Summary
- The transformation of horror's Final Girl has evolved over the decades, with women being a central figure in the genre for gender role explorations and as a divisive center to the plot.
- Women in 1970s horror films, such as Laurie Strode in Halloween, introduced the virtues a woman must have to survive a horror movie, and this archetype changed in the modern era with characters like Sidney Prescott in Scream.
- Films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Carrie showcased women characters who fought back and explored themes of identity, bullying, and belonging, challenging traditional female roles in horror. Ripley in Alien also became a feminist and mother figure, paving the way for a new type of woman in horror.
The transformation of horror's Final Girl has evolved tremendously over the decades of films within the genre. Women have always been a beacon within the heart of horror, whether it be for gender role explorations or a divisive center to the plot. Early films sought after the trope of the woman being somewhat of a damsel in distress, only there as an object to save. A great example of this is 1954's The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Universal's creature feature explores expansionism and the undiscovered, all while using protagonist Kay (played by Julie Adams) as an object of the creature's desire. T
hese points are further explored in The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro's love letter to one of Universal's classic monsters. However, the 1970s introduced a new type of character trope, and implemented a narrative that would change the way horror portrayed women forever. Before the big boom of video rental stores in the 1980s, films reached audiences through theatrical releases or word of mouth. Video stores and VHS tapes would eventually become horror's best friend, giving the genre a wider distrubution to reach a broader audience. From babysitters to outer space, these women pioneered characters for decades to come.
Sleepover Slashers
Without any prior knowledge, it would be hard to believe that John Carpenter's 1978 film Halloween was once considered a low-budget B-movie. The film premiered in a small theater in Kansas City, Missouri making a relatively small splash. According to Box Office Pro, as the film reached more theaters across the United States, Halloween became a massive success and ultimately opened the curtain for the slasher films of the 1980s.
Carpenter's Halloween staple launched the career of Jamie Lee Curtis, who would become known as horror's ultimate scream queen for her portrayal of the franchise's Laurie Strode. However, horror's plot advancements have introduced final girls of a different nature — queue in Nancy Thompson, Sidney Prescott, and Grace Le Domas. All of these Final Girls fight back against their killers, and that is thanks to Laurie Strode.
Halloween's leading lady introduced the virtues a woman must have in order to survive a horror movie. This has notably changed in the modern era, and was even challenged with Scream's Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) in the late-1990s. Curtis' iconic performance takes on the role of a virtuous female, abstaining from the bad habits and behaviors being executed by her two friends. Similar themes are explored in 1974's Black Christmas. However, the film's distribution didn't reap the same benefits as Halloween.
It would be criminal not to mention a Final Girl who doesn't receive the same notable credit as Laurie Strode, and was in a film that came out four years earlier than Halloween. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released in 1974, under the direction of Tobe Hooper. The film is one of the scariest films ever made, and is loosely based on serial killer Ed Gein. Upon the opening credits, the film suggests that the events are based on a true occurrence in order to hook the audience more effectively. After a group of teens trekking across the country are taken out one by one, Sally Hardesty (played by Marilyn Burns) must face horror's most terrifying family. Leatherface, the big bad of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, butchers those who come across his path to feed his family members.
Sally is the only one to escape, after what becomes the most horrific night of her life. After her friends meet their grim fates, Sally is captured and forced to sit at a large dinner table with the Sawyer's until she is able to escape. Like many final girls before her, Sally gets out barely alive and manages to hitch a ride on the back of a pick-up truck. Bloody Disgusting suggests that Sally is often overlooked, not for her lack of fight, but because the character never returned for any of the franchise's sequels.
A Prom Queen's Nightmare
1976's Carrie was adapted from Stephen King's best-selling novel of the same name. The film is regarded for its exploration of female identity all while sprinkling in puberty, mother-daughter relationships and telekinesis. Carrie stands out among other women leads because, in some aspects, she is very much so a villain, but also a victim at the same time. Carrie White (played by Sissy Spacek) is a victim of herself and her mother's misjudgment. We meet Carrie on the day of her first menstrual cycle and watch her peers bully her in a locker room after gym.
One of her bullies, Sue (played by Amy Irving) begins to feel poorly for how she treated Carrie and seeks to make it right. However, the other teen girls don't feel the same way, and the film explores how Sue's interactions change with them as well. Upon returning home, Carrie is disrespected by her abusive mother, who refers to her menstrual cycle as the birth of sin. Despite the attempts of creating a sense of belonging, Carrie murders all her classmates and then returns home to finish both herself and her mother off. Carrie refocuses the jargon on the female experience for not only the 70s, but for the decades that followed. Bullies, body changes, and the ever-longing want to feel like you belong is generational.
The first woman to fly in space was a Soviet astronaut in 1963, but the first American woman didn't see space until nearly 20 years later. In 1979, Ridley Scott's Alien was a mega blockbuster hit, killing it at the global box office. The film paved the way for one of horror's most notorious Final Girls, Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver). Ripley's transformation from beginning to end is unlike any other in the genre. Being on a spacecraft with a predominately male crew, Ripley's authority wavers throughout. However, she is the last one standing in the end and faces off with one of the most terrifying monster designs of the 1970s.
Alien ranks number one on Rotten Tomatoes' best horror movies of the 70s, and is an absolute must-watch for any horror fan. With Alien, audiences get so much more than just a solid horror plot with otherworldly special effects for the time. Ripley is a feminist figure and eventually in the sequel, a mother figure. The 1970s as a decade birthed a different type of woman, and that is not lost on the women in horror at this time. Women in 70s horror fought back, used their voices, and explored topics that were once considered taboo.