Author’s Note: This article contains male objectification. Viewer discretion is advised.
The final girl: a common horror trope, specifically in slasher films, denoting the very last girl to survive the horrific bloodbath. Coming from the golden era of slasher horror (1970s-1980s), the final girl is the sole survivor of the massacre—the storyteller of the trauma. The final girl is usually the one who has the final confrontation with the killer, and historically, has been the friend in the group who is a virgin—or graysexual—and not a drug user or drinker. Because pre-9/11 horror (CHECK OUT MY LATER ARTICLE ON POST-9/11 HORROR IN JULY) was predicated on people dying because they were sinners: premarital sex, drug and alcohol use, adultery, lying, and other vices, having one girl who was pure and innocent gave meaning to her being the sole survivor.
Final girls have become so popularized that there’s scholarship about the concept and even a novel by Grady Hendrix of all people. And my favorite final girl comes from my favorite film of all time: Sidney Prescott from Scream! Allow me to provide an extensive, but not exhaustive, list of famous final girls and their films
In order for someone to be considered a final girl (or boy (or non-binary person)), they need to be a part of a franchise.
Sidney Prescott - Scream
Laurie Strode - Halloween
Sally Hardesty - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Ginny Field - Friday the 13th
Nancy Thompson - A Nightmare on Elm Street
Tree Gelbam - Happy Death Day
Now, at the risk of sounding misogynistic, I ask: where are our final boys? I ask not because I think men lack representation in horror (because the last thing we need is more men in film). I ask because there are some really good characters that are men who I wanna provide some analysis, because I’d like to dissect masculinity's impact on slasher films and final girls, and finally, just because some of them are hot.
Author’s Note: As you read through these character analyses of final boys, please listen to Girls Just Want to Have Fun - song and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper | Spotify, but subconsciously, replace “girls'' with “boys.”
Dewey Riley - Scream
Like I said before, I absolutely love Sidney Prescott as a final girl and THE scream queen of Slashers, but Dewey Riley is obviously a famous final boy in the slasher genre. Dewey is a cop in Woodsboro (ACAB) who lasted throughout the original Scream trilogy and Scream 4. He (SPOILER: dies in Scream 5) because the stakes were high. But in the original trilogy of Scream he is integral to solving the mystery of the serial killer. He even moves up in ranks to become the sheriff by Scream 4. Like Sidney, Dewey sustained life-threatening injuries but always came back by the next film ready to uncover and end the killer in their tracks. What I like about Dewey is his bravery and his father-like figure to Sidney, but also how they become best friends once Sidney is older. Dewey truly gets substantial character development throughout the franchise. He started as a kind of awkward cop to becoming a confident leader by his death. His relationship with Gale Weathers is also an iconic relationship in the slasher genre that stretches over the entire franchise. RIP Dewey.
Tommy Jarvis - Friday the 13th
Tommy Jarvis is probably the BEST example of a final boy! He’s from the Friday the 13th franchise appearing in The Final Chapter, A New Beginning, and Jason Lives. He was the first person to truly ever defeat Jason Voorhees. In fact, he killed Jason with a fucking machete—Jason’s fucking weapon. In fact, I remember one of my favorite scenes with Tommy: when he went to JAson’s cemetery to cremate him. Tommy is so iconic that he’s a playable character in the video game. And yes, Tommy is fucking hot.
Jesse Walsh - A Nightmare on Elm Street
Okay we gotta end this with a queer icon. Jesse was a final boy in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. Jesse is one of the rare male main protagonists to face swiss cheese face Freddy. Jesse was a direct target of Freddy because Freddy wanted to possess Jesse’s physical body to kill people in the real world. Now why do I say that Jesse is a queer icon final boy? Homoeroticism. In the film, he seems totally uninterested in his girlfriend but totally interested in his friend Ron instead. In fact, Jesse ends up at a gay BDSM club where he finds his gym coach. It later transforms into this shower scene with both of them (if you’re getting classic gay porno scenes from this yeah, same, except the coach is a creep). Freddy ends up towel spanking his naked ass and killing him and who’s wearing the knife glove? Jesse.
These are just a few of the final boys. I hope you enjoyed it. Go on now, and rewatch those slashers and gawk at the final boys. It’s what Slasher Summer is all about.
Erin works as a college instructor and is perpetually exhausted. They currently are the creator and co-host of the Black Brew Podcast and are a politics writer for TransGriot. They enjoy horror fiction, superheroes, Top 40s pop music, cocktails, and shaking they ass at gay bars. #BlackTransLivesMatter!!!
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