivor but is given a choice to either sacrifice her friend to save humanity or allow the Ancient Ones to destroy the human race. At first, Dana points a gun at her friend for the greater good but ultimately decides humanity isn’t worth saving and waits with her friend for the end.
8) Jay from It Follows
Jay isn’t the only girl that survives, but the monster is solely interested in her. The rules of the final girl differ in this film since Jay is sexually active, but this is how the entity is passed on. At the beginning of the film, Jay is portrayed as calm and mellow but later becomes paranoid and reserved. Toward the end, Jay believes she can end the curse by killing the entity, but instead ends up passing the curse onto her friend and accepts her situation. Unlike the typical final girl, Jay isn’t able to conquer the monster at the end, but she can delay her death.
7) Max from Final Girls
After the death of her mother, Max shelters herself until her friend persuades her into watching her mother’s film and the sequel. Not only is Max required to defeat the villain at the end of the movie, but she has to watch her mother die twice. When Max forms a strong relationship with her mother in the film, Max is able to summon the courage to move on and face the villain. By the end of the film, Max is no longer a quiet, shy girl she used to be, this time when the villain appears in the final scene Max takes the closest thing she has and charges.
6) Thomasin from The Witch
Thomasin manages to stay alive until the end, and although she faces the monster, she does not defeat him. In fact, Thomasin becomes the villain. Instead of suffering a night of solitude and possible witch visits being the sole survivor of her family, Thomasin makes a deal with the devil and becomes a witch, where she finds comfort and acceptance. This aspect is disturbing because Thomasin is only happy once her family is dead.
5) Laurie Strode from Halloween
Bookworm, timid and innocence are all traits of Laurie Strode, and unlike her friends, Laurie doesn’t attend parties often or have sex, this is another trait for a final girl. A typical night of babysitting goes amiss when her brother, Michael Myers makes a surprise appearance. On the anniversary of her family’s death, Laurie must fester up the strength to defeat the silent killer. Throughout the series, Laurie has evolved into a strong woman who is always ready for battle with Michael.
4) Sidney Prescott from Scream
Wes Craven changed the rules of the final girl when Scream came out. Sidney is aware of the horror movie cliches but ends up falling victim to them, a.k.a running up the stairs, picking up the phone, etc. Also, she was the first final girl in a slasher film to have sex and survive. After her mother’s death, Sidney endures trauma and repressed feelings but finds the courage to escape death after many attacks from her boyfriend, Ghostface, and her cousin. Not only that, but the whole town seems to celebrate Ghostface as a tradition on Halloween. After all this, Sidney is still standing.
3) Erin from You’re Next
Erin is an absolute warrior. She’s not a relative of the family, she’s the girlfriend to one of the characters. When tragedy strikes, Erin is able to stay calm and focused while everyone else panics. Even with a wounded leg and no weapons, Erin manages to sneak away to safety before she’s found. Being raised in a survivalist compound in the outback, Erin is highly resourceful using anything as a weapon from a door to a blender. Bonus point for pulling out a knife lodged in her shoulder blade.
2) Nancy Thompson from A Nightmare on Elmstreet
Nancy isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. She’s rough around the edges and isn’t distracted by her boyfriend. Nancy doesn’t hide from the bogeyman, she’s resourceful and determined to defeat Freddy at any cost. After investigating her friend’s death, Nancy prepares to fight Freddy and drag him from the dream world into reality. In the end, Nancy diminishes Freddy’s power and turns her back on him, reducing him to nothingness. The downside is she dies in the third film, but her death helps destroy Freddy. Nancy passes her wisdom onto the next generation, ready to fight Freddy when he returns. In New Nightmare, Heather Langenkamp must play the part of Nancy one last time and defeat Freddy for good.
1) Ellen Ripley from Alien
The ultimate badass herself, Ellen Ripley. Ripley is a natural born leader, like Erin she is able to stay calm in the face of danger and thinks ahead. When a crew member is infected, Ripley warns the crew not to let him in, they refuse, and an alien infects the ship. At that point, Ripley’s goal was survival. Not only does Ripley blast a xenomorph into space, but she saves herself and Jones the cat.
There’s more to a good horror movie than jump scares and special effects. The plot needs to make sense, and the characters need to be interesting. The monster should be intimidating, but the main heroine should make a statement.
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