5 times Kirsty proved herself as the perfect final girl of Hellraiser

Horror fans initially discovered Kirsty Cotton in Clive Barker’s 1987 game-changing horror film, Hellraiser. While Barker’s extra-dimensional beings known as Cenobites have helped the franchise in establishing longevity, we also met an unforgettable scream queen through the inclusion of Kirsty.

The character, played by Ashley Laurence, was featured in a total of four films where she earned her stripes as Hellraiser’s ultimate survivor. To repeatedly overcome a grim demise, she’s faced off with The Hell-Priest Pinhead, family members, and even an incarnation of Leviathan, so there’s no shortage of remarkable moments to prove her status as a timeless final girl.

Reasons Kirsty proved herself as the perfect final girl of Hellraiser

Wearing a skinsuit to survive

In Hellbound: Hellraiser II, we witness arguably one of the most disturbing things we’ve seen a horror protagonist do. Wear someone else’s skin to deceive their attacker. To escape a labyrinth version of hell, Kirsty realizes that her best option is to distract Dr. Channard, the newly turned Cenobite. Recalling his attachment to Julia, Kirsty is next seen donning her stepmother’s skinsuit, which allows Tiffany to complete the puzzle box and defeat Channard. Consequently, the act frees souls from Leviathan, making this an overall epic and grotesque play from Kirsty.

Preventing death by mansplaining

Kirsty has some of the best scenes in the Hellraiser franchise, but it’s often overlooked that she squashed a damsel in distress trope with ease. As her boyfriend Steve arrives in the final moments of the first film, he immediately attempts to play hero and remove the puzzle box from her hands mid-attack. Instead of handing over the one chance at survival to someone who knows virtually nothing about the lore, she swats him away, saves their lives, and becomes the authentic hero of Hellraiser!

Outsmarting cenobites

On multiple occasions, Kirsty has actually prevented her own demise at the hands of the cenobites, offering up others who had deceived them, or loopholes to extend her life. When Kirsty used the first film to implement her survivor mentality, each film since expanded on her wit and valuable awareness to help her outlast anyone else in similar circumstances. There have been plenty of other characters that have been involved in the long-running franchise, but none quite have that same success as the original hero.

A Hellraiser mentor

Kirsty had to try to look out for herself and her father in the first Hellraiser, with at least a 50% success rate in that respect. In the sequel, she finds herself inadvertently responsible for someone with her own puzzle skills and turns the heroine into a character that’s fighting for something more. Perhaps there’s room for a Kirsty arc in the upcoming series or Hulu Hellraiser revival? There’s a definitive boom in horror franchises succeeding as series too, so here’s hoping!

Her exquisite plan in Hellseeker

After a brief sabbatical, Kirsty returned for the film Hellraiser: Hellseeker, in another predicament that required five souls in exchange for her own survival. Kirsty offers up her husband, and several others, only to reveal that those sacrificed aren’t your average victims. Two of them, including her own husband, conspired to kill her for her money, and the others engaged in affairs with her partner, making it a less complicated choice to make for the hardened survivor. How often do you get a horror film where the scream queen doubles as the pseudo-villain in some way? Not many.

Hellraiser is currently getting a reboot treatment and will be receiving a series for HBO in the near future.