The world of horror movies is full of tropes that make it easy to identify the genre — from jump scares to abandoned houses to mysteriously rolling balls, with the 'final girl' being amongst the most popular ones out there. However, instead of being the usual helpless and terrified victims, the strong female leads in these films defy the stereotype, take their fates into their own hands, and make the villains sorry they ever came after them.
The term' final girl' was coined by Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film and originally referred to the sole survivor (ideally, blonde, petite, and attractive) of a bloody massacre, who manages to defeat or at least escape the villain by a stroke of luck, a timely help of an authority figure like a police officer (preferably, strong and male), or her quick thinking. The trope, most popular with the '70s and '80s slashers but also occasionally appearing in the modern horror, is usually linked to a rowdy group of friends going away to a remote location and indulging in a 'frowned upon' behavior, while the future final girl — usually presented as shy, innocent, and quietly smart — refuses to join in and, therefore, is not caught unawares by the killer.
The movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream are all perfect examples that featured final girls. While Cabin in the Woods, for instance, recognizes this and other horror tropes and puts an unexpected spin on them, getting close to breaking the fourth wall. Another example of the trope being turned on its head is Buffy Summers in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, who in appearance — a blonde, petite cheerleader — fits the final girl's description perfectly but doesn't follow the 'innocent' template and still gets to kill the monsters, on a regular basis. In the case of these movies, the strong female leads also present a striking contrast to the fragile final girls and turn the tables on the villain, showing that women don't need a savior but can and will stand up for themselves.
Maddie Young in Hush (2016)
Directed by the Netflix horror king Mike Flanagan and starring Kate Siegal, Hush features a deaf writer who travels to a secluded location — fulfilling another horror trope — to get some work done and gets stalked and then attacked by a masked killer who is trying to break into her house. Interestingly enough, the movie introduces a potential male savior, embodied by Maddie's friend's husband, but he gets killed, leaving the heroine to fend for herself.
Adding an extra layer of horror, Maddie can't call the police, not only due to the typically cut phone lines but also her inability to speak, can't make a run for it as at some point she's hurt and is likely to be caught or bleed to death, and is left with only one possible solution if she wants to survive — kill her assailant. During the movie, Maddie transforms from a scared victim into a bold hunter, taunting the killer and using her surroundings, ingenuity, and plain fierceness to defeat him.
Grace in Ready or Not (2019)
This horror-comedy, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, follows the story of Grace (Samara Weaving), who, on her wedding day, is forced to comply with her husband's family tradition and play a game with her new in-laws. Having pulled a fateful 'Hide and Seek' card, she is suddenly turned into prey and hunted by her family, who, as it happens, have made a deadly deal to retain their fortune.
While, like many final girls, Grace initially tries to flee her assailants, she then turns the tables on them and ends up spectacularly burning the house and escaping her captors, leaving them and her deceiving husband to reap the consequences of not fulfilling their end of the demonic bargain.
Tree Gelbman in Happy Death Day & Happy Death Day 2U (2017/2019)
Happy Death Day, directed by Christopher Landon and produced by Blumhouse Productions, follows Theresa "Tree" Gelbman (Jessica Rothe), who is locked in a Groundhog Day or Russian Doll type loop where she's killed by a masked college mascot on her birthday, over and over again. Instead of resigning herself to her fate, Tree goes on to deduce her killer's identity, displaying significant character development throughout the movie.
What's more, in the sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, Tree, who is transported to an alternate dimension, where her repeated birthday death plays out all over again, but the crucial details of her life differ, Tree becomes even stronger, going after her killer from the start, facing her fears, and making hard decisions.
Amelia Vakan in The Babadook (2014)
In this Australian psychological horror and a critically-acclaimed directorial debut of Jennifer Kent, Amelia Vakan (Essie Davis) is a drained, widowed mother to a hyperactive and difficult six-year-old Sam, who becomes haunted by a malevolent spirit of The Babadook. While Amelia first believes the monster to be a figment of Sam's imagination and his way to cope with his father's tragic death, she soon realizes that threat is real and has to face her own demons and pain to save her family.
Even on the verge of a mental breakdown, drowned in despair and resentment, and eventually possessed by the spirit, Amelia manages to break free and find an unlikely solution to their dire situation, showing incredible resilience and ingenuity.
Laurie Strode in Halloween (2018)
Starting as an ultimate final girl In the original 1978 installment of the ever-growing Halloween franchise with a seemingly unkillable Michael Myers, Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie presents a whole new character in 2018 Halloween that effectively retcons all previous sequels. In it, Laurie, who spent the last 40 years preparing for Myers' inevitable return, might have a strained relationship with her daughter and granddaughter but has most certainly given them skills needed to survive a potential serial killer attack.
When Myers does eventually escape his imprisonment and comes after Laurie, she's ready and, instead of being a terrified victim she was in 1978, lures him into a trap and burns the house down with the killer inside it. Even though the masked villain still returned in the next sequel, Halloween Kills, and will undoubtedly feature in Halloween Ends scheduled for 2022, Laurie remains a badass who will make him wish he stayed dead.