For me, it’s always been Sidney.
In contrast to most genres, horror has always featured women surviving and having agency in their survival.
These heroines originated in the slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s.
Scream
Final Girls are generally separated from other women in the movie early on.
They are always shown with wholesome personalities and generally abstain from drugs, alcohol, and sex.
Michelle befriends Emmett and the two work out a plan to escape from Howards bunker together.
Upon discovery, Howard kills Emmett but Michelle is able to escape.
Driving away, she decides to join the fight with other survivors rather than drive toward safety.
Best Final Girl Move:Fashioning a makeshift Hazmat suit in secret.
10 Cloverfield Lane
She was the sole survivor of the first movie and appeared throughout the franchise.
Bonus: shes also a cat lady.
Best Final Girl Move:Killing a Xenomorph queen.
Alien
One day while playing, Thomasin loses her baby brother to a witch.
Her mother and father become suspicious of her, wondering if Thomasin might be a witch.
Best Final Girl Move:Embracing her powers and levitating in a clearing with her coven.
The VVitch
Jordan Peele reinvigorated this concept for the 2010s withGet Out.
Best Final Girl Move:Dangling the keys in front of her traumatized boyfriend.
Unexpectedly, the family comes under siege from mysterious masked intruders in the forest surrounding the property.
Get Out
Unbeknownst to her boyfriend, Erin actually grew up on a survivalist compound in Australia.
Best Final Girl Move:Killing one of the bad guys with a, wait for it…
It has to be a horror movie first.
You’re Next
Its a yummy love story inside a great horror movie.
Best Final Girl Move:Blowing up the cannibals cabin.
Shes survived through 4Screammovies where she has expressly been the main target of Ghostface.
Wrong Turn
Knowledgable about horror movie tropes, Sidney isnt a typical final girl.
Sidney is an intelligent and strong survivor, frequently tricking Ghostface so that she is able to escape harm.
He stalks her and her charges but Laurie manages to keep them safe and fight back against The Shape.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Eventually she is rescued by Dr. Samuel Loomis, though in later films she vanquishes Michael herself.
Her identity was obscured to protect her from Michael.
Best Final Girl move:Fashioning a weapon out of a wire coat hanger while trapped in a closet.
Scream
Worst Final Girl move:Beginning to believe in hoodoo to make it protect herself from her employer.
Not only does he not help Nancy in defeating Freddy Krueger, but he falls asleep on watch.
Worst Final Girl move:Falling asleep while theres a killer who attacks kids while they are sleeping.
Halloween
The Skeleton Key
A Nightmare on Elm Street
