Final Girls

Hey listeners! We love this show, we love all of you, and we are stoked to have been doing this podcast for almost a hundred episodes! As you can imagine, we need a little break from time to time, so we will be back with brand new Final Girl episodes for Season 3 on December 9th.

With that said, we’re NOT going radio silent! We have a few new regular Final Girls episodes we are going to debut on our Patreon, so be sure to sign up on our website at Final-Girls.com. $5 a month gets you th...

What an excellent day for an exorcism! This week we’re covering the head-turning story of poor Regan from The Exorcist. We go into Regan’s journey from sweet 12-year-old wingwoman to her mom, Chris, to possessed pre-Deadite projectile vomiting pea soup, to scuffed up 12-year-old again, and we also cover all the spooky things that happened during and right after the movie’s production. So press play and we’ll let Captain Howdy know you’re joining us!

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This week we’re covering the Final Girl of one of two Summer 2026 Barbenheimer for Sickos movies, Backrooms (Obsession is the second). Like so many female characters in horror movies these days, Mary is left to deal with a whiny man-baby who can’t hold himself accountable for the sh*tty way he’s treated women, so that’s her first Final Girl fight. But there are many more FG fights she encounters, including escaping a scary tall pirate and getting trapped in the World’s Creepiest Bile-Hued Liminal Space. It’s safe to say this movie is straight up psycholog...

Nothing - and we really mean NOTHING - good happens after 3am, so if you get a knock at your door around that time after a particularly rough night with your significant other, DO NOT OPEN IT. This week we’re covering Kristen from The Strangers (2008), a movie that feels different in 2026 because of the massive shift in the genre. It is always lauded as one of the scariest movies ever, so is Kristen’s Final Girl journey worthy of that praise? Listen now! And RIP to the Golden God himself.

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“I would kill for her! I would die for her! Either way, what bliss!” This week we’re taking it back to the 90s with Morticia from The Addams Family (1991). This movie is basically a live action cartoon, but we love it and we love her. It may be a bit of a stretch to call Morticia a Final Girl, but she is the matriarch of a family of outsiders - and in this episode we dive into her confident, unbothered journey when a con artist mother/son duo try to take the Addams’ for all they’re worth.

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Rocky from Don’t Breathe (2016) fits all the definitions of a Final Girl, yet this movie is still deeply unpleasant and a very difficult watch. But she does have some great moments, and in this episode we cover all of them. We also dive into ladybug tattoos and the trope of Detroit as shorthand for urban blight, as well as how gross visuals are fun in Evil Dead ways but not in story lines that feature SA. Listen now!

Join our Patreon! For only $5/month, get TWO extra podcast episodes – including Final Daddies, Final Cats, Final-ish Girls, disc...

Which is scarier: The Creeper, or Justin Long’s early 2000s tribal rose tattoo? This week we’re covering a highly requested Final Girl, Trish from Jeepers Creepers (2001). Trish is road tripping it home from college with her kid brother, Derry, and his garbage bags of laundry when they encounter a creepy truck and its creepier driver. And instead of minding their business, Derry forces them to investigate, which sets off a chain of events that puts one of the coolest, scariest horror villains on their tails. Is Trish the ultimate Final Girl because of her boldness and bravery?

Natalie from Urban Legend (1998) hits all the Final Girl marks: she’s not believed when she figures out the killer’s pattern, she does Final Girl Research in a library, she has past trauma that is slowly uncovered, and she survives some brutal attacks from The Killer. She also navigates an environment with terrible sex advice and a roommate who constantly sexiles her, and we consider that final girl energy too. This movie is a solid, cozy entry in the suite of meta 90s teen slashers, and we especially love the stacked cast and want to take Robert Englund’s urba...

Tell everyone! And carry an EpiPen! This week we’re examining the artful world of Brianna from Candyman (2021) and her journey to figuring out who the Candyman is and what his relationship is to her boyfriend Anthony. This movie is heavy-handed about police brutality, racism, gentrification, and more, but in our opinion, there are a LOT of people who need to hear these messages so we support the ultra clear delivery completely. We also discuss if Bri would really own a branded merchandise pen from a laundromat (honestly, probably not, she’s too chic for that) and how visually gorg...

When we were watching The Ruins again, we both had the same thought: maybe DON’T be one of THOSE tourists who takes photos of locals like they’re props and then proceeds to visit an unmapped area that those same locals told you not to visit (in flip flops, too, by the way.) This week we’re covering our Final Girl Amy’s vacation from hell, cursed ruins, spooky vines, having a med school boyfriend, crude leg amputations, and why you also shouldn’t wear your favorite earrings to lounge by the pool unless it’s for a specific par...

