From Ellen Ripley to Sidney Prescott, final girls number among some of the horror genre’s most celebrated and memorable characters. A term used in cinema to describe the last woman left standing by the end of the movie, it’s a trope that has been utilized by some of horror’s finest movies. However, while most fanfare is unsurprisingly reserved for characters who actually make it out of their movies alive, some characters who deserved to be horror final girls ended up being killed too soon.

Unfortunately, concepts like fairness and justice tend to be at a premium within this unforgiving genre, which has many great female characters dispatched in what often seems to be a desperately unfair fashion. From Tatum Riley to Helen Shivers, many of the genre’s most memorable supporting characters have ultimately gone down in the annals of horror history as a poignant case of “what might have been?”

8

Taryn White

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Brought to life in a memorable turn by Jennifer Rubin, few supporting horror characters have made such a lasting impression in such a short amount of time as Taryn White. Serving as a major supporting character in 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors, Taryn is introduced as a troubled patient committed to Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital due to substance abuse issues. However, as one of the last surviving Elm Street kids, she bravely steps up as one of the movie’s “Dream Warriors” to rescue Rodney Eastman’s Joey, after Freddy Krueger captures him and leaves his body comatose in the real world.

However, it’s mainly Taryn’s “dream powers” that underline her suitability as superb final girl material. Rubin’s scene-stealing charge is transformed into a leather-clad, switchblade-wielding badᴀss in the dream realm, capable of going toe-to-toe with the formidable might of Krueger himself. Tragically, Taryn’s bravery is ultimately what costs this memorable supporting character a chance at final girl status. Despite putting up a valiant effort, she’s ultimately dispatched after a ferocious duel with her tormentor, who ruthlessly exploits her drug addiction by swapping out his traditional claws for syringes.

7

Liz Hunter

Wolf Creek (2005)

On the surface, Cᴀssandra Magrath’s Liz Hunter appeared to be a far more natural fit for the final girl of Wolf Creek than Kesti Morᴀssi’s Kristy Earl, although it’s depressingly worth noting that both women fail to make it out of the 2005 horror movie alive. Wolf Creek is partially inspired by a real-life story, with Greg Mclean’s chilling horror depicting Hunter and two of her friends being hunted through the Australian outback by Mick Taylor, a depraved serial killer brought to life in a maniacally brilliant turn from John Jarratt.

Liz underlines her final girl credentials through impressive demonstrations of resilience and resourcefulness, bravely fighting back against Taylor and rescuing Kristy from his clutches after he initially kidnaps them. Accordingly, it feels more than a little unjust that her luck runs out after returning to the killer’s lair to steal a vehicle. Compounding matters, Hunter is ambushed and killed in absolutely excruciating fashion by her twisted tormentor. Taylor cuts off her fingers and paralyzes her by stabbing her in the spine, before proceeding to torture her to death for information on Kristy’s whereabouts.

6

Clear Rivers

Final Destination 2 (2003)

When it comes to supporting characters who should have been the movie’s final girl, Final Destination 2’s Clear Rivers is a notable anomaly in the sense that she had already successfully made it through the events of the 2003 sequel’s predecessor, 2000’s Final Destination. The last survivor of the doomed Flight 180, Clear is apparently quick-witted enough to outmaneuver Death itself, committing herself to a psychiatric ward for protection after Alex Browning’s demise by falling brick. However, she was still brave enough to return to the fold, even after Death began pursuing the survivors of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Route 23 pile-up.

Despite making a strong argument that she deserved the тιтle of “final girl” for the second movie in a row, it tragically wasn’t to be for Ali Larter’s charge. Rivers knocks a plug loose in a hospital room in the movie’s climactic sequences, unaware that it has been filling with flammable gas from a leaking oxygen tank. The resulting spark ignites an explosion that blows this unfortunate would-be final girl to Kingdom Come, barbecuing Clear before she has a chance to even blink in shock.

5

Eva Watanabe

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

Serving as the final girl for 1989’s Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, it’s hard to escape the notion that Rennie Wickham is one of the least compelling examples that the Friday the 13th slasher franchise has to offer. Jensen Daggett’s uninspired character comes across as notably dull even in the context of a critically panned horror movie, particularly when juxtaposed against some of her more celebrated peers. Accordingly, it’s not outrageous to suggest that Kelly Hu’s supporting character, Eva Watanabe, posed a better option in terms of a memorable final girl.

