There is a lot to be said for the 'Final Girl', they are heroic, inspirational, kick-ass and respected. They go through the worst that human nature can throw at them. Often victims of circumstance and wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time, they prevail, beat the bad guy and come out with some minor injuries and whole new look on life. The 'Final Girl' is one of my favourite type of characters in any genre of film, I love to see the good guy win, or in this case the good gal.
A writer call Carol J. Clover first coined the term 'Final Girl' in her 1992 book 'Men, Women, and Chainsaws : Gender in the Modern Horror Film'. She suggests that the viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film. What I get from this is that people go into horror films to see death, we want to see the most brutal murder and be shocked by the amazing way they are done, but after a few deaths we want the bad guy to get what is coming for him. We want the woman to kick the crap out of him basically. The many theories that she has do ring true, the final girl is rarely seen in a sexual way (often a virgin), the final girl can also become masculinized and no longer the stereotypical damsel in distress anymore and also they seem to have quite a gender neutral name like Sidney or Billie.
The whole theory really interests me. The feminist portion of my brain loves it. The woman is no longer a victim, they should be feared and never crossed. They shouldn't be treated any different to any man in any given situation. Horror films can often be seen as misogynistic, the sexually adventurous women, the drug taking women and the sexy women will die, often punished in a way that reflects their vices. However in the 80's it took a turn, yes we still have these characters been punished but so are the male equivalent. Also now it is rare for a male character to last to the end, the final girl is the only one standing covered in blood, weapon in hand and no one by her side. People can argue till they are blue in the face that the film industry is sexist but horror has taken a huge leap in recent decades - no longer is a knight on a white horse required.
So in the style of this blog I have of course created a list of my favourite final girls. I haven't picked based on anything more than that I enjoyed their performances and stories. There is no equation to which women made the list - purely my favourites.
5. Erin Harson (Sharni Vinson) in You're Next.
This one slasher horror you need to see. In recent years the slasher horror genre is complicating things, they think we need a complex storyline and a big reason why, but we don't. For fans of the genre we want to see a well played out story with a lot of effective effects. This film did just that, it has a simple storyline of two brothers who want to kill their entire family for the inheritance. One mistake one of the brothers made was bringing his girlfriend, his girlfriend who was raised on an Australian survivalist compound. She sets up traps and manages to kill everybody who wants to kill her - even one point using a blender. Erin is a great, realistic character who is genius when it comes to looking out for number one.
4. Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) in I Know What You Did Last Summer and I Still Know What You Did Las Summer
Okay it could be argued that she got what was coming to her, at the end of the day she was part of a group of teenagers that knocked over a man and then threw his body in to the water. The film could have been a very moral story of 4 teenagers who made a mistake and owned up to it, but how boring would that have been. So one year after the incident they all start getting hunted by the guy they knocked over (he didn't die dun dun dunnn). Julie wants nothing more than to make it right, however the killer doesn't care. She witnesses everyone involved die plus some people who got in the way. Mad props go out to her as she managed to survive in a world that Buffy couldn't.
3. Marybeth (Tamara Feldman and Danielle Harris) in Hatchet, Hatchet II and Hatchet III
These are some great 80's throwback monster/psycho killer movies. Basically a boy (Victor Crowley) with horrible disfigurements is killed, however his ghost lives on. Although the word 'ghost' doesn't really fit, he is a physical being that can be hurt, dismembered and shot. Marybeth is the daughter of the man who is responsible for the boy's death. Her father is killed by a now grown up Victor years later and Marybeth feels that the best thing to do is to go find her father's body. She comes face to face with Victor on many occasions. She puts up one hell of a fight, eventually walking away with his scalp in her hand but of course that wasn't the end. However she did end the curse in the 3rd one so all is good in the world again. She is definitely an over looked character, she is brilliant, ballsy and force to be reckoned with.
2. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in The Halloween Franchise
Arguably the original final girl and scream queen. She set the standard. Her brother is the infamous child killer, he butchered his entire family before been put in an insane asylum. She however wasn't killed and was free to live her life - or so she thought. Her brother of course escapes the asylum to finish the job. She sees all the her friends aswell as innocent bystanders get killed. She manages to escape once again after a brother/sister fight to rival anything you see on a reality TV show. Of course this been the horror genre, no one evil really dies (a sequel is always required). She meets him again on multiple occasions. What I wasn't happy about with this character is her ultimate demise. She throws her self off the roof of an asylum, no longer able to cope with her life. I would have loved to of seen some epic battle - but that might just be me.
1. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) in the Scream Franchise
For me she is the ultimate character in any horror film I have ever seen. She is the quintessential victim, she literally didn't do anything, yet her boyfriend, her boyfriend's friend, her boyfriend's mother, a classmate, her half brother, her cousin and her cousin's friend all feel she deserves to die. Except not today - today they all die. You don't up against Sidney and expect to walk away. This girl is a fighter. This girl will power walk away from all of these situations with her head held high. She has had to witness everyone she is close to be murdered or at the very least stabbed. And it was all because of her mother's past. Sidney I tip my feathered hat to you and I hope to see you again in Scream 5.
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