Final Girls

They picked the wrong girl. This week, we’re heading into The Hunt (2020) to talk about Crystal, arguably one of the most calculated Final Girls we’ve ever seen. Crystal doesn’t scream or run. She barely even blinks. And yet, she delivers one of the most cathartic, quietly feminist takedowns in recent horror history. Spoiler warning: If you haven’t seen The Hunt , you might want to pause here and...

When your house is haunted, but so is your marriage. This week we’re talking about Claire Spencer from What Lies Beneath (2000), the gaslit, ghost-seeing housewife who learns the call is coming from inside her relationship. We get into Claire’s eerie Final Girl arc and why trusting your gut might be the most dangerous thing you can do when your husband’s hiding skeletons in more places than one. W...

LIVE FROM GHOULIECON! ✨ We’re lost in the woods with Heather Donahue from The Blair Witch Project (1999), the chaotic queen of found footage and one of the most debated Final Girls in horror history. Is she a control freak? A victim of misogyny? Or just the only one trying to not die in the woods? We recorded this episode LIVE in front of an audience at GhoulieCon on July 20 , and it was an extra...

They still know what you did and we still don’t know why this movie exists. This week, we’re talking about Julie & Karla from I Still Know What You Did Last Summer , aka the sequel that proves not every Final Girl deserves a follow-up. We hated this movie (not even in a fun way), but trust: it made for one of our most chaotic, laugh-out-loud episodes yet. White Guy Rasta Jack Black? This movie...

Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) goes from small-town golden girl to survivor in I Know What You Did Last Summer , a film that asks: what if your worst mistake came back with a hook? This week, we unravel Julie’s transformation from trembling honor student to one of the most iconic Final Girls of the late ’90s. Spoiler Warning: This episode contains major spoilers for I Know What You Did Last Su...

For Final Girls' 4th of July episode, we're The Purge: Election Year (2016), and Elizabeth Mitchell’s Senator Charlie Roan. Senator Roan transforms personal trauma (watching her family murdered during a Purge) into a fierce political campaign to abolish the ritual once and for all. This week, we discuss Senator Roan's Final Girl energy, whose platform puts her directly in danger. We also ponder wh...

Tammy may not be the most famous Final Girl, but in 28 Weeks Later (2007), she’s sprinting for her life through one of the bleakest apocalypses ever put on screen. This week, we cover Tammy’s fight to survive the Rage Virus outbreak and her remarkably concise Final Girl arc in the final ten minutes. Spoiler Warning: The infection spreads fast, and so do the 28 Weeks Later spoilers. Proceed at your...

Sometimes healing means burning it all down. For our summer Solstice episode, we’re not going it alone. This is our very first episode with guests, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome our friends Cory and Rossa from Broomsticks and Bloodshed to the pod! Together, we step into the sun-drenched nightmare of Midsommar (2019), where grief blooms into ritual and heartbreak transforms into someth...

Jen starts Revenge (2017) as the sexy, sidelined girlfriend, only to rise reborn in blood as one of the most viscerally unhinged Final Girls of the last decade. This week, we chat about her Final Girl journey in Coralie Fargeat’s neon-drenched takedown of the male gaze. CONTENT NOTE: We discuss a scene of SA from the film. Link to No Bodies’ Good 4 Her: Femme Revenge Films Part 1 Link to No Bodies...

SARAH'S BIRTHDAY EPISODE! New girl Sarah Bailey is giving peak 90s witchcore. But once she finds her coven, things go from light-as-a-feather to dark-as-hell. This week on Final Girls , we revisit the iconic teen witch masterpiece that made every girl want to call the corners. Spoiler Warning: There’s magic in these spoilers—handle with care. Visit us at www.final-girls.com

Undercover cop Judith Gray walks into a poorly planned illegal arms sting in Demonic Toys (1992) and ends up trapped in a possessed toy warehouse with a demon fetus and a bunch of pint-sized murder machines. This week, we salute the bonkers brilliance of Demonic Toys and the sadly ineffective badassery of our Final Girl, who fights her way through it with a gun in one hand and a grudge in the othe...

It’s all fun and games until the bodies start dropping. Sophie and Bee walk into a hurricane party in Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) and end up in a full-blown bloodbath. This week, we break down their Final Girl stories and the messy, brilliant satire of A24’s Gen Z slashe cell phone lighting and all. Spoiler Warning: Someone turned the lights out and the Wi-Fi’s down, so listen at your own risk. If...