This week our friends from Chopping It Up are joining us to break down John Carpenter’s 1980 spooky cult classic, The Fog! Get ready to learn A LOT about this movie and its two Final Girls, Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Stevie (Adrienne Barbeau.) We go into how much we love the idea of being a radio DJ in a lighthouse, the way Carpenter decided to make a ghost story about fog, how to get unstuck from the mud in your car, the tea behind Barbeau and Carpenter themselves, and the coziness of Northern California coastal towns. We also de...

If you knew you had seven days to live, would you spend them chasing LEAD after LEAD like our Final Girl Rachel in The Ring (2002) and Kellie? Or would you be like Sarah and say eff it, and catch a plane to Bali for your remaining days? This week we’re tracking Rachel’s grim, wet, blue/green journey through Seattle, in a movie that could literally just be titled “Final Girl Research: The Movie.” Also: did you recognize the guy who plays Noah from Britney Spears’ Toxic music video?

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“Pacts with the devil - real or bullsh*t?” That is the question on everyone’s mind in Ready or Not (2019) and especially for our ICONIC Final Girl Grace. Grace sets the FG standard - she’s got moxie, resourcefulness, and commitment (our top three ingredients) on LOCK. We dedicate this episode to all of the badass listeners who have requested a Grace episode over the past year and a half!

Join our Patreon! For only $5/month, get TWO extra podcast episodes – including Final Daddies, Final Cats, Final-ish Girls, discussions, panels, and more! But don't think of it that wa...

I’m Chucky!!! Wanna play? No? Actually, we totally get it, because otherwise you might get stuck like our Final Girl Karen saving grown-ass men from a killer doll in Child’s Play (1988). Karen shows us lots of things about how to be a Final Girl, like you should definitely keep a first aid kit handy and sometimes, you need to take matters into your own hands, especially when there’s a manbaby detective assigned to your case.

Listen to Kellie’s Movie Postmortem episode on the Sam Raimi Spiderman movies!

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Angsty goth girls unite! Stokely is our Final Girl in 1998’s teen horror cult classic The Faculty, and this week we’re chasing her story like the queen alien who chases Frodo through the gymnasium. This movie has one of the most STACKED casts of all time, including YOUNG JON STEWART WITH A GOATEE??? We also cover whether Planet Hollywood is still a thing and the Cabin in the Woods/the Faculty easter egg fan theory. Go Hornets!

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Carrie White is Burning in Hell! This week, we unpack the telekinetic Final Girl victim/villain arc of Carrie White from the 1976 film Carrie. This movie is a hard watch because really, who hasn’t been relentlessly bullied at some point in their life? We also cover the religious psychosis that conditioned her to be scared of her body and whether or not we should consider getting Carrie insurance on our houses. Remember: the greatest revenge on a bully isn’t trapping them in a gym, but a life well lived.

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We’re back from our travels and PUMPED to talk about one of our favorite performances in a horror movie of all time - Toni Collette as Lynn in The Sixth Sense (1999). This was one of the most grounded, realistic portrayals of a mother’s fear and exhaustion we’ve ever seen. Even if she’s not a Typical Final Girl™, we think she’s deserving of the title because she shows that bravery is doing the thing despite the fear, and strength and courage look different for every single person. Also, Bruce Willis is Bruce Willis-ing hard in this movie a...

This episode is a love letter to nostalgic millennials who saved up their chore money for the Scholastic Book Fair. This week, we’re covering Deena from Fear Street 1994 (2021), a charming trilogy based on the Fear Street novels by R.L. Stine. Deena’s an angsty feminist punk Final Girl whose story isn’t just about surviving a killer curse, but also aggressively defending her culturally unaccepted relationship with the girl she loves. Will she save her girlfriend and beat the curse of Sarah Fier? Is Shadyside vs. Sunnyvale the same as Pawnee vs. Eagleton? Will we see a Babysi...

Double Trouble! This week we’re teaming up with Maggie and Kassie from Skip or Scream Podcast to dive into the Final Girl journey of Maddie from Hush (2016). In this film, our Final Girl lives by herself in the middle of the forest, you know, like you do. Because of her hearing impairment, she has to fight like a Final Girl in some alternative ways, and some very classic ways, and we think she’s a badass all around for it.

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You’re invited to our Slumber Party! Just please don’t bring strawberry daiquaris, because who drinks those with pizza, honestly (other than Trish and her friends). This week we’re covering Trish and Valerie, the two Final Girls from the 1982 slasher cult classic The Slumber Party Massacre. This one follows all of the sleazy slasher beats, but it was written and directed by women, and we have quite a bit to say about it (namely, how doofy and loser-y the guys are all in it). But our First Amendment Rights™ will not be violated like Diane’s, you can count...

