Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or in the case of a final girl, no fury like a woman who’s watched her friends and family be brutally murdered. At the end of most traditional slasher films, there’s one girl left standing: the final girl. We, as the audience, have been hard-wired throughout the film to root for her. She’s usually had several close encounters with the killer and just watched her best friend or boyfriend die. Just when she’s about to die, she outsmarts the killer and lives to tell the tale. That’s the end of half of the slasher movies ever to exist—sorry to spoil them for you. Empowering women in film exists in all forms, but there’s something extra special about a final girl. Elle Woods might inspire you to follow your dreams no matter what, but Laurie Strode can inspire you to kick some ass—both being equally needed sometimes. What makes this trope so unique and different from other movies with female leads? 

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Before final girls, women in film typically followed one of four cliches: the femme fatale, the mother, the damsel in distress or the love interest. Sometimes they overlapped. The main tie between them? They all revolved around men. These dynamics could not exist without a male character somewhere in the picture. A final girl, however, breaks these cliches. She starts out seemingly as the damsel in distress but then morphs into her own hero throughout her character arc. She doesn’t rely on a man to save her from the killer—she does it on her own. The final girl ends her movie with a sense of independence after having saved her own life—without a man coming to her rescue. 

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“Scream” is the ultimate movie to overanalyze when breaking down final girls; it calls out traditional cliches while reworking them in an ironic way that makes you laugh, still appreciating the horror and suspense. Plus, Neve Campbell is amazing as Sidney Prescott. Her first appearance in the movie paints her as a “typical girl”: wearing feminine pajamas, vulnerable and protecting her virginity from her boyfriend, Billy. Ghostface, the masked killer, begins killing innocent people in the town and stalking Sidney. He follows her around and tries to kill her during each of their encounters, but she narrowly escapes. His identity is a mystery, and the audience is on the edge of their seats; Sidney isn’t safe around anyone. Late one night at a house party, Sidney finally loses her virginity to Billy. Moments later, Ghostface appears at the party and a killing spree ensues. A few gory deaths later, the dramatic reveal: Ghostface is a two-person operation by Billy and his friend Stu. Sidney is almost killed by them several times, but she comes out on top. She ends the movie as a rifle-wielding badass who fires the coup de grâce at Billy...and drops a TV on Stu’s head. “Scream” closes off having created one of the most empowering women in slasher film—maybe even just film—history.  

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What makes Sidney so special? What stands out about her transition from damsel-in-distress to hero from those of the many other final girls? Sex. According to “Scream,” the rules of surviving a horror movie are simple: never have sex, never drink or do drugs and never say “I’ll be right back.” You will not be right back. These rules ironically call out previous horror movies and foreshadow the end of the film. It’s shocking that Sidney loses her virginity but lives to tell the tale. In most slasher movies before “Scream,” the final girl is a virgin. Any other girl who has sex ends up dying soon after. “Scream” breaks this rule and completely alters the final girl cliche. It shows that a woman can have sex without losing any part of herself; that she’s still as strong as ever. This is reflected when Sidney kills Billy within hours of losing her virginity to him. Slasher films are fiction, of course, but it’s the underlying message that matters. 

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Have you ever heard a man complain about a final girl? I haven’t. At least not one from the classics like “Scream,” “Halloween,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and the list goes on. That’s because slasher films exist in some perfect middle between the male and female gazes. There’s usually a scene where one woman is at least partially nude. Typically, not the final girl, because she represents purity and is typically a virgin. Nudity tends to symbolize vulnerability because the characters, men and women, are usually murdered somewhere in their nude scene. This objectifies women to cater to the male gaze but is also inspiring to women in a way. Nude scenes can have an impact on embracing the female body in its purest form. The final girl—who tends to remain fully clothed at all times—is the most empowering, though. Watching a woman blaze her trail to survival is what appeals the most to the female gaze. She shows that women aren’t weak and don’t need a man to save them. She can defend herself and kick the killer’s ass all on her own! 

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The final girl dynamic has since branched out in many forms. Another great movie featuring a final girl is “Jennifer’s Body.” Jennifer Check is the hottest girl in school and Anita, “Needy,” Lesnicki is her nerdy best friend. Needy stands by Jennifer no matter what, while Jennifer has no real regard for her and constantly puts them in danger. They also have some form of lesbian sexual tension that the movie never really clarifies—although it would be extra liberating to show that all kinds of female relationships exist in horror films. Jennifer is possessed by a demon and starts feeding off boys. She stalks her yearbook for the most delicious specimens and lures them into her web—eating them for dinner. Needy tries to warn people, including her boyfriend, Chip, but nobody believes her. After Chip falls for Jennifer’s trap and is eaten by her, Needy sets out for revenge and kills her best friend to rid the world of the demon. These roles give the final girl cliche a whole new perspective; the only man present in the dynamic is Chip. Usually, the final girl is conventionally attractive, and the killer is a man. In this movie, the killer is a conventionally attractive girl, and the final girl is the unassuming nerd. The only thing that stays the same throughout these roles is that the final girl is the traditional “underdog,” and the killer is the “top dog.” A satisfying go-to cliche in most films is the unassuming underdog rising to the top at the end. Final girls are a thinly veiled representation of this cliche.  

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A movie that doesn’t necessarily have a final girl but is still notable with horror and female empowerment is “Carrie”. Carrie White is a senior in high school, a pariah, with an extremely strict religious mother. Carrie’s life changes when she gets her first period, and with it comes telekinetic powers. They start out small but eventually explode when she’s voted prom queen and has pig’s blood dumped all over her on the stage as she accepts the crown. She goes into shock, which quickly transforms into wrath, as she burns down the gymnasium with the entire senior class inside. After a shell-shocked walk home, in which she also kills her bullies by flipping their car, she ends up sinking her house into the ground with her and her mother in it—killing them both in a fit of telekinetic rage in the end. The peak female revenge movie. Not a final girl but fits into the discussion. This movie does a great job of expressing female empowerment seeing as how her powers come with her first period—An ultimate symbol of womanhood. Blood plays a large role in the film, whether it be menstrual or that of a pig. In other movies, when a woman is covered in blood, it ends up being in a sexy way. It just happens to spatter in all the right places—for the male gaze, of course. In Carrie, blood has more depth and symbolism than just being worn as an accessory, it directly represents feminine strength. 

 

In today’s movies, final girls just don’t have the same charm. It’s still gratifying to see a woman survive in the end, but it's not the same as watching a vintage scary movie. That’s because final girls served their purpose; they allowed women that path to taking the stage on their own without a man by their side. There are many current cliches that don’t require a man such as the manic pixie dream girl, the career woman, the female warrior and the list goes on. These roles also don’t obey any specific “laws” as dramatic as those of final girls. There’s no longer the need for the sense of purity and innocence that slasher films tried to sustain. Today, women are free to follow whatever path they choose—whether it be in film or in life.