Final Girls

Carrie White is Burning in Hell! This week, we unpack the telekinetic Final Girl victim/villain arc of Carrie White from the 1976 film Carrie. This movie is a hard watch because really, who hasn’t been relentlessly bullied at some point in their life? We also cover the religious psychosis that conditioned her to be scared of her body and whether or not we should consider getting Carrie insurance o...

We’re back from our travels and PUMPED to talk about one of our favorite performances in a horror movie of all time - Toni Collette as Lynn in The Sixth Sense (1999). This was one of the most grounded, realistic portrayals of a mother’s fear and exhaustion we’ve ever seen. Even if she’s not a Typical Final Girl™, we think she’s deserving of the title because she shows that bravery is doing the thi...

This episode is a love letter to nostalgic millennials who saved up their chore money for the Scholastic Book Fair. This week, we’re covering Deena from Fear Street 1994 (2021), a charming trilogy based on the Fear Street novels by R.L. Stine. Deena’s an angsty feminist punk Final Girl whose story isn’t just about surviving a killer curse, but also aggressively defending her culturally unaccepted...

Double Trouble! This week we’re teaming up with Maggie and Kassie from Skip or Scream Podcast to dive into the Final Girl journey of Maddie from Hush (2016). In this film, our Final Girl lives by herself in the middle of the forest, you know, like you do. Because of her hearing impairment, she has to fight like a Final Girl in some alternative ways, and some very classic ways, and we think she’s a...

You’re invited to our Slumber Party! Just please don’t bring strawberry daiquaris, because who drinks those with pizza, honestly (other than Trish and her friends). This week we’re covering Trish and Valerie, the two Final Girls from the 1982 slasher cult classic The Slumber Party Massacre. This one follows all of the sleazy slasher beats, but it was written and directed by women, and we have quit...

CODE DILL! Kara joined us for Sarah’s bday episode to cast some cute dark magic and dive into the coven from Forbidden Fruits. This movie is Mean Girls meets Heathers meets The Craft meets a tiny bit of Clueless, and two of the three of us are here for it. Goat's milk, thigh gaps, rose petals, bone casts, truffle oil, bitch slap, blood clots, juice press. Bee emoji, Couple emoji, Red heart emoji,...

This week, we're analyzing the Final Girl journey of Skye from Smile 2 (2024), an overworked and lonely NYC pop star fighting multiple demons - but only one of them is supernatural! This is a very rewatchable movie in a franchise we hope will only get better and better. But how does her Final Girl story measure up? We changed our Patreon! We now only have ONE level for $5. Our Patreons get TWO ext...

They Will Kill You (2026) is part Quentin Tarantino, part Sam Raimi, part Wes Anderson, and we're here for all of it. This week we’re continuing our month of listener requests with a VERY recent Final Girl -- Asia, a bona fide badass who has come to save her sister from a satanic cult in a creepy art deco hotel in NYC, only to discover they are a far more difficult villain to vanquish than she ima...

Who are we, you ask? Demons to some, angels to others 😈 This week, we’re analyzing Kirsty’s Final Girl credentials in one of the most iconic franchises in horrorstory, Hellraiser (1987). She’s the trifecta of Final Girl resourcefulness with a perfect blend of physical strength, intellectual capability, and emotional awareness. We just wish she had a lot more screen time in this one. Listen to (or...

Come get some!!! This week we’re talking about Beth, the feral Final Girl from Evil Dead Rise (2023) and soon-to-be mom. Beth learns very quickly how to engage those mama bear instincts and protect her nieces and nephew from Deadites taking over the building, but how does she measure up to Ash’s legacy, or the legacy of her more recent predecessor, Mia? How is she with a chainsaw? Only you can dec...

Tales from the Crypt’s Demon Knight (1995) is one of the ZANIEST (see what we did there?) movies with a great Final Girl, and we love that about it. Jeryline is a gruff take-no-sh*t hotel employee on work release, played by Jada Pinkett in a very Ripley-esque performance. With practical effects and a wildly solid soundtrack, this is a don’t-miss movie that is guaranteed a good time. Check out Kell...

NEVER mistake a woman's kindness for weakness! This week we dissect Linda from Sam Raimi’s Send Help (2026), played brilliantly by Rachel McAdams, who has quickly become one of our all-time favorite Final Girls. In this empowering survival-and-revenge story, Linda’s superior skills and competence replace professional humiliation after she and her misogynistic boss become stranded on a desert islan...

