Watching the classics this weekend, like Halloween, Friday the 13^th, The Burning, and A Nightmare on Elm Street got me thinking – who is the greatest slasher-horror heroine? Find out if you agree…

Horror Heroines and ‘Final Girls’

At this most wonderful time of year, I associate the 31^st October with watching the classic 1970s and ‘80s slasher films. This is mainly due to the influence of John Carpenter’s Halloween(1978) – the filmmaker that I hold entirely responsible for this and as the architect for my love of horror films in general. As a kid, I couldn’t wait to see Halloween and I finally got the chance to when I was 12/13-years old. I was eventually allowed to buy it on VHS to watch religiously. However, it wasn’t until the John Carpenter season that aired on BBC2 in 1999, introduced by Mark Kermode with a series of interviews, I got to see the movie in a clearer light. Taking my fandom further, I chose a horror genre module at university and the idea of the ‘Final Girl’ came up. Of course, I’d heard of the notion before, but to properly analyse the representation in terms of gender and sexuality – this put the character into perspective.

Despite being a maligned genre, horror films have notably given us an outstanding array of heroines and ‘Final Girls’ on screen. Perhaps the most iconic role of the heroine goes to Sigourney Weaver as Lt. Ellen Ripley in the interstellar Alien saga (1979-1997), in which only she has the moxie to defeat the ‘xenomorph’ – alive, posthumously, or as a clone 2000 years later. Weaver is my personal favourite, followed by Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor; a character that significantly raised her game from being the victim in need of protection in The Terminator (1984) to the muscular warrior in the sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991). Lest we forget, Sarah Connor claims the title as the mother of the saviour of the human race. Naturally, she is elevated to the upper echelon of sci-fi horror heroines.

Back to the present and still going strong is Milla Jovovich as Alice in not one, two, or three – but six Resident Evil films, which broke out from the PlayStation realm to spread to cinemas in 2002. I also feel that Radha Mitchell as Carolyn Fry in Pitch Black (2000) is undervalued and shouldn’t be overlooked. Never have I been so distressed to witness a tenacious heroine die moments before the climax, similar to Saffron Burrows in the underwater madness of Deep Blue Sea (1999). In my opinion, these are prime examples of heroines but as for the ‘Final Girl’ in slasher films in particular – which ones are the best?

Before I tell you my number one choice, I’m going to challenge the famed ‘Final Girl’ we all think is ‘The One’. But hear me out. Who is the character that immediately comes to mind when you are asked the question: “Who is the ultimate ‘Final Girl’?” Answer: Laurie Strode. To this, I disagree. Wait – don’t judge me yet! My reason is that, yes, Laurie Strode is undeniably a ‘Scream Queen’ by rights and the last girl standing in a literal sense… A literal sense. But in Halloween and Halloween 2 (1981), Laurie Strode is far too passive to be the ultimate ‘Final Girl’.

Why Laurie Strode is NOT the Ultimate ‘Final Girl’

Let me reiterate – I love you John Carpenter and I love Halloween. To mimic the cheerleading chant: “We’re from Haddonfield, couldn’t be prouder! Can’t hear us now, we’ll yell a little louder!” I am a cheerleader for Halloween and I will yell it loud and even louder. But, to me, the connotations of a ‘Final Girl’ embodies strength, power, and garners victory. A ‘Final Girl’ needs to confront the maniac, stop him, and be the champion of the story. In Halloween, Laurie Strode is saved rather than the saviour.

