One of the most famous tropes in horror movies is the concept of the “last girl”. Especially in slasher movies is most common, the last girl is the character who survives the killer and comes out alive. Most of the time, she is the only survivor and is the one who puts an end to all the forces of evil that she and everyone she had encountered with. She walks away battered and traumatized, but with her life intact. She is more often than not smart, independent and determined. Slasher movies have gifted audiences with some of the most iconic final girls of all time like Laurie Strode of the Halloween franchise and Sidney Prescott of the scream franchise. These characters have paved the way for the heroes of every horror movie to follow them.
While the last girl is most common in slasher movies, they are also present in other horror movie subcategories. Ellen Ripley of the Alien franchise is the only one left standing after creatures from outer space slaughter everyone on her ship. Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal of Ellen spawned one of the most successful sci-fi/horror franchises in history, even earning her an Oscar nomination. There’s also Suzy from Dario Argento’s Suspiriawho doesn’t escape a serial killer, but instead flees her dance school when it goes up in flames, killing the coven of witches trapped inside.
The last girl plays an important role in not only defeating the evil she faces, but also in continuing a horror franchise. Some of the most influential horror movies wouldn’t be nearly as revered if it weren’t for the intelligent hero at the end. Scream wouldn’t be the beloved series it is without Sidney Prescott constantly outsmarting Ghostface. If it weren’t for Sidney, Laurie, and so on, we wouldn’t have introduced the badass final girls to us in recent years. Horror as a genre has evolved and changed over the years, and horror fans can consume many different forms of the genre and the characters they create. Here are the most badass latest girls from modern horror movies:
9 Jay Height – It Follows (2014)
After an innocent sexual encounter, Jay (Maika Monroe) is plagued by strange visions and the inescapable feeling that something or someone is watching her every move. Burdened with this intense sense of dread, Jay and her friends must find a way to avoid the horrors that seem to haunt her.
It follows don’t introduce the public to a masked killer loosely seeking revenge. Instead, we are introduced to the sense that there is a sinister presence at play that is targeting a young woman because she does something that most young people do. This presence threatens to follow her until she is ready to pass it on to someone else. Jay refuses to give in and tries to fight it off to the end.
8 Maddie – Silence (2016)
One of the most intriguing horror films to debut this century, Quiet follows a deaf and mute writer named Maddie (Kate Siegel) who has moved to a secluded house in the woods to live in solitude and focus on her career. She rarely gets a visit from anyone except her neighbor Sarah. She is almost always alone, until she receives a text message with a picture of herself in her own house and finds a masked man waiting for her outside her patio door.
The use of sound in this movie is incredible because it forces you to experience situations the way Maddie would. It is the quiet moments that cause the viewer the most discomfort. Despite being unable to hear or speak, Maddie is undeterred by her limitations and instead uses them to her advantage. Pushing past her fear, she fights like hell to keep this intruder away from her and her property.
7 Dani Ardor – Midsommar (2019)
A24 has produced some of the most incredible, thought-provoking films of the last decade. Most notably, their horror movies are always innovative and unlike any other horror movies in previous years. In Ari Asters midsommar, a grad-school couple whose relationship is on the verge of falling apart, visits a rural Swedish town to observe their midsummer festival in a place of perpetual sunlight. At first it’s an idyllic getaway for the grieving Dani (Florence Pugh), who lost her family in a tragic accident, but it slowly evolves into a bizarre, violent trip at the hands of a pagan cult.
The relationship between Dani and her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) is doomed from the start. She is racked with trauma and guilt after her parents and her sister are killed in an apparent suicide attempt by her sister. Her boyfriend complains to his friends that she has changed and doesn’t want to do anything fun anymore, so he invites her for a trip to Sweden. Even during the journey, he is annoyed by her grief and emotionally abuses her. When it begins to become clear that something is wrong with the villagers, their group is singled out one by one. They are forced to participate in deranged activities, forcing Dani to fight for her life. What makes her an interesting last girl is that she is not only a survivor of what she went through in that village, but also a survivor of grief, depression and manipulation.
6 Noa – Verse (2022)
Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) meets handsome and seductive Steve (Sebastian Stan) in the aisle of a grocery store. Given her frustration with the insecurity of dating apps, she gives him her number. After the first date, Noa is enraptured by him and decides to accept his invitation to a romantic getaway at his vacation home, blissfully unaware of his unusual appetite.
