My Top 5 - Favourite Final Girls

Horror movies have left us with our favourite leading ladies living to slay another day for the last 50 years, most likely, in a sequel where they unfortunately face the same nightmare once more.

(Sorry Casey, not you!)

These strong women deserve a peaceful life, but we as an audience deserve to watch them suffer year on year. This week, I will be covering my Top 5 favourite Final Girls who have outwitted their foes, fair and square.

(SPOILER WARNING - Be aware!)

No. 5 - Laurie Strode - Halloween (1978)

"The More He Kills, The More He Transcends Into Something Else Impossible To Defeat. Fear"

We cannot do this list without representing the first major Final Girl and she does not quit. Laurie Strode first appeared in Halloween (1978) as she came face to face with the one and only Michael Myers, whilst coming to terms with the fact that babysitting in these conditions, is perhaps not her gig. I definitely wouldn't be up for that either if it meant a 10 inch Butcher knife was coming my way. Appearing in 9 movies, dying in 3 of them, and still finding ways to stop Michael in the new reboot requels as a Badass Gran out for revenge!! She just never stops. It's just a shame the last movie wasn't the final face off she deserved with Michael and for that, she is number 5.

No. 4 - Ellen Ripley - Alien (1979)

"Get Away From Her, You Bitch!"

When you think of Final Girls, Ellen isn't exactly what comes to mind right away. But when faced with a gooey, hunting, acid alien: she dominates the competition when she has to overcome a giant queen and the frightening face huggers to be able to make it out alive. Sounds like your standard Drag Race episode. It's just a shame she had to sacrifice herself to be able to stop the alien queen from starting mass genocide... or so she thought. The xenomorphs aren't something I would like to invade earth anytime soon but Ellen held her own as she took them on in a spaceship smackdown!

No. 3 - Erin Harson- You're Next (2011)

"Grab Anything That Might Make A Good Weapon"

You're Next, at first seems like your standard home invasion movie, but that doesn't stop us from finding the most BRUTAL scream queen. When you are

away for the weekend the last thing you want disturbing your annual leave, is a group of kill hungry animals running around the woods picking you off one by one. Little do they know, Erin has a few tricks up her sleeves. In 3 scenes, she goes from knife to meat pounder to screwdriver, 3 household items that she knows a way or two around. This resourceful icon brings a defensive stance towards killers in which I feel is one of the more desperate fights for survival. A truly bloody icon by the climax of the movie, even if that ending leaves us in mouth widening shock!

No.2 - Grace - Ready or Not (2019)

"Fucking Rich People"

Imagine the best day of your life, ruined by a makeshift hasbro family that make you play a deadly game of hide and seek on your wedding night. I'd be very distraught if I didn't get my well deserved cocktail after a long day of vows and photos. However, that was the least of Grace's problems.

Being the only one against the whole family leaves Grace fighting to open her eyes on her divorce day. The Psychopaths chasing her have to kill her by sunrise or... there will be consequences. This girls night long struggle for survival sets the scene for future Final Girls as she puts the SCREAM in queen. Samara Weaving knocks it out the park when it comes to her acting and fear she has when facing the twists and turns in this gothic mansion. A real contender for scream of the century and again, the ending is one of those movies that make their suffering worth the payoff!! No. 1 - Sydney Prescott - Scream (1996)

"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."

All your friends are dying one by one and your boyfriend is the one doing it all? I'd need a break. The same thing happening four times over? Give this girl a prepaid holiday to the North Pole. (Hold that thought, a Christmas themed Scream needs to happen! Can you imagine a ghost face icicle kill? Ugh MARVELLOUS!)

Anyway back to it, Sydney is my favourite final girl in all of slasher history and she does it with style! Yes, her outfits are great but her ongoing feud with fellow final girl, Gale Weathers is peak noughts movies! Her connection with everyone on screen despite her obvious trust issues, makes us love her more. Every call with Ghostface create's for an epic stand off filled with sass and comebacks, that leaves you wanting Ghostface to try and take her out. Fighting every Ghostface as if she trained for it her whole life, breaking every trope against her in the meta fuelled sequels just to find out who is under the mask every time, never gets old. It took her own family to almost best her, but that still didn't stop her. She is in a league of her and if she is to face ghost face once more in Scream 7, I am of the opinion that she should stop it all once and for all, alongside Gale and Kirby of course. Well there you have it, my top 5 Final Girls, the most badass queens on the big screen that to this day make me jerk up in my seat watching them narrowly escape the edge of a knife (or in Ellens case, that tongue). Who are your top picks for your favourite final girls? Is there any that I have missed that should be up there? Let us know in the comments below!! Thanks for Reading!! Keep an eye out on our coverage and updates from the 48 Hour Film Project that we took part in this week!