Who Is The Final Girl?
​In horror movies and sometimes survivalist themed films, it is a common and much celebrated cinematic convention, to have the last hero standing, be a virtuous, unassuming kind woman. She is typically the one person in a group dynamic, that we wouldn’t bet on surviving if the apocalypse came tomorrow, yet she becomes the one that remains - she becomes; The Final Girl and internationally, she is one of the most recognised motifs in cinema.

​The History Of The Final Girl
The term Final Girl was first coined by Carol Clover in 1987, when she wrote an essay called “Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film” which was later mentioned in her 1992 book “Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender In The Modern Horror Film”. Predominantly cited as a feature in the Slasher genre of horror film, my own observations of the final girl heroine, usually had her be a weak, unskilled and unknowledgeable person. Yet ultimately, the final girl seemed to be empowered, even protected by her innate goodness or 'pureness', perhaps stemming from a sub-conscious, puritanical Judeo-Christian reason, as to why she should not die. Male filmmakers, with their construction of the female archetype, I imagine wanted the peril to be absolute and so by pitting a thoroughly malevolent male-energised force against someone who looked like they couldn’t punch their way out of a wet paper bag, they had to encapsulate the complete opposite. Remember the rule about couples who have sex or do 'bad things' in horror movies...well that outlook in part seems to manifest in the final girl's construction and so we are given an inexperienced female as a norm, with no radical life experience or formidable nature.

Subverting The Type
Not to say; that there were never any exceptions to the rule, but in the early days of horror, the bog standard archetype of the final girl was almost guaranteed. However, it began to change when less obvious forms of the Slasher horror began to emerge, usually in movies that spliced the established part of the genre with something totally unrelated. Modern films like Happy Death Day (2017) which has time travel within its narrative and The Final Girls (2016) which has characters sucked into a movie, are high-concept films, with Science Fiction and Fantasy elements. Not only have they helped sustain and elevate the genre, they have added to the characterisation roster of what a final girl can be. But, they owe their allowed existence to pioneering and isolated works from previous decades, as it was back in 1979, when Alien, a Sci-fi Slasher film set in space changed the game. Now I can hear you thinking "Alien", a slasher movie?" Well think about it - we have the mandatory tight group confined to a particular locale. We have the malevolent force, killing the group off one by one. We have the early parts of the film establishing personality types, leadership and skill qualities and we have the cast in itself, which served to make you think about who would survive, as surely the producers wouldn’t allow the big stars to be killed - right? No one saw a final girl premise being implemented and no one saw Sigourney Weaver coming either. A virtual unknown, Alien was Weaver's second ever big screen role and her first role in Annie Hall (1977) was a small non-speaking part. As the surprise lone survivor of the Nostromo incident, this was probably one hell of an unexpected direction for the movie and it is no surprise that Weaver was the last person to be cast. The gamble paid off and audiences loved and continue to love Ripley, a final girl who was neither timid nor exceptionally strong, who had skills, knowhow, and a quite charm that allowed us to see her as a real human being.

​Laurie Strode – Halloween (1978)
What is interesting about the format of Halloween, is that the tight knit group that we are use to seeing in Slasher's, didn’t really exist here, there are no scenes where they all become alerted as a group to whom the big bad is and then unite as a team to fight it. Instead, the bogeyman Michael Myers is stealthy, no one notices him (except for Laurie) leaving everyone to roam around as normal and to be picked off one-by-one in isolation. In films like I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) or Final Destination (2000) the group usually (eventually) becomes aware of the evil and they band together to fight it off, which contributes to the drama. In Halloween, all of Laurie’s 'group' are killed before she truly encounters Michael which in itself is horrifying because of the ignorance of a nearby, but unseen danger. Even in fighting back, we still see that the final girl trope is in its infancy, as it is a male hero, Doctor Loomis (Donald Pleasence), enters the scene in the nick of time and ‘ejects’ Michael through a window. 40 years later and the situation comes full circle, where now Laurie Strode is well versed in all things Michael Myers and has a skill set akin to that of a militia warrior to deal with him. Sarah Connor in the The Terminator (1984) could easily be compared to Laurie Strode, as both Michael Myers and the T-800 series cyborg are two unstoppable forces, with similar mindsets, hell bent on killing one person and not averse to killing anyone that gets in the way of their mission. And just like Laurie empowers herself years later, Sarah Connor, in T2 Judgement Day (1991) also expands as a character, having evolved into a gun-toting, trap-setting bad ass too. 

