10 Best Horror Movie Final Girls NOBODY Talks About

2. Kirsty Cotton - Hellraiser

Kirsty Cotton Hellraiser
Entertainment Film

When discussing great horror antagonists and horror franchises, names that usually come up are the likes of Michael Myers and Halloween, Jason Voorhees and Friday the 13th, Freddy Krueger and A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Pinhead and Hellraiser.

While Pinhead and his respective series do get a mention amongst the greats, he and his franchise often don't get quite as much love as their peers. And likewise, long-time Hellraiser heroine Kirsty Cotton doesn't get as much praise and adoration as Laurie Strode, Nancy Thompson, Sidney Prescott and a certain Ashley J. Williams when it comes to the great franchise heroes of horror.

From battling her skinless Uncle Frank, to trying to rescue her father from Hell, to using Pinhead and the Cenobites for her own means, Kirsty's three appearances across the Hellraiser franchise proved her to be a relentless, determined figure who grew to be far more than just the standard 'final girl' seen in so many other horror offerings.

Instead, the Hellraiser series showed great character depth and growth for Kirsty Cotton, and it's a crying shame how she usually gets overlooked when looking at the great heroines of the genre.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.