CODE DILL! Kara joined us for Sarah’s bday episode to cast some cute dark magic and dive into the coven from Forbidden Fruits. This movie is Mean Girls meets Heathers meets The Craft meets a tiny bit of Clueless, and two of the three of us are here for it. Goat's milk, thigh gaps, rose petals, bone casts, truffle oil, bitch slap, blood clots, juice press. Bee emoji, Couple emoji, Red heart emoji, Red question mark emoji.

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This week, we're analyzing the Final Girl journey of Skye from Smile 2 (2024), an overworked and lonely NYC pop star fighting multiple demons - but only one of them is supernatural! This is a very rewatchable movie in a franchise we hope will only get better and better. But how does her Final Girl story measure up?

We changed our Patreon! We now only have ONE level for $5. Our Patreons get TWO extra podcast episodes per month. But don't think of it that way. Think of this as a tip, or like getting us a Diet Coke (for...

They Will Kill You (2026) is part Quentin Tarantino, part Sam Raimi, part Wes Anderson, and we're here for all of it. This week we’re continuing our month of listener requests with a VERY recent Final Girl -- Asia, a bona fide badass who has come to save her sister from a satanic cult in a creepy art deco hotel in NYC, only to discover they are a far more difficult villain to vanquish than she imagined.

Spoilers ahead!

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Who are we, you ask? Demons to some, angels to others 😈

This week, we’re analyzing Kirsty’s Final Girl credentials in one of the most iconic franchises in horrorstory, Hellraiser (1987). She’s the trifecta of Final Girl resourcefulness with a perfect blend of physical strength, intellectual capability, and emotional awareness. We just wish she had a lot more screen time in this one.

Listen to (or watch) Sarah’s guest appearance on Getting Offed, in which we talk about the Hellraiser theme song!

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Come get some!!! This week we’re talking about Beth, the feral Final Girl from Evil Dead Rise (2023) and soon-to-be mom. Beth learns very quickly how to engage those mama bear instincts and protect her nieces and nephew from Deadites taking over the building, but how does she measure up to Ash’s legacy, or the legacy of her more recent predecessor, Mia? How is she with a chainsaw? Only you can decide, although we have some opinions if you wanna hear them. Happy Mother’s Day!

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Tales from the Crypt’s Demon Knight (1995) is one of the ZANIEST (see what we did there?) movies with a great Final Girl, and we love that about it. Jeryline is a gruff take-no-sh*t hotel employee on work release, played by Jada Pinkett in a very Ripley-esque performance. With practical effects and a wildly solid soundtrack, this is a don’t-miss movie that is guaranteed a good time.

Check out Kellie’s Final Girl Playlist!

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NEVER mistake a woman's kindness for weakness!

This week we dissect Linda from Sam Raimi’s Send Help (2026), played brilliantly by Rachel McAdams, who has quickly become one of our all-time favorite Final Girls. In this empowering survival-and-revenge story, Linda’s superior skills and competence replace professional humiliation after she and her misogynistic boss become stranded on a desert island. And she even battles a DEMON PIG! As Linda tells us, no help is coming, so you'd better start saving yourself!

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As usual, marijuana saves another disastrous day! If Idle Hands (1999) are the devil’s playground, it makes sense that a demonic entity would look for the laziest stoner to inhabit for its evil deeds. This is where our Final Dude Anton (Devon Sawa) comes in, along with our two Co-Final Girls Debi (Vivica A. Fox) and Molly (Jessica Alba), who battle the possessed appendage as it rips (lol) its way through town. This is our 4/20 episode, and of course we had to call in Eric to help us cover this one.

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Witches! Dancers! Bright colors! Creepy music! Killer dogs! What more could we ask for? Suspiria (1977) is a horror classic, and Suzy is a classic Final Girl. But is she an “outrun the killer” girlie or “stab the killer’s sparkly ghost outline with broken crystal plumage” girlie? This week we’re covering this Argento classic and its dreamlike vibes, whether the witchcraft was legit or not, the lack of plot, and everything in between.

Spoilers ahead!

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Hot zombie survival tip: blend in by making your face vacant with a hint of sadness like a drunk who lost a bet. This week we’re covering the Final Girl adventure of Liz from Shaun of the Dead (2004). She’s sick of her boyfriend’s sh*t and his inability to act like an adult. And what woman hasn’t been there, so we don’t blame her - but can a zombie apocalypse save her relationship? Let’s find out.