​Nancy Thompson – Nightmare On Elm Street
Appearing in three of the NOES films, Nancy uses her brains to try and combat, not so much Freddy Kruger at first, but falling asleep. When this becomes too hard, she relies on uncovering the personal legend behind Krueger and then discovers her own supernatural power somewhere in the process. Nancy Thompson may also be the first final girl to outwit a supernatural foe, which may have been the prototype that led to so many other movies taking this route. Instead of meeting force with force, solving a mystical conundrum, revolving around the villain's mythology became the solution. A lot of thought went into understanding dream psychology and fear, drawing on the night terrors that humans truly have and so this gave the earlier entries of the NOES a more respectable standing and potency. In NOES 3 – Dream Warriors, we get one of the most organised and unified team of victims ready to fight back and they are all imbued with powers to fight the evil. This made the plot fresh, as most horrors needed the victims to be completely powerless and have the audience empathise with their total helplessness and jeopardy. But even in knowing that each character is headed for their own personal gallows, the ace in the hole was in crafting bespoke deaths, that directly linked to a character's personal fears and trauma and with the exception of the Saw films, I don't think any other franchise or one shot film ever made the life of a character so connected to their death. The Wishmaster films are another bunch of stories that rallied around the idea of the final girl using cunning and trickery to resolve the peril, making audiences think as much as they did jump.

​Kirsty Cotton - Hellraiser  
Away from the Slasher genre, another angle of exploration, came courtesy of character Kirsty Cotton’s approach to dealing with the Cenobites in Hellraiser (1987). Using the power of negotiation, Kirsty had to deal with a well-spoken evil that actually had manners and her encounters with Pinhead provided an eerie contrast for viewers because the confrontations were verbal, very still but extremely tense. We all knew that the Cenobites didn’t have to listen to anyone’s pleas to seek a civil audience or show anyone, any mercy, but in examining the personality of the Cenobites' Kirsty saw their weakness and appealed to their hubris. Exploiting a very human emotion she tells them of an escapee from their subterranean cells and in their utter disbelief that anyone could escape them - their power, she is able to trade her life for his. In the second entry Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1987) her words are used to remind the Cenobites of their former humanity, showing the audience that we are all not that far away from being the horror or the hero ourselves. As a final girl, Kirsty was great at thinking on her feet, rather than just using them to run.

​Sidney Prescott - Scream
What was interesting about Scream (1996) was it’s unapologetic ode to all the conventions of the Slasher film, by talking and examining the rules of the genre within its own narrative. A direct message to the audience that; we know what you’re expecting and you won’t be seeing that here, prepared us to be tricked and misdirected throughout each entry. The Scream endings might have been inspired by the likes of films like Sleepaway Camp (1983) and April Fool’s Day (1986), where the reveal is just as important as the scares. Scream also has a lot in common with a whodunit mystery drama, with final girl Sidney Prescott being depicted as intelligent, calm and resourceful, traits closer to a detective, than a person purely present to be in peril. Scream also allowed recurring characters, from the original central group to return - yes! Those who by default should have been killed returned for multiple sequels. 

The Future Final Girl
As the final girl motif continues to stay with us, it also continues to evolve. Modern depictions of the final girl have permitted us, even forced us to have a range of characterisation that can give us all types of personality. But who ever takes the mantle of the final girl, we know that she is going to be chased, cut, shot at, tortured, petrified, made to scream and made to witness death. But we also know that she will fight back, ultimately instilling hope and promoting self-reliance.

