Most horror movie fans are familiar with the figure of the “final girl,” the last member of the cast who’s left standing. Usually, it’s a young woman who has endured extreme trauma and violence at the hands of the monster or the killer. While this figure is quite common, there have been a surprisingly large number of horror movies that try to turn that particular script upside down, so rather than having a young woman survive, it’s a young man.
These final guys also endure significant violence as they struggle to stay alive until the end of the movie.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) - Stream On HBO Max
The sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street has something of a bad reputation for fans of the franchise, especially since it takes some liberties with the established mythology (even if it is still one of the scarier movies in the franchise).
Most notably, however, this installment also changes the formula of the previous movie, and its central character, Jesse, becomes the final guy, though not before being possessed by Freddy and forced to commit all sorts of horrifically violent acts of murder, including his best friend and the high school gym teacher who has tormented him.
Jaws (1975) - Stream On Netflix
It’s hard to overstate the influence of Jaws, which remains an exciting movie, despite the fact that it was made several decades ago. The killer shark that is the movie’s centerpiece often lurks out of sight of the camera, but that is precisely what makes it so terrifying.
What’s more, Jaws also has a final guy as its main protagonist, police chief Martin Brody. While several of his friends and fellow shark hunters perish, he emerges at the end having finally destroyed the shark that has caused so much death and havoc.
The Thing (1982) - Stream On Starz
John Carpenter’s movie about a creature from outer space that has the ability to take on practically any other organism has become a classic in the horror canon. It’s a haunting and disturbing movie, in part because the audience, like the characters, can never quite figure out who might be the Thing.
In addition to some excellent characters, it does have a final guy (two of them, actually), but as the movie ends they are stuck in the bitter Antarctic cold, making it clear that, though they might have survived their encounter, nature will ultimately destroy them.
Final Destination (2000) - Stream On HBO Max
2000's Final Destination takes as its central premise the idea that death cannot be cheated, which becomes a problem for main character Alex after he has a premonition that allows him to save his entire class from an airplane crash. Unfortunately, doing so only means that it takes longer for them to die, as death goes on to claim them in ever more ornate circumstances.
Alex is an iconic horror character and, despite all of the death around him, he manages to make it to the end of the movie, even though it’s revealed in the sequel that he actually died off-screen.
Shaun of the Dead (2004) - Stream On TNT/TBS/TruTV
Though horror is obviously supposed to be frightening, certain horror movies blend the humorous and the horrifying, as is the case with Shaun of the Dead.
The title character, played by Simon Pegg, somehow manages to survive a zombie apocalypse that ends up claiming the lives of several of the people that he loves (including his own mother), and while being alive is certainly a blessing, by the end of the movie it’s clear that it’s come with a price.
Hostel (2005) - Stream On Peacock
Hostel is one of those movies fated to go down in the history of horror as being one of the most violent and disturbing movies ever made. Its main character, Paxton, is an American tourist who gets lured to a sadistic hostel where wealthy people pay to torment others.
Though he endures quite a lot before the end of Hostel, he not only manages to survive but also enacts vengeance on the villainous man who is responsible for what happened to it. It’s a satisfying end to a brutal movie.
Get Out (2017) - Stream On FXNow
With this movie, Jordan Peele demonstrated that he was not only a fantastic comedian but also a skilled director of horror movies, and Get Out is rightfully seen as one of the breakout directorial debuts of the decade. In the movie, the main character Chris goes to visit his girlfriend’s family, where he discovers that they are implanting the brains of white people into the bodies of Black people that have been similarly lured to the family home.
Chris, as is often the case with final people in horror movies, not only manages to escape but also kills his tormentors, enacting a satisfying vengeance for their exploitation.
The Hitcher (1986) - Stream On Max Go
The late Rutger Hauer stars in this movie as the hitchhiker of the title who decides to stalk a young motorist. The movie is tightly wound, and the cat-and-mouse game between the Hitcher and his victim is very suspenseful, especially those moments where the protagonist is powerless to stop the other man from killing anyone who gets in his way.
Fortunately, he manages to get the better of his tormentor in the end, leaving him the lone survivor of the man’s murderous rampage.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) - Stream On Pluto TV
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an ornate and baroque interpretation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel. Though it has several important characters, arguably the movie’s hero is Keanu Reeves’ Jonathan Harker.
By the time that the movie reaches its conclusion--in which Dracula is at last reunited with the woman that was the life of his life while he was alive-- Jonathan is, along with Abraham Van Helsing, one of the only two major male characters left alive, even if he has lost his lover Mina to Dracula.
The Faculty (1998) - Stream On Paramount+
Before he appeared in The Lord of the Rings, Elijah Wood was in The Faculty, a horror movie about an attempted invasion by aliens, in which they infect the faculty (and then the students) of a local high school.
Though he begins the movie as a rather shy and self-effacing person, Wood’s Casey Connor proves to be a hero, leading the efforts to fight back against the aliens. By the end of the movie, he’s earned the rewards of the hero and things are much better for him.