Top 20 Best Horror Movie Final Battles

“Friday the 13th” (1980)
Before Jason Voorhees enters the picture, with his hockey masks and machetes, his mother is the one picking off unwitting camp counselors. The original “Friday the 13th” doesn’t introduce its villain until the last 15 minutes or so. Once it does, though, it’s an all-out assault. She chases the sole survivor of her massacre all across Camp Crystal Lake. Where some slasher villains are coldly detached, there’s something incredibly scary about how unhinged and anguished Mrs. Voorhees is. But Alice is no easy target. She eventually gets the upper hand with Mrs. Voorhees’ very own machete. You can’t say Jason doesn’t come by it honestly.

“The Conjuring” (2013)
Basements are creepy enough. They’re even creepier when they’re the site of an exorcism. Based on the alleged exploits of two real-life paranormal investigators, “The Conjuring” tells the story of a family whose new home is infested with a demonic spirit. The climax sees the mother possessed by a long-dead witch named Bathsheba, and Ed and Lorraine Warren administering an exorcism in the family’s basement. This demon did not come to play. Everything in sight becomes a potential weapon. It’s only through their joint effort that they are able to finally cast Bathsheba’s spirit back to hell.

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” (1986)
The family of cannibals first introduced in “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” is now living in the bowels of an abandoned theme park. They’re tracked down by a radio DJ named Stretch and an eccentric Texas ranger named Lieutenant Lefty Enright. At the end, Lefty challenges Leatherface to a chainsaw fight. It’s about as thrilling and goofy as it sounds. No one would call Tobe Hooper’s original movie level-headed, but this one is just as bizarre in an even sillier, darkly funny way. Dennis Hopper’s manic energy and the sheer lunacy of it all makes this a duel to remember.

“You’re Next” (2011)
Three masked assailants meet their match in Erin, who is accompanying her boyfriend to his family reunion. Little do they know, she grew up among survivalists, and is shockingly good at defending herself. This entry could cover the entire second half of the movie, which is a one-woman show of plain badassery. But it’s her final showdown with the true perpetrators of the murders that really takes the cake. Let’s just say Erin is an innovator when it comes to kitchen appliances. Then comes the real gut punch. When Erin finds out her boyfriend is in on the plot against his family, she is swift, efficient, and merciless.

“Prey” (2022)
This innovative science fiction prequel is not set in the future but 300 years in the past. In it, Naru, a Comanche woman, is hunted by an alien that crashes near her village. More than any other movie, “Prey” presents the Predator as a stranger in a strange land. Previous heroes in the franchise rely on futuristic weaponry to beat the monster. It’s Naru’s knowledge of the land she lives on and her careful studying of her enemy’s weaknesses that help her best the extra-terrestrial invader. In fact, she wins by using the Predator’s own advanced heat-seeking weapon against it. Military might isn’t the answer. Ingenuity and strategy is.

“Ready or Not” (2019)
Samara Weaving plays Grace, a former foster kid who marries into a large, wealthy family. But marrying up comes with a price. The Le Domas family has some interesting traditions – one of which is to hunt down those who marry into the family to satisfy a decades-old curse. Grace becomes the target. She survives the night by the skin of her teeth. The family straps her to the dining room table to complete the sacrifice, but she fights them off. She’s just in time, too. The curse claims each family member one by one, causing them to explode in a ball of blood as Grace watches.

“It Follows” (2014)
The curse at the heart of this unsettling supernatural story is hard to pin down. It takes the shape of people who are visible only to the afflicted, and it’s seemingly unstoppable in its quest to kill. How do you fight something like this? Jay and her friends think they’ve figured out a way. They trap the invisible Entity in a public pool and try to electrocute it. Shifting back and forth between the characters’ perspectives, the movie plays with the Entity’s invisibility more than ever before. Full of dread and arresting images, it’s a heartstopper of a climax.

“Dawn of the Dead” (1978)
At the end of George A. Romero’s zombie opus, the four survivors who have set up camp in a shopping mall are besieged by a group of bikers who break into the place and raid it. In doing so, they let in all the zombies our heroes have spent the entire movie trying so hard to keep out. The place is soon overrun, and the rambunctious bikers get more than they bargained for. In a stunning feat of terror, suspense, and makeup effects, the bikers are massacred, leaving the survivors to make their last stand against the undead.

“Evil Dead” (2013)
Remakes can be a huge bust. More money and CGI doesn’t necessarily mean a better movie. But the 2013 remake of the grindhouse classic actually has a lot to offer. While the character of David seems to be set up as the new franchise hero, it actually turns out to be Mia who faces off with the demon as the sky rains blood on them. Mia’s victory is hard-won. It’s a brutal battle of might that’s as spiritual as it is physical. In the end, she has to sacrifice her own hand to vivisect this demonic doppelganger with a chainsaw. Worth it.

“The Exorcist” (1973)
The entire last half hour of this seminal genre classic is a battle for a little girl’s soul. But after the exorcism ritual seemingly fails, and the elderly Father Merrin dies in the process, it’s Father Karras’ brute force and renewed faith that wins the day. Considering how much he was questioning his belief in God throughout the story, Karras’ victory over the demon Pazuzu is profound. He wrestles the possessed girl, begging the demon to take his body instead. In a great show of willpower, he fights the demon just long enough to throw himself from the girl’s bedroom window, sacrificing himself to stop its reign of unholy terror.

