The final girl is a trope that originated in horror cinema, particularly the slasher film subgenre. The Golden Age of Slasher Films is considered to be in the 1970s and 80s. Though the popularity of the slasher film waned in the decades that followed, the final girl trope remained a prominent genre staple, evolving as horror found new incarnations on the big screen.

The final girl began as a subversion of the damsel in distress. In 1960s films, the female horror lead is usually portrayed as the antagonist’s objective target, signaling their victory if they can kill or dominate the damsel. In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho saw Marion (Janet Leigh) and Lila Crane (Vera Miles) stalked by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a quiet motel proprietor masking a dark secret. Rosemary’s Baby (1968), directed by Roman Polanski, follows a woman (Mia Farrow) who believes that a Satanic cult has forced her to become pregnant with the child of the Devil.

By 1972, the role of the female horror lead began to shift with Theodore Gershuny’s film, Silent Night, Bloody Night. The character of Diane Adams, played by Mary Woronov, is seen as an early version of the final girl since she remains the sole survivor among the film’s main characters.