Every Horror Movie With A Final Boy (Not Girl) | Screen Rant – Screen Rant

Final girls are the horror standard, but what about boys? Horror has a huge range of final boys from young children to middle-aged survivors.

Horror movies have several tropes that are common even across sub-genres, but one of the most notable is the final girl, a woman or girl who often must triumph over evil in order to survive. However, whats much less common is the final boy, often a man or teenage boy who fills the same role, fighting back against the storys adversaries in order to live.

While there are plenty of final girls and boys of all ages, final girls mostly fall within the same age range of late teens to early adulthood, while final boys seem to get a bit more variety. Examples range from young children like Andy in Childs Play to teens like Jesse in Nightmare on Elm Street 2, adults like Louis in Pet Sematary, and even middle-aged men like Dr. Verne in Prophecy.

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Final boys are an interesting shift from the typical horror focus on women in peril, and offer a variety of unique and valuable perspectives in many different types of horror movies from slashers to creature features to psychological thrillers. As final boys fill an important and under-utilized role worth being examined, here are all of horrors final boys from 1975 through 2019.

Horrors first final boys might not be the expected teen boys who have faced off against a serial killer, but final boys they are all the same. Hooper and Brody serve as the only survivors of the infamous shark movie that started the long history of shark attack movies, Steven Spielbergs Jaws.

A more traditional final boy, thirteen-year-old Mike Pearson in Phantasmsurvives the devilish silver spheres of the mysterious being known as the Tall Man, after he sees the man return a casket to his hearse instead of burying it in the grave.

Another perhaps unexpected final boy is Dr. Robert Verne in the infamous mutant bear movie, Prophecy, from 1979. Dr. Verne and his wife have several close calls with a family of mutated bears, but manage to make it out of the Maine forest alive.

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The first real example of a final boy in the very traditional sense of a slasher movie killing everyone off except the main character, Todd battles the Cropsey killer and lives to tell the tale in the cult classic slasher movie, The Burning.

The sole survivor of the entire Evil Dead series is everyones favorite horror king, Ash Williams. Battling the evil spirits lurking in a cabin in the woods from The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II and the hordes of undead when he gets thrown back in time to the Middle Ages in Army of Darkness, Ash always seems to come out on top.

The two survivors of arguablyJohn Carpenters greatest movie of all time, The Thing, are MacReady and Childs, the only two remaining members of the research team at Antarctic Outpost 31. While one, both, or neither of them may be infected with the terrifying alien organism that killed their crewmates, both men survive to earn the title as the movies final boys.

Perhaps Friday the 13ths most memorable survivor, Tommy Jarvis defeats Jason in Friday the 13th 4, 5, and 6 as a child, a teen, and a young adult (three different actors). Thus, he becomes the franchises final boy across three of the series installments, even going on to star in the Friday the 13th video game in the same role.

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Potentially one of horrors most famous final boys and notable scream king, Jesse takes on Freddy Krueger and lives to tell the tale in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddys Revenge. Even after Freddy tries to take over his body and make him become a killer himself, he still overcomes.

Charley Brewster is another of horrors final boys, surviving the attacks of his evil vampiric next door neighbor, Jerry Dandrige, in Fright Night. While trying to get everyone around him to believe that Jerry is responsible for killing several local people who have disappeared, Brewster finally triumphs, killing the vampire and surviving along with his girlfriend, Amy.

When Jim Halsey, a young man delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego, spots a man hitchhiking in the West Texas desert he makes the mistake of stopping to give him a ride only to discover the man, John Ryder, is a murderer. Despite being followed and tormented by Ryder killing people and framing him for the murders, Halsey eventually takes control, kills Ryder, and survives.

Brothers Sam and Michael face a vampire menace in Santa Carla, California and live to tell the tale, even after Michael is transformed into a vampire himself. After killing the vampire biker gang, the boys are finally saved by their grandpa who kills the head vampire, Max, removing Michaels vampirism and ending the curse.

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Despite being tormented by his Good Guy Chucky doll bent on killing him, Andy manages to survive Chuckys attacks through three movies and undoubtedly a lot of childhood trauma. When serial killer Charles Lee Ray inhabits a Chucky doll through a voodoo curse, he sets his sights on Andy as a new host for his soul, but Andy prevails, becoming Childs Plays final boy.

The tormented final boy of Pet Sematary is doctor, Louis Creed, who sees his entire family killed one by one. Louis, stricken by grief, cant stop himself from trying to bring them back by burying them in the cursed burial grounds he discovers behind his new home in Ludlow, Maine. However, despite his questionable decisions, Louis remains Pet Sematarys lone survivor and final boy in the end.

Bill Whitney is the final boy of the cult classic '80s body horror movie, Society. Despite being adopted into a wealthy, high-society family who turn out to actually be members of a murderous society of an alternate species to humans who literally prey on the lifeblood of outsiders, Bill manages to fight them off and escape.

Another very young final boy and an iconic black horror movie character, Poindexter "Fool" Williams is enlisted by his older brother, Leroy, to help break into the home of the familys landlords, The Robesons, in The People Under the Stairs. Once inside, he discovers that the couple are even more evil than they seem, but manages to escape and even bring The Robesons to justice.