Warning, spoilers ahead!

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Au revoir poor Johnny! Pearl is the brutal and delirious Final Girl Villain of Ti West's 2022 Pearl, part of the X trilogy. With so many unsettling scenes and so many genuine WTF moments, this film is bound to be a cult classic and we can't decide if we're here for it or not. Also, did anyone else catch the parallels to The Wizard of Oz? Just us?

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PUMP IT UP! This week, we’re not holding back while we dissect the heavy-handed messages in The Substance (2024) about aging, body dysmorphia, and the general f*ckery of being a woman who happens to get older. Elisabeth and Sue share the title of Final Girl in this one, because they both find themselves up against a sinister antagonist threatening their sense of worth: The Patriarchy (particularly The Hollywood Patriarchy.) Is this one of the few movies you can leave and then feel BETTER about yourself? We think so…

Warning, spoilers ahead!

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It Follows (2014) has become a modern classic, and Jay has become a modern classic Final Girl. Haunted by trauma and a shapeshifting entity, Jay is not a typical Final Girl because she doesn’t get to toughen up or confront her villain. Instead, she must navigate the horrors reactively and depend on her friends to get through it. We love this movie, although it’s very somber and full of dread, because it truly leaves you guessing in every scene - is something following? And does anyone know where Sarah can get one of those clamshell e-readers?

Spoi...

In this highly requested episode, we analyze Jawbreaker’s (1999) Fern Mayo/Vylette’s Final-ish Girl and her journey from invisible quiet nerd to Angelyne-coded bombshell. We cover if Julie is the TRUE Final Girl (probably) and the iconic Courtney (Satan in Heels) and the movie’s nasty candy namesake. She’s so evil, and she’s only in high school!

Beware, spoilers ahead!

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Wizard of Wiggle! Writer dreams and professional f*ckery! Wearing rings on top of gloves! This week, we're breaking down the Final Girl story of Ariel from Opus (2025), the A24 cult movie about a writer who finds herself in a slobbery, bloody situation at the compound of an aging pop star in the middle of nowhere, Utah. Will she escape before the Kool-Aid? Will she get a book deal or a byline by the time she's 35, which is basically 40? Time will tell!

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Good evening, Clarice! This week, we're covering the Final Girl story of Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs (1991), one of our most competent Final Girls so far. Portrayed brilliantly by Jodie Foster, Clarice ABSOLUTELY is a Final Girl because she is vulnerable, strong, thoughtful, intentional, and just an overall badass. She feels like she has a lot to prove as a cadet in the FBI academy surrounded by a bunch of dudes who hit on her, and she does it all in spades. Warning, there are spoilers ahead!

Note: we use he/him pronouns for...

Happy Valentine's Day! Heart Eyes (2025) was a fan favorite last year, so we couldn't let this romantic holiday pass without covering Ally, its Final Girl who is afraid of blood and cynical about true love. And luckily, to celebrate the day of love, we have our podcast besties Matt and Katie from Getting Offed to help us break down the whole thing - from the 50/50 split of rom-com and horror to suction cup dildo weapons to red night vision masks and Detective Devon Sawa. Listen now before the Heart Eyes Killer comes to YOUR town! (Warning: spoilers!)

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It might be a stretch to call Maud from Saint Maud (2019) a Final Girl, because there’s no slasher, no chase sequence, no one coming to save her — not even God. Her horror is internal, spiritual, and exquisitely lonely. This episode explores Maud as a woman desperate for meaning in a world that offers her none, and how that desperation turns her inward, toward Heaven, and then outward with devastating consequences.

Spoiler Warning: This episode spoils everything and if you’ve seen it, yes – including the part you’re thinking about.

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This week, we cotton-candy-cocoon our way into the colorful, twisted world of Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), discussing the film’s creative visual effects, memorable kills, and the unique quirks of our Final Girl, Debbie Stone. We also explore the movie’s cultural impact, comparing the dreaded clowns to modern horror icons and reflecting on Debbie's assertive, fearless nature. Join us for a hilarious and nostalgic breakdown of this iconic horror film! And make sure not to get popcorn in your bra. So uncomfortable.

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Put on your brightest 80s gear, listeners, for this week's discussion about Lisa from Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams' 2024 technicolor fever dream, Lisa Frankenstein! High school can be hell, but bringing a hottie gentile man from a different time period back to life can certainly help. In this episode, we breakdown Lisa's story and what we learned from it - like never chug a mystery concoction in a red solo cup at a party, and never use a tanning bed. But wait, there's more! Listen now!

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