Final girl

The final girl is a horror film trope that specifically refers to the last person (usually a woman) alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The concept has been used in dozens of films, including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Alien, Friday the 13th, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Clover suggests that in these films, the viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.

The final girl is typically sexually unavailable or virginal, avoiding the vices of the victims (sex, narcotic usage, etc). She sometimes has an androgynous name (e.g. Teddy, Billie, Georgie, Sidney) and occasionally has a shared history with the killer. The final girl is the "investigating consciousness" of the film, moving the narrative forward and as such, she exhibits intelligence, curiosity, and vigilance.

One of the basic premises of Clover’s theory is that audience identification is unstable and fluid across gender lines, particularly in the case of the slasher film. During the final girl’s confrontation with the killer, Clover Argues, she becomes masculinized through phallic appropriation by taking up a weapon, such as a knife or chainsaw, against the killer. Conversely, Clover points out that the villain of slasher films is often a male whose masculinity, and sexuality more generally, are in crisis. One example would be Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Clover points to this gender fluidity as demonstrating the impact of feminism in popular culture.

The phenomenon of the male audience having to identify with a young female character in an ostensibly male-oriented genre, usually associated with sadistic voyeurism, raises interesting questions about the nature of slasher films and their relationship with feminism. Clover argues that for a film to be successful, although the Final Girl is masculinized, it is necessary that this surviving character is female, because she must experience abject terror, and viewers would reject a film that showed abject terror on the part of a male.

The final girls that have been featured in horror films, together with details of the actors who played them. They are listed by last name of character they played. For example, Jamie Lee Curtis' role as Laurie Strode in Halloween would be under S.

A

• Alice (Milla Jovovich) from Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse
• Alexandra Amberson (Tammy Lauren) from Wishmaster

B

• Ruby Baker (Leelee Sobieski) from The Glass House
• Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney) from The Craft
• Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) from Ghosts of Mars
• Nell Barrows (Angela Bettis) from Toolbox Murders
• Jessica Bradford (Olivia Hussey) from Black Christmas
• Vantia "Stretch" Brock (Caroline Williams) from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
• Jessie Burlingame (Eliza Dushku) from Wrong Turn
• Lisa Burnley (Tara Spencer-Nairn) from Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfiled
• Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane) from Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

C

• Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) from Scary Movie and sequels
• Lori Campbell (Monica Keena) from Freddy vs. Jason
• Rachel Carruthers (Ellie Cornell) from Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
• Brenda Carter (Emilie de Ravin) from The Hills Have Eyes
• Molly Cartwell (Michelle Williams) from Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
• Vera Claythorne (numerous actresses) from And Then There Were None film adaptations
• Chloe (Katie Stuart) from Tamara
• Christine (Christina Vidal) from See No Evil
• Kimberly Corman (A.J. Cook) from Final Destination 2
• Diana Collins (A.J. Cook) from Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell
• 'Sarah Connor from The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day
• Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) from Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and Hellraiser: Hellseeker
• Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) From Final Destination 3

D

• Karen Davis (Sarah Michelle Gellar) from The Grudge
• Kate Davies (Marley Shelton) from Valentine

E

• Erin (Jessica Biel) from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake

F

• Ginny Field (Amy Steel) from Friday the 13th Part 2
• Brigitte Fitzgerald (Emily Perkins) from Ginger Snaps
• Kate Fuller (Juliette Lewis) from From Dusk Till Dawn

G

• Megan Garris (Jennifer Cooke) from Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (Although Tommy Jarvis, the main nemesis of the killer, also survived to the end)
• Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) from Gothika

H

• Kim Hammond (Jamie Lee Curtis) from Prom Night
• Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) from Friday the 13th
• Minxie Hayes (Nicki Lynn Aycox) from Jeepers Creepers 2
• Chris Higgins (Dana Kimmell) from Friday the 13th Part 3

J

• Jade (Katherine Heigl) from Bride of Chucky
• Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) from I Know What You Did Last Summer series
• Trish Jarvis (Kimberly Beck) from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
• Trish Jenners (Gina Philips) from Jeepers Creepers
• Jenny (Renée Zellweger) from Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
• Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox) from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
• Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) from When a Stranger Calls
• Carly Jones (Elisha Cuthbert) from House of Wax
• Judy (Cathy Podewell) from Night of the Demons

K

• Kate (Franka Potente) from Creep
• Molly Keller (A. J. Cook) from Ripper
• Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) from The Ring and The Ring Two
• Jessica Kimble (Kari Keegan) from Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
• Kira (Samantha Noble) from See No Evil

L

• Heather Langenkamp (playing herself) from Wes Craven's New Nightmare
• Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) from Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers & Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
• Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) from Candyman

M

• Jody Marken (Brittany Murphy) from Cherry Falls
• Marti (Linda Blair) from Hell Night
• Alana Maxwell (Jamie Lee Curtis) from Terror Train
• Amy Mayfield (Jennifer Morrison) from Urban Legends: Final Cut
• Michelle (Kate Hodge) from Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
• Michelle (Leah Ayres) from The Burning
• Morgana (Holly Fields) from Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies
• Sara Moyer (Bianca Kajlich) from Halloween: Resurrection
• Ellie Myers (Christina Ricci) from Cursed

N

Nancy( Danielle Harris) Left For Dead

P

• Pam (Melanie Kinnaman) from Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
• Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
• Meg Penny (Shawnee Smith) from The Blob
• Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) from Scream trilogy
• Keli Pressly (Katie Cassidy) from Black Christmas (2006)

R

• Anne Ramstead (Patch MacKenzie) from Graduation Day
• Tory Reding (Jennifer Aniston) from Leprechaun
• Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) from Alien and sequels
• Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) from Final Destination
• Rowan (Lexa Doig) from Jason X

S

• Sarah (Lori Hallier) from My Bloody Valentine
• Selena (Naomie Harris) from 28 Days Later
• Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln) from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
• Natalie Simon (Alicia Witt) from Urban Legend
• Sue Snell (Amy Irving) from Carrie
• Kara Strode (Marianne Hagan) from Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
• Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) from Halloween, Halloween II and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
• Joey Summerskill (Terry Farrell) from Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth

T

• Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci) from Sleepy Hollow
• Nancy Thompson (character)|Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) from A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare
• Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace-Stone) from Cujo

V

• Venna (Leelee Sobieski) from Joy Ride
• Christina Valentine from Bodmin Moor (although this is a book and not a movie)

W

• Virginia Wainwright (Melissa Sue Anderson) from Happy Birthday To Me
• Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau) from The Fog
• Lisa Weber (Kim Myers) from A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
• Rennie Wickham (Jensen Daggett) from Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
• Sara Wolfe (Ali Larter) from House on Haunted Hill

• Reese Wilson (Loretta Devine) from Urban Legend (1998 film)

Z

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