Pointless Lists: 13 Greatest Final Girls

Aside from the slasher, The Final Girl is probably the most important person in a slasher flick. After all, this is the movie's heroine. This young lady will rise up and down a fearless, seemingly invincible killing machine. With the carcasses of her friends strewn about and still leaking onto the ground, she figures a way to do what they could not: survive. Why not celebrate the best who've ever done it? With spoilers ahead, here are...

The 13 Greatest Final Girls

13

Natalie Simon

Urban Legend

(1998)

After Scream became a huge success, slasher flicks were all the rage for a few years. One of the more fun was Urban Legend. After our killer dispatches of just about all of her friends using various urban legends, of course, as inspiration, Natalie handles business the old west way: with a gun. Sort of.

12

Dana Polk

The Cabin in the Woods

(2012)

Unlike anyone else on this list, Dana actually doesn't survive her movie. That movie, The Cabin in the Woods is a wonderful spoof of the slasher genre and eventually satirizes all manner of horror. So what puts a girl who didn't make it on the list? The stuff she survives is pretty heinous and then her death is sacrificial.

11

Sally Hardesty

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

(1974)

The movie Sally appears in is certainly one of the most iconic of any mentioned on this list. However, what keeps Sally from rising to the top is that she doesn't actually stop the bad guy. She merely escapes, with someone else's help, at that. Still, what she goes through is just plain brutal. I'm sure she'll take being alive over whatever prize I have for her.

10

Chris Higgins

Friday the 13th Part III

(1982)

When dealing with the legendary Jason Voorhees, a girl's gotta be thorough with her killin' skills. And Chris is just that. Not content with just taking a knife to him, or rather not really safe with doing just that, she hangs him...and takes an axe to him.

9

Julie James

I Know What Did Last Summer

(1997)

Ms. James is one of several ladies on the list who were actually The Final Girl more than once. The first time around, she survived a rather pissed off version of The Gordon's Fisherman. The second, it was two pissed off versions. There's no denying Julie is a survivor.

8

Alice Hardy

Friday the 13th

(1980)

In a lot of ways, Alice is a pioneer in this game. For starters, she was Final Girl in the movie that spawned one of the most iconic franchises in slasher flick history. And as you may know, she's the only FG in the franchise's history that did not have to take on Jason. More impressively, her dispatching of her tormentor was quick, and deliciously messy all at once.

7

Ginny Field

Friday the 13th, Part II

(1981)

Here, we have our third lady from the Friday the 13th franchise. Ginny does something most of the ladies here do not. She uses Jedi mind tricks on the killer, Mr. Jason Voorhees, himself. She dons his mom dingy, old sweater and launches into some rather nice trickeration, confusing poor Jay. And then she chops him with a machete. Cool.

6

Amanda Young

Saw

(2004)

Starring in possibly the most extreme case of Stockholm Syndrome ever filmed, we have Amanda. Honestly, her work as a Final Girl probably wouldn't put her on this list, at all. It's what she does with that status that not only gets her here, but with pretty lofty rating, as well. In that first movie, she is the lone survivor, escaping one nasty little trap. In subsequent movies, she does the unfathomable. Amanda becomes an apprentice to the killer. Eventually, this does cause some rifts in the relationship between her and the bad guy, but what are you gonna do?

5

Erin Harson

You're Next

(2013)

Truth told, if I were basing this list off their accomplishments in just one movie, I'd be tempted to put Erin at the very top of the list. After all, she doesn't just take out one slasher. She takes out a whole squad of folks and her boyfriend. Her survival isn't based on accidents and luck, either. She's a killing machine in her own right.

4

Nancy Thompson

A Nightmare on Elm Street

(1984)

Not only does Nancy take on one of the most iconic killers of all time, she comes back in one sequel to help another Final Girl take him out (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, 1987) then shows up in another to take him out in "real life" (Wes Craven's New Nightmare, 1994). Obviously, she knows a thing or two about survival.

3

Laurie Strode

Halloween

(1978)

What she endures in the original Halloween is enough to get her on this list. In that movie, she's the embodiment of The Final Girl. However, it's what she does in subsequent movies that gets her near the top of the list. All told, she takes on Michael Myers and wins four times spread over 24 years. That's just in the Jamie Lee Curtis incarnation of the role. Add Scout Taylor-Compton's work in the rebooted series and those numbers jump to six movies over 31 years.

2

Ellen Ripley

Alien

(1979)

Before you even start, yes, she is the most iconic character on this list. Her status comes from what she means to pop culture. There's just no denying it. What gets her here is that the Alien movies are certainly slasher fare. It just so happens that the slasher is an extra-terrestrial and not an axe/machete/chainsaw wielding psycho. And she does it over the course of four movies. What keeps her from the top spot? Well, have you seen that fourth movie?

1

Sidney Prescott

Scream

(1996)

Here, we have the quintessential Final Girl. She's tough, smart, and always comes out on top. Another plus is that these victories come against different killers, multiple killers, in each of four movies, all of whom are specifically targeting her. All the while, there are books written, by her so-called friends, and movies filmed about her experiences that keep all of this playing out in the public eye. The tiara is hers.

Click here for more Lists at Dell on Movies!