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A more action-oriented final boy, Seth is a bank robber on the run from the law whos forced to battle it out with a strip club full of vampires. But, thanks to his quick wit and a whole lot of firearms, he manages to make it through the night and away to safety.

An underdog final boy, Kazan from Cubeis a neuro-divergentman who can quickly do prime factorizations mentally and has been trapped in the titular giant metal puzzle cube for an unknown amount of time. However, when hes found by a group of survivors, he helps them progress through the puzzle and manages to make it out of the trap as the only one left alive.

The lone survivor of the Lovecraftian sci-fi horror movie, Event Horizon, Cooper manages to literally stare directly into hell and come out the other side alive. Saved by the self-sacrifice of Captain Miller, Cooper enters stasis alongside Lieutenant Starck andis found by a rescue party, making them the only survivors of the hellish mission.

A final boy made a victim by a whole school full of alien-controlled teachers, Casey manages to survive despite being briefly infected by the alien queen. Despite being a final boy in the traditional sense of being a male protagonist who survives a horror movie, Casey is not the lone survivor, and takes down the alien invasion alongside several of his classmates.

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The last of the three major slasher franchises, Halloween has its own final boy in Laurie Strodes son, John, from Halloween H20.When all the students of the private school where Laurie is now the headmistress head away for a field trip, John is left behind and has his own encounter with Michael Myers, but survives.

When a massive conspiracy to reprogram all the children in a Puget Sound high school through brain implants is uncovered, Steve is on the chopping block. Thankfully, with the help of Dorian, the school janitor, and Rachel, a fellow student, most of the reprogrammed students and people involved in the conspiracy are killed and Steve is able to make it out alive as the movies final boy.

Another pair of final boys who live through a shark attack movie, Carter and Preacher are the only two survivors of a research facility full of genetically engineered sharks who escape their containment units. After flooding most of the facility, the pair are able to escape by blowing up the last remaining shark with an electric charge.

In this black comedy, lazy stoner Anton finds himself with a possessed hand that kills without his knowledge. After chopping off the offending hand, Anton still manages to chase down the hand and survive even after his friends accidentally land him in a full body cast.

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Perhaps one of the final boys most horror fans would think of first, Alex Browning is the main character and final boy inFinal Destination, a movie in which he and several of his classmates cheat death by getting off of a plane before it mysteriously explodes in mid-air. Afterwards, death comes to take the lives that should have been taken in the explosion.

In this vampire road movie, Sean is an aspiring filmmaker working as a driver where he picks up Nick, a hitchhiker that turns out to be a vampire hunter. After fighting back against the vampire cult and surviving, Sean and Nick ultimately take to the road as a vampire hunting duo.

When a highly contagious, rage-inducing virus is unleashed in Great Britain, Jim is a bicycle courier who wakes up in a hospital 28 days after the initial outbreak. After being rescued by a pair of survivors, Jim manages to cope with his dying way of life and fend off the infected to become the films final boy.

When a group of soldiers come in contact with a pack of werewolves, Cooper is part of a group of survivors holed up in an abandoned house trying to outlast the attack. After discovering that Coopers platoon was supposed to be bait for the government to capture a werewolf, he kills off the rest of the creatures and becomes the lone survivor of the movie.

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The titular character in Shaun of the Dead, unrepentant slacker Shaun wakes up one morning hungover to discover that the zombie apocalypse has happened. He quickly amasses a small group of survivors, who head out to take refuge in a local pub. By the end of the movie, Shaun comes into his own and becomes the final boy of his own story.

Hellbent is the originator of the gay slasher movie wave that began in the early 2000s, and follows police technician Eddie who finds himself in the middle of a string of murders on Halloween. When a masked killer begins targeting gay men at a Halloween carnival, Eddie has to take the killer down in order to survive the night.

InEli Roths original torture fest,Hostel,college friends Paxton and Josh are traveling across Europe when they find themselves in the middle of an underground trafficking operation. Paxton is the only survivor of the movie, becoming the final boy by not only making it out of the facility and killing his captors, but tracking down the man who killed his friend and killing him as well.

When a group of teenagers play a game called Cry Wolf, a girl is found dead; rumors begin flying about who could be behind the killing. Unfortunately, though Owen is ultimately the survivor and final boy, he also ends up being framed for the murders and goes to jail, as he is unable to prove his innocence.

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In a shift from most final boys who survive alongside a female romantic partner, Nick survives the attacks of a demented pair of wax model builders with his twin sister, Carly. Thanks to Nicks determination and protective nature, the pair are able to make it out alive and avoid being killed and covered with wax like their friends.

Wolf Creek follows two British tourists, Liz Hunter and Kristy Earl, and their Australian friend, Ben Mitchell, as the trio is backpacking across the country. Finding themselves in the middle of nowhere the group falls victim to a serial killer named Mick Taylor. After his friends are killed, Ben manages to survive, and ends up being rescued and airlifted to a hospital.

