Now that we’ve hit the spookiest part of the year, lists devoted to the best horror films are lurking around every corner. But we wanted to do things a little differently too by rounding up the best female leads in the genre. And with so many classic examples probably popping into your head right now, like Ellen Ripley of the Alien series, or Laurie and Nancy from the Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, we felt like a refresh.
The list we came up with isn’t made up exactly of your traditional “final girl” types -- in fact, some of these women got laid without getting slayed. Given that all these films came out within the last 30 years, each of the protagonists demonstrates noticeably different qualities from her scream queen forebears. To make the list, we took into account things like strength, attitude, determination, whether she survives (especially in more than one film of a series), and the sheer wow-factor of her kill(s), if any. Read on if you’re looking for the perfect films to watch with that special, bada$$ lady in your life, or if you ARE that special bada$$ lady and like a little side of empowerment served with your blood ‘n guts.
Spoilers ahead!
Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) stands out right away due to her independence; When her father Larry (Andrew Robinson) and step-mother Julia (Clare Higgins) move into a large home with plenty of room for Kirsty, she gets her own apartment, which comes in handy when her new boyfriend Steve (Robert Hines) starts spending the night. Curiosity and instinct lead her to stumble upon the grisly, skinless body of Frank fairly early, and though he approaches her in a gag-worthy predatory way, she keeps her wits about her and manages to steal the Cenobites’ puzzle box. From fighting off Frank while he’s wearing her father’s skin to outsmarting the Cenobites by using their puzzle box against them, all while seldom losing her cool and throwing in a few decent one-liners (“Go to hell!” works best in this context), Kirsty does it all.
The remake version of Barbara (Patricia Tallman) was updated in a screenplay by George A. Romero specifically to address some of the more disappointing aspects of her character from the original (does anyone remember her doing anything besides fainting and panicking?). While fear of the reanimated dead consumes the other survivors hiding out in the farmhouse, Barbara points out the zombies are so slow-moving the group could just walk right past them. Incompetence and short-sightedness lead everyone else to die, while she calmly leaves to get help, casually capping zombies along the way. She even finds time for some wry social commentary, remarking that a group of local hillbillies aren’t that different from the zombies they’re toying with for fun.
Young, ambitious, and able to keep pace with the sinister, charismatic Hannibal Lecter, Clarice (Jodie Foster) is still in FBI training when she gets put on the Buffalo Bill case. She’s able to stay one step ahead of the rest of the FBI with her cunning, but also by being vulnerable about her personal history to Dr. Lecter and clever enough to solve his riddles. In a sense, she trades pieces of herself to a cannibal to save the senator’s daughter. Plus, the way she takes down Buffalo Bill from his own pitch-black lair? Epic.
Helen (Virginia Madsen), a married graduate student studying urban myths, is reckless enough to summon Candyman by speaking his name into a mirror almost as soon as she learns about his legend. In any other movie, this would have spelled certain death. She loses everything -- her best friend, her husband, her credibility, and even her life (deviating significantly from the other gals on this list) -- in pursuit of the truth about the Candyman story and the community he’s terrorizing. Helen saves the day AND takes the Candyman’s place as a vengeful, murdering ghost, which means she’s more of an expert now than if she’d finished her thesis.
Sidney’s (Neve Campbell) unique place among final girls is best summed up with her own words, when Ghostface calls and asks if she likes scary movies: “What's the point? They're all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. It's insulting.” Sidney is defiant, feisty, and breaks all the rules for surviving a horror film while still coming out on top. She has to best not just one, but two killers, including the boyfriend that killed her mother. It’s especially fulfilling to see her turn the tables on Stu and Billy, first tormenting them over the phone before donning the Ghostface costume and dispatching them both.
While Resident Evil as a film may not be as impressive as some of the others on this list (or as the videogame series which inspired it), its protagonist, Alice (Mila Jovovich), kicks way more butt than your average zombie-thriller leading lady. Security guard turned environmental activist turned amnesiac turned zombie shredder, Alice is made of pure bada$$ery. She bests a pack of zombie dogs and holds her own next to Rain, played by Michelle Rodriguez (who’s basically the female Rambo). And that's just for starters.
The nerdy, unassuming Needy (Amanda Seyfried) is introduced as a violent inmate, so we know she’s capable of more than mere worry. Immediately suspicious of the band Low Shoulder and their motives in targeting her best friend Jennifer (Megan Fox), her instincts and a good old-fashioned study session lead her to discover that Jennifer is a succubus who’s been literally devouring boys. Needy bravely takes matters into her own hands, defeating Jennifer and then going on a revenge-fueled murder spree. Though she loses everyone close to her, she gets to keep some of Jennifer’s powers, so we’ll call this one a win for Needy.
Of all the other women on this list, you’d be hard-pressed to find any that could defeat the masked assassins (as well as trouncing the whiny, privileged Davisons) with this much skill and determination. Erin (Sharni Vinson) is full of ingenuity, posing a serious threat to the trained killers even while wounded and weaponless (that throat-punch? The flashing camera ambush? The blender?!). In fact, she’s a little TOO good at killing, as even the police officer, who finally arrives to help, succumbs to one of Erin’s lethal booby traps.
Being a vampire and technically the monster at the center of this horror film should disqualify the nameless Girl (Sheila Vand), except that we only see her killing pretty horrible people who deserve to die. She demonstrates sensitivity and restraint when wooing Arash (Arash Marandi). Plus she has a killer taste in music and gets around on a skateboard. A far cry from the final girls of yore.
A deaf, mute writer fights off a sadistic murderer while trapped in her remote home. Right off the bat, the conversation with her doomed neighbor Sarah lets us know she’s intelligent, a writer who keeps her readers guessing. She can’t hear the killer or scream for help, but she still finds ways to wound, outsmart, and even taunt him; badly injured, and with a number of disadvantages, she dares the killer to enter her home by writing “Do it, coward” on the door in her own blood.
Selena from 28 Days Later (2002), Elizabeth Shaw from Prometheus (2012), Mia from Evil Dead (2013), Jay from It Follows (2014), and, even though it wasn’t a movie, Stranger Things (2016) just wouldn’t have been the same if Eleven had been anything other than a small, unassuming girl with immeasurable power.
Who are your favorite horror movie heroines? Let's discuss it in the comments!
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