10 Horror Movie Final Girls Who Actually Weren't
2. Mara Stone - Wrong Turn 2: Dead End
Expectations were low enough for the first direct-to-video Wrong Turn sequel that it allowed the talented Joe Lynch to pull off a number of surprises - not least that the film was actually good.
Lynch spends a good deal of the movie's first half establishing reality TV show producer Mara Stone (Aleksa Palladino) as the neon-signposted final girl. She's smart and modest compared to most folk around her - two key traits of the prototypical final girl.
But at the mid-way point, Mara is chased through the woods by the inbred cannibals and suddenly catches an axe to the head, naturally killing her instantly. At this point, our perspective shifts to vegan artist goth Nina (Erica Leerhsen), the sort of character who might be typically ripe for killing in horror movies, and yet turns out to be the real final girl.
Nina manages to kill the inbred parents and eventually get out of dodge with fellow survivor Jake (Texas Battle).