10 Worst Fates Suffered By Final Girls In Horror Movies
Did you really have to do them like this?
The notion of a "final girl" is arguably horror's most celebrated trope.
Iconic cinematic names in the vein of Laurie Strode, Ellen Ripley and Nancy Thompson all number amongst the illustrious "Final Girl" Hall of Fame - the last women somehow left standing in the face of seemingly certain doom by the end of their respective horror films.
One might assume that surviving until the movie's final showdown would be enough to guarantee horror's final girls a happy ending - if one hadn't been paying attention to what genre they're watching. The goal of horror is to invoke feelings in the ilk of despair, fright and revulsion amongst its audience and as such, the genre delights in bestowing the most gruesome of fates on the most undeserving of characters.
Horror is littered with formidable women who resolutely endured the most barbaric of predicaments, fought back against insurmountable odds with an iron will or bravely put their own lives in danger to protect others - often simultaneously. Of course, this is often only the case so the director can gleefully whip the rug out from underneath fans and characters alike, regularly condemning their film's heroic final girl to a fate that audiences wouldn't wish upon their worst enemy.
This is why we can't have nice things.
10. Lee - Black Water
It's a pretty impressive accomplishment to take out a crocodile singlehandedly - this is a predator that has survived since the time of the dinosaurs, after all. As such, Lee's fate in 2007's Black Water is almost comically unfair.
The Australian horror depicts the tale of the aforementioned Lee and her sister Grace. The siblings become trapped in the mangroves after their boat is upended by an enormous bloodthirsty crocodile, which kills their tour guide and Grace's boyfriend Adam in short order. After her sister's leg is gruesomely wounded following an encounter with the crocodile, Lee is forced to attempt to reach the boat herself.
The film's climactic sequence sees Lee go toe-to-toe with the murderous reptilian, equipped with no more than two bullets in the dead guide's pistol. As the beast clamps its colossal jaws around her arm, she manages to fire into its mouth, finally putting an end to her amphibious tormenter. Lee's impressively hardcore antics and refusal to yield to such a formidable adversary deserved far better than the heartbreaking endgame directors Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich had in store for her.
Returning to her sister, with escape from these hellish surroundings finally within reach, Lee makes the devastating discovery that Grace has succumbed to her wounds and died. The idea of losing a sibling on top of such an ordeal is enough to pierce one's soul.