Final Girls

The Final Girl who inspired it all (and by all, we mean, this podcast!) Art the Clown is back, the violence is somehow even more unhinged, and once again, Sienna Shaw refuses to go quietly. In this episode of Final Girls, we dig into Sienna’s evolution in Terrifier 3 from traumatized survivor to fully weaponized Final Girl. We love Sienna because she survives through rage and resilience and an almost mythic (or biblical) refusal to break. And whether you love or loathe the Terrifier films, there’s no denying that Sienna is one of the most extreme Final Girls of the modern era.

Spoiler warning: FULL Terrifier 1- 3 spoilers here.

Theme by Max Anson

www.final-girls.com

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/FinalGirlsThePodcast

Tess from Barbarian (2022) is a Final Girl who deserves her flowers (and a hot shower.) She doesn’t make all the right calls, but she has empathy and grit and makes it out alive, despite the odds stacked against her. This week we’re unpacking all of the gendered horror of this modern classic, including a whole first act written to be the screenplay version of Gavin de Becker’s Gift of Fear as well as three loose stages of male predator explored in this film.

Spoilers for Barbarian throughout!

Find us at final-girls.com and join our Patreon here.

Final Girl meets haunted Chuck E. Cheese! In a world of killer animatronics, flickering security monitors, and childhood trauma, Abby might be the smallest Final Girl we’ve covered, but she’s also one of the fiercest. This week, we dive into Five Nights at Freddy’s and its pint-sized protagonist who manages to survive a gauntlet of ghost kids and malfunctioning mascots with her empathy, resilience, and a seriously uncanny ability to communicate with the dead.

Spoiler warning: This episode contains major plot points from Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023).

Theme song by Max Anson

More at final-girls.com, and join our Patreon!

FREE PATREON PREVIEW - SHE'S ALIVE! Our Patreon, that is. This is a FREE preview of our Patreon-only Final Daddies series, in which we break down the Final Daddy journey of Jacob Elordi's Creature from Guillmero del Toro's 2025 Frankenstein remake. We cover the design, the gorgeousness, the tenderness, the tragedy, the male loneliness epidemic, the queer codes, and whether this version of the Monster is a certified Final Daddy or not.

SIGN UP FOR OUR PATREON HERE!

www.final-girls.com

This year, there will be no leftovers! Let’s carve into the surprisingly sharp Thanksgiving (2023) and shine the carving knife spotlight on Jessica, our privileged but persistent Final Girl with a… locket (?) We talk all about her arc, Black Friday madness, and the camp vibes of this Eli Roth holiday slasher. We also dig into the film’s commentary on consumerism, social media rot, and the absurdity of American traditions. 

Spoiler warning: We talk plot twists and dinner-table deaths and everything in between.

Theme by Max Anson

www.final-girls.com

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/FinalGirlsThePodcast

Join us this week to revisit the gloriously grotesque 2005 cult favorite House of Wax, and our Final Girl Carly, played by the scream-worthy Elisha Cuthbert. We dig into Carly’s transformation from fashion intern and Waffle House waitress to one of the grimiest, grittiest Final Girls of the 2000s. We also unpack the heavy 2000s vibes: the Interpol and Deftones soundtrack, the roadside voyeurism, the Paris Hilton-era celebrity spectacle, and the cultural moment this movie captured. Plus, we talk about how the marketing made Paris Hilton the real horror bait.

Spoiler warning: We reveal who melts, who shatters, and who walks away covered in wax and ready to fight.

Theme by Max Anson

www.final-girls.com

We’re heading to the suburbs with Night of the Reaper (2025), a love letter to 80s slasher classics with a modern, blood-soaked twist. Our Final Girl is Deena, a criminology major home from college for what should’ve been a cozy fall break. Instead, she finds herself at the center of a violent, terrifying mystery… and face to face with a masked killer who is dragging the past to the surface.

Find our recent guest appearances here

Spoiler warning: If you haven’t watched Night of the Reaper, now’s your chance to press play before the body count rises.

Theme by Max Anson

Visit us at www.final-girls.com

In this episode, we’re slipping into glass slippers and fairy-tale trauma with The Ugly Stepsister (2025). This gruesome, pink cottagecore fever dream reimagines the story of Cinderella from the perspective of Elvira, the not-so-fair stepsister in a kingdom obsessed with perfection. In a world where beauty is currency, conformity is survival, and every flaw could be fatal, Elvira’s transformation arc is a brutal, bloody reminder of how far women are expected to go to be “enough.”

We dive deep into this film’s feminist body horror, unpacking its commentary on societal pressure, cosmetic violence, and the cost of chasing beauty in a culture that demands it at any cost. We also talk about why we need way more horror films that get real about the psychological and physical toll of being a woman in a world built to break us.

Spoiler warning: We’re spilling all the tea and the beauty serum. You’ve been warned.

BUY SARAH'S BABY BOOKS!

Theme by Max Anson

Visit us at www.final-girls.com

This week, we’re worshipping at the altar of cleavage and camp with Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. She may not be your traditional Final Girl, but make no mistake, Elvira is horror’s ultimate Final Baddie. Armed with quick wit and zero tolerance for puritanical nonsense, she battles small-town hypocrisy and misogyny and slays while she does.

We dig into Elvira’s iconic blend of sex positivity and self-possession and why this 1988 cult classic still stands out in 2025. Elvira outlasts the villains AND she roasts them alive with double entendres and drag-queen-level charisma.

Elvira's Cookbook from Hell

Listen to The Hesh Files (Eric's podcast)

Listen to Dead Man's Mic podcast (about Halloween Horror Nights)

Spoiler warning: We’re opening the spellbook and the movie vault. You’ve been warned.

Theme by Max Anson

Visit us at www.final-girls.com

We’re entering the twisted trap of Heretic (2024), a psychological survival thriller that pits two Mormon missionaries against a villain who tests their belief in God and themselves. We dig into what makes Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton unlikely Final Girls: their young and indoctrinated moral rigidity, growing doubts, and eventual transformation from passive believers into active resistors. Plus: we unpack the film’s commentary on purity, obedience, and the dangers of not asking questions. 

Spoiler warning: We’re going full Book of Revelations on this one: expect plot details, intense themes, and some side-eye at organized religion.

Kellie’s 31 Days of Shudder Originals minisode

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

Theme by Max Anson

Visit us at www.final-girls.com