Simply put, Eva’s character comes across as more charismatic and likable during the space of her relatively brief screen time than Daggett does in the movie’s entirety. The polar opposite of her cruel friend Tamara, Eva exuded a considerably more empathetic aura, one that likely has led viewers to naturally gravitate towards her. Hu’s supporting charge might not have been final girl material in the vein of an Ellen Ripley or a Laurie Strode, but it’s hard to escape a sense of wasted potential ᴀssociated with her premature demise, particularly given the wider movie’s jarring lack of quality.

4

Kate Schmidt

Fear Street: Part One: 1994 (2021)

The first installment of a three-part Netflix movie trilogy based on R.L. Stine’s book series, Fear Street Part One: 1994, follows a group of young friends as their town is plagued by murderous supernatural forces. The movie earned positive reviews for its compelling cast, with Julia Rehwald’s Kate Schmidt frequently touted as one of the Fear Street trilogy’s best characters. A fiercely loyal friend to Kiana Madeira’s Deena, Kate fought fearlessly against the Shadyside Killers, even using a can of hairspray as a makeshift flamethrower.

Unfortunately for Rehwald’s scene-stealing supporting charge, what looked like an impressive resume for a potential final girl on paper actually did little to save her from one of the nastier fates in recent horror history. After being stabbed in the stomach during a brawl with a possessed Ryan Torres, Schmidt is finished off in spectacularly gruesome fashion as she has her head shoved through a bread slicer.

3

Sam

Green Room (2016)

Touted by some critics as one of the greatest indie horror movies ever made, 2016’s Green Room follows the unenviable plight of the Ain’t Rights, a punk band who find themselves barricaded in the eponymous location by Neo-Nazi thugs after witnessing a murder at a gig. A group of courageous, principled individuals in the face of absolutely dire odds, it’s almost impossible not to root for every member of the band in their own way, something that can particularly be said for the Ain’t Rights’ guitarist, Sam.

Brought to life in an excellent performance by Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat, the charismatic musician bravely does her best to battle through the band’s nightmarish situation, despite being completely out of her depth. Furthermore, she’s arguably a considerably more empathetic personality than the movie’s actual final girl in Imogen Poots’ surly Amber, meaning that her ghastly fate hits home all the harder. The final member of the band to die, Sam, is viciously mauled to death by one of the skinhead’s bloodthirsty fighting dogs.

2

Tatum Riley

Scream (1996)

Played in a superb turn by Rose McGowan, Scream’s Tatum Riley is frequently touted as a high-profile example of a supporting horror character gone before their time. Charming, quick-witted, and fiercely loyal, the lasting cultural impact of Sidney Prescott’s charismatic best friend can be summarized by the fact that this standout supporting character is still spoken of in glowing terms by large portions of horror fandom, almost three decades after Wes Craven’s genre-revitalizing slasher entry first debuted in 1996.

Murdered in gruesome style by Ghostface after getting caught in a doggie door, Tatum presents an interesting conundrum as a potential final girl. Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is one of the most iconic horror characters of all time, meaning that Riley by no means should have replaced her as the movie’s final girl. With that being said, she was such a uniquely compelling supporting character that it’s hard to escape a sense of “what might have been” ᴀssociated with killing this fan-favorite off so soon, particularly when one considers the Scream franchise’s subsequent longevity and lasting cultural impact.

1

Helen Shivers

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

The quintessential example of a likable horror character who should have lived, fans have been lamenting the fact that Helen Shivers failed to make it to the end of I Know What You Did Last Summer since the slasher first debuted in 1997. Brought to life in a critically acclaimed performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, the character has developed a cult following that has arguably outstripped the movie, with many frequently positing that Helen presented a considerably more compelling option for the movie’s central protagonist and final girl than Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James.

A beauty pageant queen with a formidable streak a mile wide, Gellar’s character presented one of the most significant and impressive examples of female character development in horror movie history, defying genre conventions while inspiring a host of empowered characters that would follow. Tragically, she’s soon whipped away from audiences, brutally hacked to death by the movie’s hook-handed killer at the end of an electrifying chase sequence. As such, Shivers arguably stands as cinema’s foremost example of a supporting horror character who should have been the final girl, to this day.