48 HOURS 

In 48 Hours (1982), Murphy plays Reggie Hammond, a still imprisoned convict who is temporarily released into the custody of Jack Cates (Nick Nolte), an angry, bullish, faux-racist cop, in order to find two criminals. Wowing critics and audiences alike, 48 Hours went on to be credited as the quintessential, proto-mismatched cop duo movie, that would later fashion the likes of Lethal Weapon (1987) Bad Boys (1995) and Rush Hour (1998). The film garnered nominations for various awards including a nod to Eddie in the form of a Golden Globe for Best New Star Of The Year - Male, but the award went to Ben Kingsley for Gandhi. Though Murphy lost in that respect, the nomination, the film and Eddie's performance all highlighted that Murphy was an upcoming force to watch. 8 Years later, both Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte returned for the sequel Another 48 Hours, in which Eddie's salary this time around, would be equal to the entire budget of the first movie. For 48 Hours, Eddie earned $200,000, but after multiple box office hits in the interim, his star power shifted and he was paid $12,000,000 for the sequel and also claimed a share of the film's overall gross. 48 Hours was made for $12,000,000 and grossed $78,868,508. Another 48 Hours had budget a of $50,000,000 and made $153,518,974.

Scoring his next big hit with Trading Places in 1983, which served up another Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy, Murphy would step into another iconic role considered by many, to be from his most popular franchise. In Beverly Hills Cop, Murphy played Detective Axel Foley, a fast talking, tough Detroit officer who receives a random and surprising visit from his childhood friend and ex-con Mikey Tandino, played by James Russo. Visiting all the way from from Beverly Hills, California, a night of nostalgic catch-up is turned sour when two men appear, knock out Axel and kill Mikey in cold blood. Murphy, who is told to leave the investigation alone by his hard-nosed, no nonsense boss Inspector Todd (Gilbert R. Hill) defies the order, takes some 'personal vacation time' and heads to Beverly Hills to investigate. Once there, he discovers a drug smuggling operation headed by Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff) and intends to bring him down.

Throughout the investigation, we see Murphy/Foley play the fish out of water role to perfection, we see him mock and ridicule the bougie practices of the rich and famous and be two steps ahead of everyone whilst making it look like he is blissfully ignorant. Assigned to watch Foley by Lt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox), Axel picks up two babysitters in the forms of Sergeant John Taggart (John Astin) and Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), who start out as buffers to limit any social and political damage Foley could do, but eventually befriend Foley and become his strongest allies. Beverly Hills Cop was Eddie Murphy's first solo lead role and he knocked it out of the ball park. Not only did he gain another Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy the film became the highest grossing of that year, the highest grossing comedy of all time and also the highest grossing 'R' rated picture of all time - at that time. Two sequels followed; Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) and even though they were both box office hits, the former gained mixed reviews whilst the latter was universally panned by everybody. Beverly Hills Cop was made for $13,000,000 and grossed $316,360,478, Beverly Hills Cop II had the highest grossing debut weekend of all time and with a budget of just $20,000,000, making $299,965,036 and despite a major drop in quality, Beverly Hills Cop III still performed well, using its budget of $50,000,000 to earn $119,208,989.

The original The Nutty Professor (1963) starred Jerry Lewis, who also served as the film's director and co-wrote the screenplay with Bill Richmond. The 90s version was adapted by 4 different writers and though Murphy was just going to act, he wasn't going to play one role, but seven! In the original premise of the movie, Jerry Lewis played Jerry Kelp, a buck-toothed university professor who is uber awkward and socially impotent. Plagued by his status and loneliness, he invents a concoction that creates an alter ego, turning him into the very opposite - a suave, good-looking, sophisticated alpha male. Altered for modern audiences, Murphy's 1996 version would make the main issue about his weight and whereas Jerry Lewis' Buddy Love (the moniker of the alter ego) became handsome and confident, Murphy's Buddy Love becomes handsome, confident and thin. However, in both versions, the Buddy Love alter ego tries to usurp the professor's original form, by trying to find a permanent way of staying as Buddy Love, the battle therefore becoming an allegory for all our inner battles. 4 Years after the original film, a sequel appeared in the form of Nutty Professor II - The Klumps, with new formulas being invented and old enemies returning. The Nutty Professor had a budget of $54,000,000 and earned $273,961,019, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps had a budget of $84,000,000 and grossed $166,339,890 and Eddie Murphy was once again nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy...which he failed to collect...again. He did however win a Saturn Award for Best Actor, a Blockbuster Award for Favourite Actor - Comedy and won and was nominated for several other awards too.