Laurie has the acumen to think on her feet most of the time. We know she is smart when we meet her because she can articulate an answer surmising A.E. Samuels’ prose and she has all of the textbooks. Later on, literary knowledge becomes practical knowledge as she brandishes a knitting needle as a makeshift weapon, cunningly sets a faux escape scene before hiding in the closet, and creates a second weapon by unraveling a clothes hanger – ingenious! However, her ingenuity is matched by unbridled carelessness. The main examples begin when Laurie is trying to escape the Wallace house across the road. At the last possible minute, she realises she must break the glass to free the door from that dastardly rake Michael has cunningly rigged to trap her. It finally occurs to her after whimpering on the floor the moment Michael Myers is practically upon her. I can accept this clouded judgment could happen under duress, but discarding weapons is unforgivable. This doesn’t happen once – it happens twice:

First strike: as soon as Laurie has stabbed Michael in the neck with her knitting needle, she superficially checks to see if he’s dead…then leaves both his butcher’s knife and her needle by his body. Strike Two: after Laurie has wowed us with her instincts to fashion her second defensive device, she stabs Michael with the hanger, followed by his own knife…then wanders off and sits a metre or two away from him…with her back to him. Can you gauge the bafflement from my overuse of ellipses?

Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis is the saviour of Halloween. Remember this: Michael is throttling Laurie and he stops when she removes his mask to expose his face. No eye-gauging, ear-hammering, or groin-kicking, no. Nevertheless, the mask thing worked. As he is about to strike back, Dr. Loomis aims and fires a shot at Michael’s head. Six bullets in total are emptied into ‘The Shape’ as he hurtles off the balcony and disappears mysteriously into the night. Cut to Halloween 2, we follow Laurie wandering the halls of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital in a morphine-induced state. Never have I been more afraid of hospitals at night-time than when watching Halloween 2. Skip to the end: Dr. Loomis turns up to save the day by sacrificing his own life to blow up Michael, only after he ushers Laurie to safety. Again, this is another exhibit to prove Laurie is a literal ‘Final Girl’. Another literal ‘Final Girl’ of the same magnitude is Marilyn Burns as Sally in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The relentless shrieking around the most horrific dinner table scene imaginable was unbearably brilliant. When Sally composes herself (kind of), she fights (or pushes) back against the blood-sucking, reanimated Grandfather and jumps out of the nearest window in flight. At the end, we see her laughing maniacally in the back of a truck. Once again, this is another literal ‘Final Girl’ but nowhere near a warrior.

In the Halloween franchise, it isn’t until Laurie Strode’s third outing in Steve Miner’s anniversary sequel, Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998), that she truly becomes the heroic ‘Final Girl’ we have been waiting to applaud. This is what makes Halloween H20 a stand-out sequel that was worth making to honour the series. In this instance, Laurie has evolved into “Keri Tate”; a functioning alcoholic and the head mistress of the private California boarding school, Hillcrest. She may be in hiding and traumatised by her past, but Laurie faces her demons with a drawer of knives, a pistol, a flag-pole, and an axe when Michael tracks her down. With this arsenal at her disposal, Laurie is reborn. Is it her alter-ego Keri that takes the credit for her extreme personality change? Either way, respect the fact Laurie/Keri checks bodies to make sure they are corpses. The ideal way – to steal a mortuary van with the body bag and decapitate the mentalist brother. After this epic chapter came Halloween: Resurrection (2002). Why? The film acutely annihilates Laurie’s prestige. She came so close but one too many sequels scuppered her chances.

Now, as Dean Munsch in the slasher satire TV series Scream Queens (2015- ), Jamie Lee Curtis has combated multiple Red Devils and lived to continue the tale of her controversial character. Munsch is Laurie’s antithesis that we can root for instead.

One last time – I love you John Carpenter. It’s important that you know this. Likewise, Jamie Lee – it’s important that you know this too.

The Luck of Friday the 13^th

The clear-cut ‘Final Girls’ of the first Friday the 13^th movies are severely underrated. They do not get anywhere near the same level of recognition as Laurie Strode has received. There are parallels with Adrienne King as Alice in Friday the 13^th (1980), who is almost as desexualised as Laurie in Halloween. During the film, Alice is barely seen in any state of undress; only briefly when she is bathing by the lake with the other camp counselors. Even when she is one of three people playing ‘Strip Monopoly’. When Alice is about to remove a garment of clothing to signify her loss, the raging storm blows the cabin door open. As if by some divine intervention, the game comes to an end and the other players that had no qualms getting semi-naked meet their fate.

