It’s been 14 years since the blood, guts, and chaos of the Final Destination franchise graced cinema screens for the horror sickos. A series of films that for many millennials created an irrationally rational fear of log trucks, roller coasters, tanning beds, and NASCAR, cementing itself as one of the most beloved horror franchises of the 2000s. Now, 25 years on from the original film, Final Destination: Bloodlines cinematically ushers in the Death-dodging narrative for a new generation while still paying respect to the films that laid the foundation before it.
Series newcomers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein (who won the directing gig for this film by staging an elaborate fake death on a Zoom call with the producers) bring to life a story from Spider-Man: No Way Home filmmaker Jon Watts, which begins in the 1960s where Iris Campbell (Brec Bassinger) has a premonition that saves her from a fiery death that occurs when a skyrise restaurant collapses in excessive Final Destination fashion.
60 years later, Iris’ escape from death is the same nightmare that plagues college student, Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), who upon returning home to her family for support and guidance, discovers that their familial bloodline puts them all in danger of becoming Death’s next victims if they can’t disrupt the curse.
” blood, guts, and chaos “
Aside from the predominant sister focused relationship in Final Destination 3, Bloodlines is the only film in this series to have a strongly bonded family at the centre of the story. Where previous installments pitted groups of friends, or even complete randoms, against Death’s attempts to take their lives, the family unit of this film often challenges the audience, who are most likely watching this film to see lots of sickening and elaborate deaths play out, to actually care about whether these characters live or die. It feels like the first Final Destination film where there are moments that you will barrack for Death to not succeed.
The chemistry and bond between the functionally dysfunctional Reyes-Campbell family also provides a lot of laughs as their wicked banter in the face of such a traumatising series of events gives Bloodlines a very dark sense of humour, something that the series hasn’t exactly excelled in over the years. The sarcastic and apathetic nature of Erik (Richard Harmon) matches wonderfully in an odd-couple way with the optimism and pathos of Bobby (Erik Patrick Joyner), while Julia (Anna Lore) and Charlie (Teo Briones) often get many of the sweeter, innocently funny moments as the youngest of their respective families, with Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt) and Marty (Tinpo Lee) rounding out the family unit with their parental demeanour in the face of their biggest challenge yet.
In one of his final film performances, Tony Todd returns as the iconic recurring mortician, William Bludworth, who’s ominous appearances throughout the franchise, often warning Death’s upcoming ticket holders that their time draws near, gets a beautiful, touching, and retrospectively heartbreaking monologue about living the rest of the life you have to the fullest, and not letting the idea of death stop you from enjoying the things and people around you – something that Bludworth finally realised after decades surrounded by corpses, and something that Todd himself seemed to live by during his life.
But, what about the things audiences are really expecting to see? The elaborate, prolonged build ups to insanely brutal (and creative) death scenes. Well, on one hand, Bloodlines features a disgusting hospital-based set piece that should be in contention for one of the all-time Final Destination deaths, plus a handful of toe-curling, gore-filled moments that will fulfill the needs of the sickos out there. However, there are many deaths in the film in which the build ups feel like second-fiddle to the shock-factor splattery result. There are a lot of deaths in this film, and the majority of them feel like something out of every other horror film out there compared to the uniqueness usually found in this series. When the deaths work, they’re magnificently demented, and when they don’t, they stand out.
Clocking in at 110 minutes, Bloodlines is the longest Final Destination film, and there are times where that length is felt due to the pacing. The rapid-fire set-up-to-deaths, with sprinklings of investigative thriller between those moments, of the 5 predecessors were a strong foundation for the enjoyment factor of those films. You get what you signed up for, and you get it quick with barely any filler. And while the family dynamic of this film is enjoyable, it does become repetitive during the more investigative moments, and this causes the pace of the story to stall occasionally.
In terms of comparison to the rest of the Final Destination films, Bloodlines sits on the lower end of the spectrum, because while it does a fair few things right (namely the soon to become iconic hospital set-piece) and is undoubtedly going to please long-time fans, its flaws outweigh the pros just enough to not necessarily feel like the strongest return it could have been.
Final Destination: Bloodlines is in cinemas May 15.
