Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
I was in the mood for something silly over the weekend and decided to rewatch Scary Movie and The Blackening. Both films still crack me up, but they also made me think, “How many horror movies have I seen where the heroine was a woman of colour? It actually took me a moment as the old horror trope of black people not making it to the end is a trope for a reason.
Thankfully things have gotten better with time and there are some truly memorable characters out there that made their mark by making it to the end. Now whether or not these movies are good might be debatable, but that’s a topic for another list. Let’s take a look at Five Fantastic Final Girls of Colour.
#5 Halle Berry/Dr Miranda Grey – Gothika
When you think of Halle Berry, I’m sure your first thought doesn’t go to the horror genre, but before she starred in thrillers like The Call or her most recent foray in horror Never Let Go, she was in Gothika, a mystery with supernatural elements that slipped under a lot of people’s radars but was actually pretty good.
While the final act steers more towards mystery, the first half does a solid job of delivering chilling moments and all of it is buoyed by Berry who even had her arm accidentally broken by co-star Robert Downey Jr. All this and she still makes it to the end. This creepy movie deserves a look if you haven’t seen it and while she may not have many entries in the genre, Berry makes for a final girl in horror one can get behind.
#4 Jada Pinkett-Smith/Jeryline – Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight
One of the best Tales from the Crypt movies, Demon Knight is bloody, gory and completely off the wall in the best of ways. Billy Zane is in his element as The Collector and the rest of the cast are so good you actually feel bad for them when they bite the big one. Not many horror movies can say that and not many of them have such a resilient heroine as Jeryline.
It’s one thing to go up against the likes of Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, it’s quite another to have to face off against Hell itself. But that’s exactly what the unlikeliest of heroes Jeryline does and as a woman of colour (in a 90’s horror movie no less), her survival was both unexpected and refreshing to see.
#3 Sanaa Lathan/Alexa Woods – Alien vs. Predator
It’s a shame Sanaa Lathan doesn’t do more in the genre because her turn as Alexa Woods in Alien vs. Predator managed to be the best aspect of the movie.
As entries go in the franchise, it isn’t a great one (I recommend watching the Unrated Edition which isn’t much better but does offer more gore and a few added scenes) but it does pick up the pace once Alexa teams up with a Predator. Smart, capable and brave, she has all the makings of a final girl deserving of the title. One could even argue the idea for the upcoming Predator entry (Predator: Badlands), which will once again see a galactic hunter teaming up with a human, might not have happened if it didn’t work as well as it did in Alien vs. Predator, in big part due to the performance by Sanaa Lathan.
#2 Naomie Harris/Selena – 28 Days Later
While she’s been acting since the late 80s, it’s her formidable role in 28 Days Later as a survivor in a country populated by the most terrifying “zombies’ that had ever been seen (at that point), that made her a household name. Naomie Harris starred as Selena, seemingly ruthless in her will to survive. The moment she brutally takes out a fellow traveller who had (possibly) been infected by hacking him up like a side of cold beef, became one of those scenes that everyone who saw 28 Days Later got seared into their brains.
A smart script by writer Alex Garland, razor sharp directing by Danny Boyle, coupled with a powerhouse performance by Harris made Selena more than just a one-trick pony. As the story unfolded, we got to see beyond the hard-edged surface into the heart of a woman who would not just fight for her own life, but for that of the ones she cared for as well, giving us a final girl who earned her stripes through and through.
Honourable Mention: Regina Hall/Brenda, Scary Movie Parts 1-4
The only reason she’s an HM and not a contender is the fact that the Scary Movie…uh, movies, are comedies that satirise horror and not actual horror movies.
Still, from her first appearance to her last, Brenda is funny, fierce and (mostly) loyal to main heroine Sidney (Anna Farris). She’s so good in the role, they kept resurrecting her character for the sequels. It’s the movies that garnered her much deserved recognition and say what you will about Brenda, not many final girls can say they were brought back from the dead multiple times, just because they were fun to have around.
#1 Angela Bassett – Various Roles
Another actress whose foray into the genre tends to be pushed aside in favour of her more dramatic outings, the beauty and power that is Angela Basset has been starring in horror movies and television shows going as far back as her 1992 role as pilot Fran in Critters 4.
Not always a heroine though, she’s even taken her turn at playing more antagonistic type characters like the formidable voodoo priestess Marie Laveau in American Horror Story: Coven. But like Jamie Lee Curtis, Basset was born to play the heroine and most of her roles in the horror genre saw her being just that.
Innocent Blood, Nightmare Cafe, Supernova and Vampire in Brooklyn are just a few of them and spoiler alert, like the final girl, excuse me, badass final LADY she is, she survives them all!
Which of these final girls of colour was your favourite? Any you would add to the list? And you can check out more horror articles below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More