I’d like to give everyone a few spoiler warnings. I don’t recommend reading on if you haven’t seen certain films. While I don’t do a deep-dive on any of the films, I do mention the “Final Girls”, which obviously spoils the ending of the movies and who survives. Spoilers are incoming for:
X (2022)
See No Evil (2006)
Scream (1996)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Friday the 13th: The New Blood (1988)
Friday the 13th: Part 2 (1981)
Friday the 13th (2009)
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Evil Dead (2013)
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Earlier this week, there was a poll on which movie had the best “Final Girl”. Everyone voted for Hellraiser (secretly dancing in my seat). For those who haven’t seen the movie, I’ll be vague. The “Final Girl” in this movie put up one hell (pause for the pun) of a fight to be freed from her situation. Pinhead and his gang of Cenobites only came for one thing and it wasn’t to simply kill. Their plans were a fate worse than death and the thought of an innocent person being put through that is too much. The punishment for curiosity is extreme and our “Final Girl” needed to be brave, smart, and cunning to survive her attackers.
The “Final Girl” trope is common in horror media and it's when the final character confronts their antagonist. It gives its viewers hope that at least one of the characters will survive the person, creature, or entity stalking them. A horror movie typically starts with a group of people deciding to do something innocent like having a sleepover, taking a vacation, visiting a summer camp, etc… They very innocently stumble onto something that sparks their curiosity, but then decide to engage in that curiosity, unknowingly bringing forth their demises. In many cases, most of the characters are silly because we wouldn’t have much of a movie if they were all smart, right? A lot of the characters make some sort of dumb decision that ultimately ends in their death, but the “Final Girl” is typically the brains in the situation, using their quick thinking to help push them closer to the odds of survival.
Traditionally, the "Final Girl" is a woman (or girl) and she is typically the straight edge character out of her group of friends; meaning that she is a virgin, fully clothed throughout the film, and she doesn’t engage in drugs or alcohol. She will also probably be the more intelligent person of the group, using her wit to navigate around the antagonist to survive. She is also traditionally brunette in contrast to the blonde (who is often portrayed as the sexy, drug-using, ditsy character).
A “Final Girl” can also be anyone. A man (or boy) can be used in this trope and examples that we see of this are Evil Dead (1981) and Hostel (2005). It’s still just as interesting to see a guy play a role that follows this trope. They have the added strength in some cases and can combat their stalker (assuming it has a physical form).
Examples of films that tackle the more traditional “Final Girl” are Scream (1996) and Friday the 13th (1980). Scream has a character named Randy that talks about all the things the "no-no" things people to do before their deaths in horror films.
There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. For instance, number one: you can never have sex. Big no, no. Sex equals death, okay. Number two: you can never drink or do drugs. The sin factor - it’s a sin, it’s an extension of number one. And number three: never, ever, ever under any circumstances say ‘I’ll be right back’ because you won’t be back.
Sydney Prescott follows these rules and is ultimately the one that survives her attackers. She is constantly turning her partner down when he wants sex from her. She also refrains from drinking and drugs. Scream is also somewhat funny because the characters seem more aware and have actually seen horror movies, yet they still struggle to survive until the very end. It doesn’t seem to matter how aware you are and how many horror movies you’ve seen, Ghostface will still come after you. The reveal of this killer in the first installment is surprising because it ends up being the person closest to Sydney. You’d think that he’d know her well enough to successfully murder her, but she ultimately survives after putting up a good fight.
The Friday the 13th franchise has a character that truly stalks his victims. Jason has no issue getting to the targets of his choosing (excluding The New Blood because of the special circumstances as to why he couldn’t get to her). Jason doesn’t have the luxury of quick movement, speaking, or stealth. He is much bigger than Ghostface as well, but his saving grace is that he has superhuman ability. He’s able to come back to life (even after being blown to pieces in Jason Goes To Hell) and can continue the carnage. The characters have a better chance of getting away because of their ability to move quickly (except poor, poor Tom in Part 2). The franchise is funny in hindsight because Jason truthfully stalks his prey by walking quite slowly (unless you've seen him in the 2009 instalment). His targets should have been able to escape, but because they break the cardinal rules of horror movie survival, they are distracted enough to get caught and murdered.
