From horror icons to new slasher queens, one route to our little stan hearts is a star who' slaaaays.'

In 2017’s Happy Death Day, we found ourselves a new Scream Queen in the form of Jessica Rothe, who stars as Tree: a college student who is murdered on her birthday, and through reliving the day over and over, must work out who her killer really is to break the horrific loop.

In honour of Tree’s return to the cinema in new slasher sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, on 13th Feb 2019, here are some of our fave on-screen women who slay… literally.

Sigourney Weaver, Alien

As Ellen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver knows how to take care of business in Alien. When the Nostromo is invaded by a deadly and mysterious creature, Ridley uses her quick thinking to survive. While the rest of the crew panic and get killed off one by one, she kicks extra-terrestrial butt and ends up the sole survivor. Icons only!

Uma Thurman, Kill Bill

Kill Bill sees Uma Thurman travel the world in a quest to avenge the death of her unborn child. She serves some iconic looks, and has the power to bring a room full of people to their knees (or whatever limbs she’s left them with). This silly Caucasian girl likes to play with samurai swords, and looks like an absolute boss doing it.

Gabrielle Union, Breaking In

In Breaking In, Gabrielle Union fights like a MOTHER. And we mean it: she stars as a mum who has to break in to her highly secure house to save her kids from dangerous intruders. She’s totally badass in it, of course.

Neve Campbell, Scream

Neve Campbell is the ultimate hero in the Scream franchise, if only because she manages to survive Ghostface for four whole movies! We live for how real she is throughout the series, telling Ghostface that she finds female portrayals in horror movies to be “insulting”. Preach it Queen!

Betty Gabriel, Get Out

You’ll recognise Betty Gabriel as the a-bit-weird maid in Get Out, who goes on to give one of the greatest performances of the movie - in fact, she was mentioned as a contender for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar that year. She’s slaying her way to horror icon status too, appearing in Unfriended: Dark Web, The Purge: Election Year and sci-fi horror Upgrade to name just a few.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The clue’s in the title: Buffy is THE slayer. And when Sarah Michelle Gellar’s high school slayer isn’t staking vampires, she made us desperately want to be part of the Scooby Gang. No one’s ever looked as badass while wearing bootcuts as the Chosen One.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween

The original Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis won our hearts as Laurie Strode in Halloween… and then made a triumphant return to face off against Michael Myers a whole FORTY years later in 2018’s Halloween.

Linda Hamilton, Terminator

Linda Hamilton played the iconic Sarah Connor in the first two films in the Terminator franchise. She’s the definition of a survivor, working through the emotional turmoil caused by futuristic androids trying to take her out. Giiiiirl, we’ve all been there.

Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil

Playing Alice in all six films of the Resident Evil franchise, Milla Jovovich knows a thing or two about surviving a deadly virus. If you thought the zombies you see on your Monday morning commute were scary, just wait till you see the guys that Jovovich has to take out. Another day, another zombie apocalypse.