Fresh is a modern day horror comedy, as it’s not just about the cannibalistic killer, but it also serves as a commentary on the horrors of online dating, particularly for women. Noa wants to have a normal, authentic dating life instead of just meeting people on an app. Steve is handsome, tall, charismatic and seems to fit her perfectly. He is, until he drugs her and takes a chunk out of her behind to use up part of a meal. Instead of giving in to his erratic hobby and letting herself languish in his basement with the other girls he kidnapped, she fights back in a way Steve doesn’t expect.
5 Emerald Haywood – No (2022)
Jordan Peele’s third horror entry is perhaps his most bizarre. After random objects fall from the sky resulting in the death of their father, brother and sister OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer) investigate a terrifying, unidentified flying object that is the cause of multiple disappearances in the area . They enlist the help of tech salesman Angel Torres and documentary filmmaker Antlers Holst to capture video evidence of the strange flying creature.
nois a refreshing change of pace for the horror genre where it doesn’t lean too heavily on the horror aspects or on the sci-fi aspects, but blends them together seamlessly and can even add humor that doesn’t feel out of place. In many horror films, the comic relief or non-white characters are usually killed off first, and the last girls are almost always white. Emerald Haywood breaks that mold by being a humorous black woman who not only gets out alive, but becomes the one to take the creature down.
4 Boom Gelbman – Happy Death Day (2017)
Student Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) must relive the day of her death over and over until she finds out who her killer is. Happy death day. Tree was a carefree person before she was in college, but after her mother lost her battle with cancer, Tree became bitter. Although she is popular and part of a sorority, she struggles with everyday life in college. When her life a Groundhog Daylike time loop, she insists on finding out who her killer is and stop them taking her life from her.
Tree doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her or who she should ask for help to avoid her death. Even in moments of extreme frustration, when it seems like she’s destined to relive her death forever, she only grows angrier, fueling her resolve. She will do whatever she needs to stop her deadly loop.
3 Mia – Evil Death (2013)
Remakes have become commonplace in Hollywood and often fall short of the original. That’s not the case for Evil deaththe modern remake of Sam Raimi’s B-movie classic, The evil death. This remake takes Raimi’s original concept, but changes all the characters, including the only survivor, who is one last girl this time.
Five twenty-somethings discover the ancient Book of the Dead while staying in an old cabin in the middle of the woods and unwittingly summon the sleeping demons that live within the walls of the cabin. The demons pick up the friends one by one and possess them until only Mia (Jane Levy) remains. Mia transforms from possessed by the menacing entities to their only enemy. Even when she realizes that all her friends around her are dead, and that it was her body that caused some of the deaths, she fights her way out of that horrible hut and takes on the Deadites, whom she ends up killing. down in a bloody battle. rainfall.
2 Tess – Barbarian (2022)
In town for a job interview, Tess (Georgina Campbell), against her better judgement, decides to stay the night at the Airbnb she’s booked, despite already having a guest. She soon realizes that there is much more to that house to fear than the stranger who resides there.
Barbarian is a breath of fresh air in the horror genre. It has revived the genre that not many movies have. It brings both style and substance to the screen and is completely unexpected. Whatever you think this movie is actually about or what you think while watching the movie, you are most likely wrong. Without giving too much away, Tess has the option to get out, but decides not to. What follows is absolute chaos as she literally fights her way to survive.
1 Maxine Mink – X (2022)
Clearly, 2022 was an incredible year for horror. Ti West Xand the precursor Pearlhave horror fans absolutely hooked and eagerly awaiting the latest installment, MaXXXine. In 1979, a young group of adult filmmakers rent an elderly couple’s barn in rural Texas to use as a location for their latest film, unbeknownst to their hosts. When the couple catches them in the act, the group fights for their lives on the huge estate.
Ti West pays homage to classic slashers of the era and continues to bring original thoughts and ideas to this new story. All of Maxine’s friends are put off by the older couple, but Maxine notices firsthand that the couple are not at all what they seem, especially the woman. The pair are not disgusted with what the group is doing, but rather jealous that they are not a part of it. Maxine is the only survivor of her peers and takes down the psychotic couple in an epic final showdown.