to those female characters (with whom we are now very familiar) that make it to the final reel of the movie, alive – either by escaping, or killing the ‘monster’. While the last survivor has long been a staple of the horror genre, The Final Girl really came into her own during the 1970s and 1980s, and has left us with some of our most iconic fictional women.

Examples of The Final Girl include Ellen Ripley of the Alien franchise, Laurie Strode of the Halloween films, Nancy Thompson of The Nightmare On Elm Street series, Sally Hardesty of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Erin Harson in You’re Next (2011), and Jess Bradford in Black Christmas (1974). Many instalments of the Friday The 13th franchise also feature a Final Girl. The Screa...

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