From the outset, Alice proves to be handy and proficient at fixing up the campsite; hammering, nailing, and spurning the advances of the scantily clad owner, Steve Christy. Could it have been an aversion to his jean short cut-offs and neckerchief ensemble? This may have been the case, as it seemed she was smitten with Bill in his dungarees all along.

When the young, happy-go-lucky troupe go missing, Alice is left as the ‘Final Girl’ and she proactively switches to survivalist mode. Alice utilises some rope lying around which she harnesses to a beam that holds the cabin door shut – nifty! By barricading herself inside, Alice demonstrates she is smart and resourceful. When Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) enters and shares her plot of bloody vengeance with Alice, our ‘Final Girl’ protects herself with a rifle, a saucepan, and eventually chops Mrs. Voorhees’ head off with a machete. Sadly, Alice’s heroism is doomed in the opening sequence of Friday the 13^th: Part 2 (1981), when she swaps the label of ‘Final Girl’ for ‘First Victim’. According to the trivia on Amazon Prime’s ‘X-Ray’, King only wanted a brief appearance in Part 2 because she was being stalked by a deranged fan in real-life. What a tragic blow to her credence! That trippy boat on the lake sequence had a damning ripple effect.

Nevertheless, I think Friday the 13^th deserves praise for producing a capable ‘Final Girl’ and a formidable female villain to boot. Add to this, a year after the original film there is another savvy heroine to replace Alice with – Amy Steel as Ginny in Friday the 13^th: Part 2. Ginny makes a point to understand the method behind the late Mrs. Voorhees’ madness, which echoes her psychology training mentioned by senior counselor and lover, Paul. This foreshadows her visceral face-off with Jason in his little forest hut. Ginny’s quick thinking prompts her to put on the cable-knit jumper that once belonged to Jason’s mother. Now, he keeps it as a morbid shrine, together with her mummified head. Ginny reprimands Jason like his crazed, yet loving mother would before burying the machete into his neck.

These counselors certainly have more than arts ‘n crafts ‘n canoeing up their sleeves. Unfortunately, this Friday the 13^th ‘Final Girl’ gets a confusing ending. The machete wound was just a nick and the disfigured Jason crashes through a window, pulling Ginny out in slow-motion. The subsequent scene shows Ginny being taken to the hospital in an ambulance the next day. She cries, “Where’s Paul?” Good question. Where is Paul? He was last seen cradling the dog that appeared at the door out-of-the-blue. Then there’s Ted. He’s still out there somewhere at the after-hours party, recommended to him by one of the locals in the bar. Was it a dream? At what point did Ginny fall asleep to have had this dream? Is there a reel missing, what? We don’t even get closure at the start of Friday the 13^th: Part III (1982) which carries directly on from its predecessor.

Overall, Ginny is a ‘Final Girl’. She penetrated Jason with his weapon and survived, Paul showed up to save her and she saved him back. The only downside is that Ginny was robbed of a closing victory scene.

The UFGC Contenders

Now, I’ve gotten that off my chest, check out my top three modern-day contenders for the ultimate ‘Final Girl’ crown for Slasher Queen:

Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott in Scream 1-4 (1996-2011)

Sidney Prescott is another ‘Final Girl’ that has blossomed. Sidney progressed from a troubled high school victim mourning the loss of her mother, to grow into the jaded Aunt that only Emma Roberts could be foolish enough to go up against.

Taking references from archetypal horror films, Wes Craven’s Scream satirised the genre and spotlighted the humorous scenarios that slasher films are often ridiculed for perpetuating. Common themes like teenagers being promiscuous, saying “I’ll be right back”, and failing to shoot someone in the head to make sure they are dead – these were all acknowledged and made a meta example of.

