> FAMOUS FINAL GIRLS

Spoiler alert! Take a look at some of horror’s most famous final girls and the quick decisions they made to defeat their killers . . . or did they?

Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Director Tobe Hooper Sally is the only of her friends to escape a murderous family of cannibals when she flees to a nearby highway and is pursued by the infamous Leatherface and his brother. The brother is hit by a truck and dies. The driver stops to help and hits Leatherface with a wrench, knocking him off balance. Sally then jumps into a passing pickup truck and drives off, leaving Leatherface frustrated but alive.

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis)

Halloween (1978), Director John Carpenter After stabbing Michael Myers with a knitting needle in the neck, a metal hanger in the eye and his own knife, Laurie’s fate looks grim when Michael rises again and strangles her. Then Dr. Loomis appears and shoots Michael until he falls off a balcony.

Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)

Alien (1979), Director Ridley Scott Ripley is one of the rare final girls who doesn’t appear in a slasher movie. She survives her ordeal in outer space by blowing up her ship and then shooting the alien out of her escape pod with a grappling hook. As it trails behind her, Ripley turns on the pod’s engines and blasts it away. She and her cat Jones begin their journey home.

Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp)

Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Director Wes Craven After failing to kill Freddy Krueger with a series of traps and lighting him on fire, Nancy simply turns her back to him and famously says, “You’re nothing. You’re s---.” Freddy disappears but not for long. Her mother falls victim in a surprise twist ending.