Coined by film professor and theorist Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, the term "final girl" has become vital in the modern dissection of the horror genre, and more specifically its relation to women and the ways in which survival corresponds with character. However, not every final girl survives a horror movie — here are the ones who didn't.
Working off preconceived notions on what a survivor should look like, the final girl trope centers around the typically pure and chaste female who outlives those around her when faced with the threats of the genre. Thrown into treacherous torment, the final girl typically suffers but survives, however in some movies, not even her relentless perseverance can save her, and after all she's been through she still meets her tragic end. There are usually reasons behind the choice to kill the final girl, but that never makes it less impactful on an audience given how often they do survive their grim situation.
Revolving around an archetypal female character, the final girl trope has been studied and satirized in modern years, using slashers such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a basis for commentary on the deeply gendered roles seen in horror. With the films of the 70's and 80's serving as building blocks, meta horror movies like Wes Craven's Scream franchise and Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods use the final girl trope as a means for mockery, highlighting the outdated rules and requirements women must abide to survive. When examining those who did not emerge victorious it is all too easy to call to mind women in horror who fall victim to evil, however not all can be classified as final girls as the trope refers to a specific narrative and journey faced by the female protagonist — one that includes strength and suffering while those around her perish.
Helen Lyle, Candyman (1992)
Bernard Rose's 1992 slasher movie, Candyman, revolves around race, love, revenge, and legend, with determined grad student Helen Lyle at the center of its story. From the start, Helen is deemed intellectual, curious, and smart, pinning her to the final girl trope, which deepens as she suffers. Through her studies in folklore, Helen comes across the legend of The Candyman, a murderous entity who is summoned when one says his name five times, which she proceeds to do. Throughout the movie, Helen is attacked, her best friend is killed, and she is targeted by the vengeful, but tragic figure of Daniel Robitaille aka The Candyman.
As the movie continues, Helen is framed for murder, hospitalized, and scorned by cheating husband, however, her suffering does not guarantee her survival, as she dies saving a child from Candyman's flames. Now immortalized in legend like Candyman, Helen lives on in some sense, bringing terror with her when she reappears after her grieving husband repeats her name five times.
Sarah Carter, The Descent (2005)
Sarah Carter, the protagonist of Neil Marshall's female-driven horror/adventure movie, The Descent, embodies a more modern final girl, her setting not a straightforward slasher, but rather a complex and brutal portrait of pain and survival. Following five women who reunite a year after a tragedy (the untimely death of Sarah's husband and child), The Descent entails a cave spelunking outing gone wrong, during which Sarah and her friend Juno find themselves to be the last two standing. From her harrowing backstory alone Sarah becomes eligible for final girl status; the point is emphasized when her friends are picked off one by one in the depths of an uncharted cave.
Sympathy for Sarah is heightened when it is revealed Juno had an affair with her husband prior to his death, placing the latter in contrast to a sad and scorned Sarah. Hurt and her sanity slipping, Sarah abandons Juno in the caves, choosing to fight for herself instead. Having suffered great loss and betrayal, Sarah is set up as a final girl who, in a deeply emotional ending, does not find her way out of either her past or present hell.
Jenny Greengrass, Eden Lake (2008)
While James Watkins's 2008 horror movie, Eden Lake, only focuses on two victims, as opposed to the slew of friends a final girl typically must outlive, the tense British thriller puts its female protagonist, Jenny Greengrass (Kelly Reilly) through hell. Unfortunately, she does not escape it. Playing on modern fears surrounding delinquent teens and young gangs in small town England, tourist couple Jenny and Steve (Michael Fassbender) fall victim to an especially brutal bunch of locals.
Highlighting Jenny's good nature it is noted that she is a nursery school teacher, placing her in a pure light before wreaking havoc on her and Steve. Forced to watch the man she loves as he is tortured and eventually killed, a heartbroken Jenny makes every sensible move to survive her attackers, but in a bleak and heavy ending, finds herself unable to escape Eden Lake.
Christine Brown, Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Evil Dead director Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell features a sweet, but timid bank teller who is forced to make a tough decision at work, denying an old woman's loan and in turn bringing forth a catastrophic curse that threatens herself and those around her. With her nice nature and loving boyfriend, Christine Brown's character is modeled after the final girl trope, a naturally good person placed in a position of pain and suffering. Sympathy for Christine is high as her usual kind nature shows her as an undeserving victim of the relentless slew of horror, blood and bile thrown her way by the old woman's vengeful curse.
Taking the right steps to eliminate the threat, Christine becomes a harsher, more determined version of herself, turning her back on the passive person she used to be in order to reclaim her life and freedom. Despite all her efforts, Christine is unable to escape the curse and while after all she's been through, death may seem like a relief, Drag Me to Hell's protagonist's fate is met with flames.
Callie Russel, Absentia (2011)
Mike Flanagan's 2011 supernatural horror movie, Absentia, offers an otherworldly twist on a missing persons case, placing Callie Russel (Katie Parker) at the center of his story. Final girls are usually portrayed in a holy light, shown staying far away from sinful temptations like sex, drugs, and drinking in contrast to her friends who embrace these indulgences and in turn die because of it. Through Callie, Flanagan sets up an almost anti-final girl in that she is a recovering drug addict and not as chaste and unscathed as those horror lovers are used to seeing. Continuously discredited in the search for her sister's missing husband due to her past drug use, Callie is ignored and judged despite her having the correct answers.
Callie has heart and determination, traits audiences empathize with and often attributed to the final girl. Faced with the threat of a supernatural creature that only she has attempted to understand, Callie ends up sacrificing herself in exchange for her sister's life, and while this fails and they are both kept by the creature, her intentions were brave, pure, and entirely selfless.
Dana Polk, Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Drew Goddard's 2011 meta horror movie, The Cabin in the Woods, breaks down horror tropes, specifically pertaining to the slasher sub-genre, which most often sees a group of friends terrorized in a remote, rural setting. Revealed to be an ongoing ritual that keeps evil gods beneath the Earth at bay, the routine killing of youths follows a strict set of rules. While explaining the rules revolving around the final girl, those in the killing control room say that her death is optional: the most vital thing is that she suffers.
In a comical moment which comes close to sympathy, Hadley (Bradley Whitford) begins to say, "It’s so strange, I’m actually rooting for this girl. She’s got so much heart, when you think of all the pain and the punishment…" before he is distracted by an incoming bottle of tequila. His focus on Dana (Kristen Connolly) mocks the typical audience response of wanting a character to survive a horror movie while simultaneously reveling in the details of their torture. Deciding that they do not want to live in a world where innocent people must die in exchange for overall peace, Dana and her fellow survivor, Marty (Fran Kranz), accept their fate and condemn the entire human world to theirs.