It’s Halloween, and when it comes to horror movies, everybody wants to be the final girl – the character who survives the killer and makes it out alive. Think Sidney Prestcott vs Ghostface in the iconic 90s final showdown. But what does it take to be the last one standing?
Researchers have analysed some of the most popular characters in slasher history, to reveal the most common attributes of final girls. BestCasinoSites’s study found that less is more when being a final girl, with ‘shirts and denim’ ranking as the outfit with the highest likelihood of survival at 47%.
Brunettes also had an overwhelming shot at survival, with 60% of final girls opting for darker tresses. Classic characters Ellen Ripley (Alien) and Sidney Prescott (Scream), as well as more modern ones such as Maxine Minx of X all saw higher chances of survival with darker hair.
Ranking in second place for horror movie fashion survival is ‘tops and trousers’, with 19% of our final girls championing the combination for slasher survival. Their research shows that covering your legs, whether it be with denim or trousers, makes you more likely to prevail as a final girl. ‘Dresses and skirts’ ranked in third position, with a 12% survival rate. Some of the final girls favouring frocks include Mia Allen from the Evil Dead, Tree Gelbman of Happy Death Day, and Grace Le Domas, newlywed and still wearing her bridal gown in Ready or Not.
Fashion faux-pas that could be fatal, is wearing some form of ‘business attire’. Whilst journalist survivor Gale Weathers of Scream regularly rocked a power suit throughout the franchise, just 5% of heroines who make it to the end of the movie do so in their office best.
Unfortunately for blondes, the study found that they have just a 26% chance of surviving a horror film. While characters like Tree Gelbman in Happy Death Day and Dani Ardor in Midsommar survived with golden lengths intact, the vast majority of our final girls were brunettes. The data also revealed to be more forgiving of eye colour, with brown-eyed girls seeing a success rate of 40%, and blue-eyed girls a 35% chance.
Students make up 44% of the horror genre’s most iconic final girls according to this study, far outweighing any other occupation held by other final girls. Student survivors include classic final girls such as Laurie Strode from Halloween as well as more modern examples such as Cindy Campbell from Scary Movie.
Working in Journalism/Writing and those in Retail/Customer Facing lines of work made up 9% of horror survivors according to analysis, with famed final girls such as Gale Weathers from Scream working as a journalist, and Maddie Young of Hush working as an author.