“Get Out” (2017)
“Nope” features a final battle with a massive alien of epic proportions. But Jordan Peele has yet to beat the tension of the last act of “Get Out.” We watch as Chris Washington fights back against a cult of wealthy white body snatchers, taking out his treacherous girlfriend’s murderous family one by one. Once it comes time to face off with Rose herself, Chris is about to kill her when he is suddenly bathed in police lights. In one of the all-time fakeouts, it turns out not to be the police, but his friend in the TSA. It’s a perfect ending twist.

“Misery” (1990)
Stephen King’s story of fandom turned poisonous ends in triumphantly violent fashion. Paul Sheldon is a writer who is injured in a car accident and held captive by a deranged fan, Annie Wilkes. Once he finishes the book she forces him to write, he makes a daring escape attempt. He clobbers her over the head with his typewriter, which she doesn’t take well. Using her fanatical love of his work against her, he sets his manuscript on fire and shoves the ashes in her mouth. “Misery” is a masterpiece of suspense. We’ve endured sledgehammered ankles and shotguns to get to this ending, and this final battle does not disappoint.

“The Cabin in the Woods” (2011)
A clichéd story about five college students being picked off by a horde of undead ghouls soon takes a turn for the meta. In actuality, they are unknowing pawns in an ancient storytelling ritual that determines the fate of mankind. When they discover this, the two surviving characters unleash every single mythical creature and monster you can think of from their holding cells under the facility. We’re talking ghosts, zombies, killer clowns, werewolves, and even a massive king cobra. The last scene isn’t so much a battle as it is a complete and utter one-sided bloodbath.

“Freddy vs. Jason” (2003)
If the series’ first final girl, Nancy Thompson, proved anything, it’s that Freddy Krueger could be defeated if he’s pulled out of our dreams and into the real world. But he puts up quite a fight when he meets Jason Voorhees. Jason’s superhuman strength has him flinging the nightmare man all across Camp Crystal Lake like a ragdoll. They’re evenly matched. Freddy gains the upper hand and is able to land some nasty blows. When this long-rumored pairing finally came to theaters, horror fans were divided to say the least. But the extended final sequence was almost worth the worst of what came before it. We’re seeing two of horror’s biggest and baddest boogeymen doing what they do best.

“Scream” (1996)
The devastating double reveal that Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy, and her friend, Stu, are the killers launches this slasher into an epic finale. Trapped in a house together, Sidney seizes the opportunity to hide and turn the tables on them. Watching her gain the upper hand over her attackers is so satisfying. She pulls no punches in beating them at their own game, making taunting phone calls, and bursting out of closets armed with sharp objects. Billy’s death may be satisfying, but we have to give Sidney style points for that TV to the skull kill. That’s a moment that stays with you.

“The Thing” (1982)
John Carpenter’s claustrophobic remake about an alien that can absorb and replicate any living organism features some truly gruesome monster effects. Apart from how hideous it is, the extra-terrestrial threat’s scariest trait is that it seems unstoppable. Luckily, its one weakness seems to be fire. Kurt Russell’s stalwart MacReady, realizing he just may be the last human alive in this Arctic dungeon, sets out to blow the Thing to pieces. When it reveals itself, in all its misshapen, slimy, and monstrous glory, MacReady sets off a series of rigged explosives with a flare. The entire place goes up in a ball of fire, but not before Russell shoots off an iconic one-liner. It’s the 80s, after all.

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
Hannibal Lecter may be scary, but he’s not the big bad of this beloved thriller. Clarice thinks she’s doing some background research on the serial killer her colleagues are about to arrest. She has no idea she’s actually knocking on Buffalo Bill’s door. Realizing his true identity, she tries to arrest him herself, but he flees to the basement where he cuts the power. Starling is forced to fumble her way through a pitch black killer’s lair as he stalks her with night-vision goggles. Haunting and loaded with heartstopping tension, this is a movie showdown that leaves you breathless.

“Jaws” (1975)
Three men of very different backgrounds sail out to catch and kill the great white that’s been terrorizing Amity Island. But each of their traps goes horribly wrong. With one of his pals missing and the other devoured right in front of him, it’s up to Chief Brody to stop the creature’s killing spree. The adrenaline is at an all-time high as the boat begins to sink. With that great theme music, the incredible editing, and Steven Spielberg’s masterful handling of tension, Brody’s last stand is a thrilling race against time. He only has seconds to get off that amazing killing shot.

“Halloween” (1978)
Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut as the bookish babysitter who faces off against a masked murderer. Laurie is anything but a helpless victim. Faced with the sight of her friends’ corpses and the expressionless mask of serial murderer Michael Myers, Laurie goes into survival mode. She makes use of anything she can to stop him. Before he can get to her, she stabs him with a knitting needle, a wire hanger, and finally, his own knife. Myers may be unstoppable, but Laurie is one of the few people who can give him a run for his money. No matter how audiences felt about “Halloween Ends,” seeing her finally put him out of his misery was cathartic.

“Aliens” (1986)
James Cameron’s sci-fi-horror classic has plenty of bloodcurdling sequences, but it also has one of the best action hero performances ever. No one ever looked cooler going up against a space monster than Sigourney Weaver in this Oscar-nominated performance. The ending sees Lieutenant Ellen Ripley at the controls of a huge cargo loader, protecting young Newt from the angry alien queen. It isn’t just the coolest final fight in horror history. It also makes Ripley and Newt’s mother-daughter relationship feel earned. And then they lived happily ever after and they never made another sequel that undermined the whole franchise. At least, that’s how we’ll remember it.