In terms of its Final Girl reputation, Halloween is ultimately criticized for having her central female character, Laurie Strode, saved by a male character; in this case, Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence) near the end of the movie.
Nevertheless, Halloween’s success led to more movies adopting the Final Girl trope — if not outright trying to copy Halloween’s handiwork — in the hopes of achieving the same high level of critical and/or commercial success.
In Carol J. Clover’s estimation, this distinction makes Laurie more of a “female survivor” than a “final girl” by its more strict definition.
A lot of the copycats didn’t measure up to Halloween in terms of quality, but there are a few standouts who helped to progress this trope in better ways.