Taking on another remake, Eddie Murphy became Dr. Dolittle (1998), where he played a human being that can hear and communicate with animals. First realising his gift as a kid, John Dolittle loses this fantastical ability when an upsetting incident involving his dog, makes him forget about it. 30 years later, his ability is reactivated and high jinks and craziness ensues. In 2001, the only other Eddie Murphy sequel Dr. Dolittle 2 was released. The first outing had a budget of $70,500,000 and raked in $294,456,605, the sequel's budget of $70,000,000 didn't quite ensure the same results, but it still managed to gross $176,104,344.

In 2001, Murphy would voice Donkey in the first of the Shrek animations from the Dreamworks studios. As part of an ensemble cast that included Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow and Vincent Cassel, Shrek went on to be a smash hit, with a noticeably high and valuable contribution by Murphy's charismatic voice acting. Donkey was the unwanted friend and sidekick of Shrek. Always upbeat and positive, donkey had the biggest heart out of the main cast and was probably the most child-friendly character out of the ensemble. Shrek became so popular that not only did it spawn sequels and spin-offs galore, but it became the first full length animation to win an Academy Award for 'Best Animated Feature'. Critics and crowds immediately took to the old fashioned fairytale storytelling and settings, but in addition really appreciated it's draw and insertion of modern day popular culture. All in all, Murphy was featured in Shrek, Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party, Shrek 4-D, Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, Shrek The Halls, Shrek Forever After, Donkey's Christmas Shrektacular, Shrek's Yule Log, Scared Shrekless, and Shrek's Thrilling Tales. Sticking to just the cinematic movies; Shrek's budget was $60,000,000 and earned $484,409,218. Shrek 2 was made for $150,000,000 and grossed $923,075,336. Shrek The Third's production cost were $160,000,000 and reaped $804,438,141 and Shrek Forever After cost $165,000,000 and made $752,600,867. Constantly swapping places with The Lion King, Despicable Me and Toy Story, Shrek is, has been and will probably be again, the highest grossing animated franchise ever.

Away from his franchises, Eddie Murphy has also given us great stand-alone pictures such as Trading Places (1983), The Golden Child (1986), Coming To America (1988), Harlem Nights (1989) which he directed, Boomerang (1992) and My Name Is Dolemite (2019). And now with a Coming To America sequel in the works "Coming 2 America" he is adding yet another franchise to his filmography totalling six. There will also be another outing for Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop IV, perhaps re-awakening his strongest brand for a whole generation that weren't around even born when the last entry came out 25 years ago. And finally playing opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, Eddie is also set to join the sequel to Twins called Triplets, where he will play the third Benedict brother. If all of these films are carefully modernised from their 80s and 90s roots and are hits, Eddie Murphy could cross even more generations and cement a legendary status that will last forever.

A taut story with a carefully constructed cast, The Informer is by no means the bog standard crime thriller. Caught between the proverbial "rock and the hard place" add Hell and Hades to Koslow's compass and you'll begin to understand the gravitas of the position he is forced into. ​In having to handle the mob, cops, the FBI, prison inmates and wardens, Koslow has to constantly be aware of all the changing angles and motives of these groups, whilst working out a way to protect himself, his family and his new clean name.