Reminiscent of Heather Langenkamp as Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), the homelier Sidney found her final act edge that would govern her for years to come. Every main Ghostface killer has been thwarted by Sidney’s surprising prowess. I say “surprising prowess”, as each killer thinks they can succeed where others have failed. When will they realise that Sidney Prescott is as infallible as Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees – only nicer.

Abigail Breslin as Veronica in Final Girl (2015)

Not so Little Miss Sunshine Abigail Breslin steps into the ring as Veronica in Final Girl, which blends the style of Film Noir into a Neo-Noir Slasher-Thriller. Director Tyler Shields offers a glossy image of a generic Middle America town in a 1950s time bubble, mimicking the David Lynch ambiance of Blue Velvet or Twin Peaks. The non-linear narrative gradually unveils Veronica’s Femme Fatale motives as she gets initiated into a Riot Club-esque game, headed by Alexander Ludwig in a fight to the death. Veronica takes on the sadistic band of tuxedo-dressed guys that get their kicks by taking girls out to the middle of the woods and hunting them down as part of a blood sport.

Her hair may illuminate the room with a golden glow but Veronica is a dark force to be reckoned with. She has been trained by the best and is not afraid to fight with her fists. Not only is she scrappy, Veronica adds hallucinogenic narcotics to fulfil her brand of justice. Why not torture those that relish in torturing others and mess with their minds? Veronica gets major ‘Final Girl’ points for out-witting her adversaries with mind over matter, plus some punching. Breslin is the star of Final Girl so the clue is in the title.

And the winner is…

I am now ready to announce who I think the award of ultimate ‘Final Girl’ should go to:

Sharni Vinson as Erin in You’re Next (2011)

Erin is breath-taking. Initially introduced as the sweet girlfriend, all Erin wants to do is to make a good impression on boyfriend Crispin’s (A.J. Bowen) family during a weekend gathering at their rural mansion home. In less than 24-hours of meeting them, she is kicking ass and caving in heads with mallets and whatnot.

Straight away, Erin is identified as an outsider and a newcomer; her foreign character traits are further exemplified with the actress’ native Australian accent for her unique role. What can Erin do? What can’t she do? Erin can knock together crippling booby-traps and take on two attackers simultaneously with a knife in her back, Old Boy-style – no problem.

What nobody knew before inviting Erin (and manipulating her into taking part in a murderous scheme) was that she grew up on a survivalist compound. Here, she mastered techniques under the tutelage of her paranoid father and applies them with confidence against an onslaught of lamb-masked assassins, armed with crossbows and Bowie knives. Just like the rest of the bemused characters, we can only gape in awe at how incredible Erin reacts with a knee-jerk expertise. She defends herself against one of the hitmen and single-handedly kills him while Felix and Zee look on. Unaware that they are implicit in the murders, Erin retorts: “Thanks for your help by the way”, to which Felix replies, “You seem to have a handle on it.” No wiser words have been spoken. Although Erin impales him later with a blender in his skull, so Felix underestimated Erin even after he saw her terrifying talents. Clearly, there was nothing going on in that head of his anyway.

The only drawback to Erin’s preparation against the siege is the manslaughter of an innocent cop. You’re Next closes on a policeman that dies from Erin’s front-door defence mechanism. Otherwise, she displays exemplary behaviour from a ‘Final Girl’ in Adam Wingard’s twistedly funny action-slasher-horror, featuring independent filmmakers Joe Swanberg, Ti West, and Larry Fessenden.

I realise that the UFGC does not include any classic contenders, pre-1996 but the ‘Final Girl’ has transgressed with the genre, gender roles in the media, and cinema in general. Naturally, the representations reflect our contemporary times and ‘Final Girls’ will continue to out-rank and supersede their awesomeness as they evolve from the roots of their founding fore-mothers, including Laurie Strode.

All I know is that in horror, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and Sharni Vinson as Erin are inimitable and practically invincible. If you’re exclaiming “Why Erin?” My response is a direct quote from the ultimate ‘Final Girl’ herself: “Why the f*ck not?”

Happy Halloween!