Mia Farrow’s iconic Rosemary Woodhouse Iin Rosemary’s Baby (1968), doesn’t scream, slash, or run through the woods. But make no mistake: she’s a Final Girl. This week, we sink into the psychological horror of isolation and bodily autonomy as Rosemary endures the slow unraveling of her life. And we gush over that cute pixie cut she gets halfway through the movie. Spoiler Warning: This episode conta...

This week, we're covering the glitchy Final Girl story of Gemma in M3GAN (2022). Gemma is a brilliant roboticist AND a cautionary tale wrapped in code, the actual villain and Final Girl of her own story. When she takes in her orphaned niece Cady, Gemma does what any emotionally unavailable tech genius might: she outsources parenting to an AI. Spoiler Warning: This episode contains M3GAN spoilers—a...

🌟 Final Girls Double Feature (Part 2)! 🌟 Next up: Death Proof (2007) Abernathy, Zoë, and Kim are taking the wheel and fighting back. In Death Proof , Quentin Tarantino flips the Final Girl trope on its head, giving us three fearless women who absolutely wreck the killer. This week, we break down why this trio’s friendship and fury make them some of the most satisfying Final Girls in horror histo...

🌟 Final Girls Double Feature! 🌟 First up: Planet Terror (2007) Cherry Darling might have started the night as a go-go dancer with a broken heart, but by the end of Planet Terror , she’s packing heat and leading the charge against a zombie outbreak. This week, we dive into Cherry’s wild, blood-soaked Final Girl arc and how Rose McGowan’s performance and later activism turned fiction into somethin...

You can’t fight what you can’t see, unless you’ve already survived the worst. The Invisible Man (2020)'s Final Girl Cecilia Kass escapes an abusive relationship… only to be haunted by a presence that no one else believes exists. This week, we dive into Cecilia’s chilling Final Girl journey, unpacking how the film turns gaslighting into a literal monster and how Cecilia’s transformation feels real...

Never split up!!! The Cabin in the Woods , Dana thinks she’s headed for a weekend of fun with friends, but ends up in a bloody, mind-bending fight for survival where the real horror is who's pulling the strings. This week, we dig into Dana’s role as the archetypal Final Girl in a world that literally demands sacrifice, exploring how the film deconstructs horror tropes and leaves you with plenty of...

In space, no one can hear you scream! In Alien (1979), Sigourney Weaver redefined what a Final Girl could be: smart, resourceful, emotionally grounded, and completely unafraid to torch a xenomorph when it comes down to it. This week, we board the Nostromo and break down Ripley’s iconic status and why her legacy still looms large over the Final Girls canon. Content Note: There is a discussion about...

This week, we sink our teeth into one of horror’s most iconic sister duos, Brigette and Ginger from Ginger Snaps (2000). We explore how Brigitte’s quiet loyalty and desperation to save Ginger make her a deeply compelling Final Girl. We also dig into the film’s darkly brilliant metaphor for puberty and how Brigitte’s journey forces her to navigate the blurry line between codependence and survival....

Long before Dutch faced the Predator in the jungle, Naru was already rewriting the rules of the hunt. In Prey (2022), Amber Midthunder brings fierce intensity to Naru, a young Comanche woman determined to prove she’s more than what her tribe expects of her. This week, we track Naru’s journey from underestimated healer to full-fledged warrior challenging the gendered and colonial expectations place...

In Companion , Iris (Sophie Thatcher) is fighting for survival AND control over her own identity. This week, we explore how Iris’s Final Girl arc challenges ideas of obedience, agency, and self-determination, leading to Iris’s final declaration of total self-control . Spoiler Warning: Freedom comes at a price—and so does listening to this episode unspoiled. You’ve been warned! If you enjoy Final G...

Wendy Torrance, played by Shelley Duvall, is often overlooked in the Final Girl conversation, but she shouldn’t be. In The Shining (1980), Wendy is trapped in the sprawling, snowbound Overlook Hotel with an unraveling Jack and a terrified Danny. Yet despite overwhelming odds and ever-increasing terror, Wendy proves that resilience is just doing whatever it takes to protect your child. This week, w...

Sam from A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) - brilliantly and expressively played by Lupita Nyong’o - isn’t your typical Final Girl. She’s a woman facing her own ticking clock before the alien invasion even begins. This week, we follow Sam’s unique Final Girl journey through a silenced New York City with her cat Frodo and a British stranger. S poiler Warning: Stay quiet, tread carefully, and keep your...

In Drag Me to Hell (2009), Christine finds herself cursed by a vengeful old woman, stalked by a relentless demon, and racing against time to escape eternal damnation. This week, we break down Christine’s Final Girl arc from timid banker to desperate survivor and the fine line between terror and hilarity in the comedy horror subgenre. Spoiler Warning: Cross your fingers, toss some coins, and double...