Some might put Bill & Ted straight into stoner comedy territory, but with its heart in a good place and with a semi-covert, but superseding narrative about the importance of education and destiny, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) was more than a zany adventure. Full of facts, figures and phrases that immediately entered the lexicon zeitgeist, Keanu played 'Ted' (Theodore Logan) one half of a duo that weren't ever going to be known for their academic contributions to society, but were destined to build the founding one through the power of their music. A sequel in the form of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey followed 2 years later, but whereas the original was made for only $6,500,000 and grossed a significantly high revenue of $40,500,000, it's follow up was made for over 3 and a bit times as much ($20,000,000) and only grossed $38,000,000. At the time of writing, a sequel; Bill & Ted Face The Music is currently being shot and this time around sees Bill & Ted in their middle age phase, needing to write a song, that will save the entire universe. I'm not sure if the term 'mid-life crisis' is an understatement in their new bogus adventure, but I'm sure they won't let us down.

In 1999, one of the most original films of 20th century was released - just as we were about to leave it. Making its debut in cinemas at the end of the century came The Matrix, a movie that did not just wow audiences with its high story concepts, but received universal praise for its well executed action sequences and its kinetic originality too. Introducing the world to "Bullet Time" (time slice photography), The Matrix would be the first film to have this particular type of CGI employed, which for about the next decade would have other films (whether they really needed it or not) copying in abundance. The Matrix and its two main sequels saw Keanu play Neo; a chosen-one figure who is suppose to start a revolution against a race of machines that have waged war on humans and plunged the Earth into a dystopian future. From birth, humans are kept in check by plugging them into a virtual reality matrix, where they think they are conducting normal lives. In reality; most humans are living a fake simulated existence, whilst also being used as 'batteries' to power the machine world. The Matrix was made for $63,000,000 and grossed $463,517,383, The Matrix: Reloaded and the last in the trilogy The Matrix: Revolutions were made back-to-back for $150,000,000. Reloaded earned a whopping $742,128,461 and Revolutions grossed $427,343,298. For the first film, Keanu was paid $10,000,000 and received 10% of the movies overall gross. For the second and third films he was paid $15,000,000 per film and received 15% of the overall gross for each film. All in all, he made around $256,000,000 over the course of the trilogy.

Much like The Matrix, nobody knew who or what John Wick was until they actually saw it and of course most were pleasantly surprised. On the face of it (via the trailer) the story looked like your bog standard action revenge thriller. The story didn't come from a comic or a book and so there was no previous knowledge of who this legendary badass was and would become in popular culture. What made the films so popular was the stunt team's dedication to making every move of assault both technically and artistically a feast for the eyes. And it was a nice change from seeing the current dominance of Filipino techniques being overused in films by characters such as Jason Bourne. The methods of attack and defence being bigger and more flamboyant, it was a real visual contrast to see the likes of Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Sambo and Gun-fu so expertly brought to the forefront. The original film was followed with another 2 chapters and a fourth movie has been announced, its release date set for 2021. John Wick was made for $20,000,000 and grossed $88,761,661, John Wick: Chapter 2 was made for $40,000,000 and earned $171,539,887 and John Wick: Parabellum was financed for $75,000,000 and made $321,162,659.

Keanu Reeves is an actor with a fantastic memory and a willingness to push his physicality to correctly portray a character. His one fight scene in The Matrix: Reloaded against the multiple 'Smiths' had more moves in it than the entire first movie. Also appearing on stage as Hamlet (a serious memory undertaking too), Keanu has never been shy about appearing in period pieces and can be seen in films such as Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Little Buddha (1993). Reeves has shown his versatility appearing in films that you might not expect to see him in and is also happy to not be the lead. Then of course there are his other genre defying, iconic action films, such as Point Break (1991), Speed (1994) and Constantine (2005), which were also reviewed and watched to commercial and critical acclaim. Keanu Reeves' legacy in the acting world is that he remains versatile, open and is willing to take chances despite any label given to him. Other notable films include: The Devil's Advocate (1997), Street Kings (2008) and The Gift (2000).