As usual, marijuana saves another disastrous day! If Idle Hands (1999) are the devil’s playground, it makes sense that a demonic entity would look for the laziest stoner to inhabit for its evil deeds. This is where our Final Dude Anton (Devon Sawa) comes in, along with our two Co-Final Girls Debi (Vivica A. Fox) and Molly (Jessica Alba), who battle the possessed appendage as it rips (lol) its way...

Witches! Dancers! Bright colors! Creepy music! Killer dogs! What more could we ask for? Suspiria (1977) is a horror classic, and Suzy is a classic Final Girl. But is she an “outrun the killer” girlie or “stab the killer’s sparkly ghost outline with broken crystal plumage” girlie? This week we’re covering this Argento classic and its dreamlike vibes, whether the witchcraft was legit or not, the lac...

Hot zombie survival tip: blend in by making your face vacant with a hint of sadness like a drunk who lost a bet. This week we’re covering the Final Girl adventure of Liz from Shaun of the Dead (2004). She’s sick of her boyfriend’s sh*t and his inability to act like an adult. And what woman hasn’t been there, so we don’t blame her - but can a zombie apocalypse save her relationship? Let’s find out....

Au revoir poor Johnny! Pearl is the brutal and delirious Final Girl Villain of Ti West's 2022 Pearl, part of the X trilogy. With so many unsettling scenes and so many genuine WTF moments, this film is bound to be a cult classic and we can't decide if we're here for it or not. Also, did anyone else catch the parallels to The Wizard of Oz? Just us? PLEASE LEAVE A RATING AND REVIEW! Visit us at final...

PUMP IT UP! This week, we’re not holding back while we dissect the heavy-handed messages in The Substance (2024) about aging, body dysmorphia, and the general f*ckery of being a woman who happens to get older. Elisabeth and Sue share the title of Final Girl in this one, because they both find themselves up against a sinister antagonist threatening their sense of worth: The Patriarchy (particularly...

It Follows (2014) has become a modern classic, and Jay has become a modern classic Final Girl. Haunted by trauma and a shapeshifting entity, Jay is not a typical Final Girl because she doesn’t get to toughen up or confront her villain. Instead, she must navigate the horrors reactively and depend on her friends to get through it. We love this movie, although it’s very somber and full of dread, beca...

In this highly requested episode, we analyze Jawbreaker’s (1999) Fern Mayo/Vylette’s Final-ish Girl and her journey from invisible quiet nerd to Angelyne-coded bombshell. We cover if Julie is the TRUE Final Girl (probably) and the iconic Courtney (Satan in Heels) and the movie’s nasty candy namesake. She’s so evil, and she’s only in high school! Beware, spoilers ahead! PLEASE LEAVE US A RATING AND...

Wizard of Wiggle! Writer dreams and professional f*ckery! Wearing rings on top of gloves! This week, we're breaking down the Final Girl story of Ariel from Opus (2025), the A24 cult movie about a writer who finds herself in a slobbery, bloody situation at the compound of an aging pop star in the middle of nowhere, Utah. Will she escape before the Kool-Aid? Will she get a book deal or a byline by t...

Good evening, Clarice! This week, we're covering the Final Girl story of Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs (1991), one of our most competent Final Girls so far. Portrayed brilliantly by Jodie Foster, Clarice ABSOLUTELY is a Final Girl because she is vulnerable, strong, thoughtful, intentional, and just an overall badass. She feels like she has a lot to prove as a cadet in the FBI acad...

Happy Valentine's Day! Heart Eyes (2025) was a fan favorite last year, so we couldn't let this romantic holiday pass without covering Ally, its Final Girl who is afraid of blood and cynical about true love. And luckily, to celebrate the day of love, we have our podcast besties Matt and Katie from Getting Offed to help us break down the whole thing - from the 50/50 split of rom-com and horror to su...

It might be a stretch to call Maud from Saint Maud (2019) a Final Girl, because there’s no slasher, no chase sequence, no one coming to save her — not even God. Her horror is internal, spiritual, and exquisitely lonely. This episode explores Maud as a woman desperate for meaning in a world that offers her none, and how that desperation turns her inward, toward Heaven, and then outward with devasta...

This week, we cotton-candy-cocoon our way into the colorful, twisted world of Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), discussing the film’s creative visual effects, memorable kills, and the unique quirks of our Final Girl, Debbie Stone. We also explore the movie’s cultural impact, comparing the dreaded clowns to modern horror icons and reflecting on Debbie's assertive, fearless nature. Join us for...

Put on your brightest 80s gear, listeners, for this week's discussion about Lisa from Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams' 2024 technicolor fever dream, Lisa Frankenstein! High school can be hell, but bringing a hottie gentile man from a different time period back to life can certainly help. In this episode, we breakdown Lisa's story and what we learned from it - like never chug a mystery concoction in...