As the Carter family are traveling through the Nevada desert, theyre attacked by a gang of cannibalistic mutants who live in the nearby hills in the 2006 remake of Wes Cravens The Hills Have Eyes. Doug Bukowski is the son-in-law of the Carter family patriarch, and the main protagonist of the film. He manages to survive the killers along with his brother and sister-in-law and his baby daughter.

One of many takes on the classic Rear Window formula, Disturbia follows Kale, a troubled teenager who finds himself under house arrest after attacking a teacher. Soon, though, Kale discovers his neighbor is a killer and has to find a way to alert the authorities without getting himself killed in the process.

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In a twist on the 1987 film of the same name, The Stepfather follows Michael Harding, a young man who returns home from military school to find that his mother is engaged to a man who seems off. When it turns out the man is a killer, Michael has to save himself and his mother to become the movies final boy.

In one of the best Australian horror movies of recent years, The Loved Ones, Brent is the truest final boy in the traditional sense, overcoming a female serial killer who abducts and tortures him. Brent only manages to survive through exceptional circumstances and smart thinking, just like more classic examples of horror movie's final girls are known to do.

Former convict Arkin O'Brien works as a handyman, but in order to pay off debts his wife owes to loan sharks, he decides to steal a ruby from his employers home. Unfortunately, hes not the only one breaking into the house, and he and the family have to work together to fight off a crazed serial killer who collects victims from different families.

One of Wes Cravens most underrated movies, My Soul to Take follows Bug as one of seven teenagers who were born the same year as the death of a local serial killer, the Riverton Ripper. With many twists and turns, Bug has to survive and keep himself and his friends safe as everyone around him is picked off one by one.

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This 2010 remake of George Romeros 1973 film focuses on an Iowa town afflicted by a biological agent that turns everyone it affects into crazed killers. David, the sheriff of surrounding Pierce County and his wife, Judy, the local doctor, are both caught up in a military quarantine, but eventually escape, and become the movie's only survivors.

The stoner archetype character very rarely survives to the end of a slasher movie, but thats just one of many expectations that The Cabin in the Woodssubverts. Marty, the stoner, becomes the final boy of this highly meta horror film, surviving alongside the traditional final girl.

The Invitation follows Will as he and his girlfriend arrive at his ex-wifes home for a dinner party, but as the evening wears on, Will becomes increasingly concerned that something is not right. By the end of the night, Will has to save himself and his girlfriend as both the house and city erupts into chaos.

Circle focuses on fifty people who wake up to find themselves in a dark room, not remembering how they got there. Soon they realize that one of them is killed every few minutes or if they attempt to leave, but when they begin to discover they can control who is killed, Eric eventually becomes the last person standing.

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Pat is one member of a punk band who are traveling the Pacific Northwest, but when one of their gigs gets cancelled, they get a new show in a very rural area outside Portland. Unfortunately, the venue is owned by agroup of Nazi skinheads and when the band, being punks, voice their displeasure things escalate quickly. Pat barely manages to make it out alive.

In office horror movie, The Belko Experiment, employees arriving to work are instructed to kill two of their coworkers or face the consequences. Soon employees break into factions with Mike leading one of them, and things quickly devolve as employees are killed. Quickly, Mike takes out the security guards, the voice over the intercom, and becomes the only survivor.

The one screw-up in a group of four friends, Luke joins his college buddies for a hiking trip in the forests of Sweden in memory of their friend who passed away six months before. Unfortunately, the group gets lost in the forest and stumbles upon an ancient evil known as the Jtunn that kills each of them one by one until Luke finally manages to escape.

When Black photographer Chris meets the family of his white girlfriend for the first time, he begins to notice their increasingly strange behavior. What might initially be dismissed as plain racism is soon revealed to be so much more sinister as Chris learns he is being hunted and must survive. He eventually kills his attackers and escaping as the final boy, clearly subverting a longstanding horror movie trope about Black male protagonists being among the first to die.

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In the horror-comedy The Babysitter, lonely pre-teen Cole has two friends, one of whom is his babysitter, Bee. But, when his only other friend, Melanie, encourages him to see what Bee gets up to when hes asleep, he discovers shes the leader of a demonic cult and has to fend off her and the other murderous cultists in order to survive the night.

After spending twenty years in a mental institution, Tom Walker is released under house arrest, but soon discovers that his fathers old mansion houses more than meets the eye. When he begins experiencing what he assumes to be hallucinations, he finds himself with a very real adversary, having to overcome past trauma to become the final boy in this story.

Escape Room follows six participants who are invited to take part in an escape room to win a $10,000 prize. But, they quickly realize that the game theyre in has much higher stakes than they expected. Each participant is killed off one by one until Ben, a stockboy, is the only one left, becoming the final boyin thishorror movie.

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Certified horror addict and linguistics nerd, Maisy has been watching, reading, and reviewing horror since she was old enough to get a library card. She is most often found hiding in the woods with her nose in a book, usually horror or weird fiction, or in her bedroom snuggling with her husband and many pets while watching horror movies or playing Skyrim - usually both.Elusive and rarely out in public, Maisy can usually be baited with cheese, punk rock, or the promise of a rousing discussion on sociolinguistics and dialectology, though she has sometimes been known to come out to explore local parks, zoos, and distilleries on occasion.

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