The “Final Girl” in recent years has become more modernized, with films stepping away from traditional characteristics. If you’ve seen the film “The Cabin in The Woods”, this trope is made fun of throughout the entirety of the story. The orchestration of the murders of these characters initially follows the traditional manner in which horror characters are taken out. The blonde girl, Jules, is engaging in drugs and sex with her boyfriend. She is also scantily dressed and is therefore the first to be killed off because she is seen as the whore. Dana, the darker-haired of the two (a red-head as opposed to the traditional brunette), is seen as the “Final Girl”. The corporation that orchestrated this entire situation watches as each character is killed off and a new employee asks why Dana can’t be taken out yet when she was an easier target early on. It is explained that her death is optional, and if she is meant to die, it has to be last due to her being the virgin and most "pure" of the group.
Throughout the entirety of the film, the viewer will realize that Dana is actually not the traditional “Final Girl”. At the beginning of the film, she is shown in her underwear as she talks to Jules. She also grabs a drink later on as they’re partying at the cabin. It looks like it came from a keg, so I assume it’s alcohol, but we never truly see if she drinks it or not. When Dana faces the woman that was responsible for the death of her friends, it is explained why and how their deaths were orchestrated. The order in which the characters die is deliberate and when she gets to Dana, the virgin, Dana questions the antagonist by saying “Virgin, me?”... At the beginning of the film it is revealed that she had been sleeping with her professor, already setting up that she will not be a character that follows the traditional rules of this trope. Dana broke all the rules of being a “Final Girl” in this film and still ended up being someone who could've faced off with her antagonist.
(Quick Sidebar: For those who have seen the film, what about Marty? Could Marty have actually been considered the "Final Girl" despite his drug use? He was a lot smarter than his friends from the beginning. He also did his best to survive and went back to help those who he could. He actually took on his opponents and figured out a way to "escape" their... simulation? When Dana seemingly turns on him in the end, he still uses his wit to avoid being shot. I don't know... food for thought?)
I would also like to briefly touch on the two most recent Evil Dead films. They each give us a “Final Girl” who combat the traditional views of this trope as well. Mia from 2013’s Evil Dead is a recovering heroin addict and is staying with her friends in a cabin to fight off the symptoms of withdrawal. She is introduced as a drug addict and still becomes the “Final Girl” even though she is the first one to become possessed. Is she easily able to be controlled because she didn’t start off as a pure character? Did her "impure" mind and way of living leave an opening for the Deadites to manipulate her? The friends have to fight her off, but find out a way to save her in the process. Unfortunately, in trying to save her, they begin to lose themselves due to possession and Mia becomes the person that has to fight off the Evil that lurks there.
In Evil Dead Rise, it is immediately revealed that Beth is pregnant. She’s also in the music scene and I believe everyone is their own person, but some connotations that come with being in the music scene are the people use drugs and alcohol. Beth isn’t seen to have been doing either of them, especially because she's pregnant, but I had wondered if she did before finding out. Either way, she is pregnant, but still manages to become the “Final Girl”. She fights quite hard to save herself and does what she can to protect the family that she had been estranged from. In the end, she makes it out alive without ever have gone through the possession other people had to face. I think that these films tackle the trope interestingly and it’s refreshing to see women who are allowed to be wholly themselves and still survive.
The “Final Girl” trope has modernized over the years and it’s nice to see that the traditional rules for being deemed as such have begun to fade away. I spoke mostly about women who went from being innocent and surviving to engaging in “sinful” activities and surviving. As mentioned before, men can also survive and be deemed the “Final Girl”, but they don’t seem to have as many stipulations as women. Let me know if you think differently. Should I do a deep dive on this as well?
This post started off as me wanting to talk about “Final Girls” as a whole, but as I researched, I noticed that it had changed throughout the years. What are your thoughts on this? And do you like this kind of post? Let me know in the comments. Don't forget to become a member if you would like to join in on the conversation.
Thank you for taking the time to read (as always). I posted half of the rough copy of this deep-dive early on my Ko-Fi for those who are members. If you are Tier 2 or above, I’ll begin releasing half of the rough copy of this one day early for you! Also if you become a Tier 2 member or above, you have the opportunity to choose one free topic (for the blog) a month for every month you are a Tier 2 member.
I hope you all are well! I’ll catch you guys next time!
-Versa
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