Hooked On Horror Review - Final Destination Bloodlines

So, after waiting a long fourteen years, I was able to sit down and watch death come after the unlucky few he hand-selected in a brand-new Final Destination film. And whilst this film is not the best within the franchise, it is a very solid sequel with some great humour, fantastic gore and SFX, and (as always) some downright macabre, disgusting and wonderfully creative death scenes.

Hooked On Horror Review - Final Destination Bloodlines

Plagued by a violent and recurring nightmare, a college student heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle of death and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.

Whilst this film follows the Final Destination format we’ve all come to know and love, it does something slightly differently. We get the ‘premonition scene’ as a dream sequence from a family member who wasn’t there at the accident. In short Stefani keeps having this recurring dream about an accident her grandmother stopped many years ago, meaning her family shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Death is pissed basically and he’s come to collect his due. From there it follows a similar format to previous entries as these characters try to figure out a way to survive and fight off death to stop it coming for them full stop.

Right off the bat here, this premonition scene may be the bloodiest and most brutal in the franchise. Death is not messing around at all here, and he is relentless in this. I love how these disasters and deaths, in every Final Destination, are written so intricately, and with so much thought and detail; thankfully this one was no different. We get treated to some gnarly deaths in this scene and a finger de-gloving that will put you off ever wearing a ring again.

This scene is why I’m always a bit weary walking on a glass floors, and why I’m not a huge fan of them. Was nice to the film makers still exploiting a reasonable fear a lot of us probably have. As I said above- there’s some fantastic deaths throughout this scene. The elevator half smushing that old dude, that poor kid watching his mother be disintegrated and seeing that smug little brat (his fault in the first place- little shit!) crushed by a piano were highlights for me. It’s a fantastic premonition scene, and arguably one of the best in the franchise. The brutality and savagery on display in such explicit detail is a joy to watch for any horror fan and thankfully sets the standard for the remainder of this film.

From there we get the reveal that this was a dream Stefani was having, which is really the only major difference between this and the films before. It was interesting enough and it was nice seeing the film makers behind this try to bring something new or different to the franchise. Sort of follows the standard Final Destination format from there.

There’s a wonderful series of Easter Eggs for fans of the franchise throughout the film- one making a very tongue in cheek appearance for the finale (it was great). Thought it was quick and clever how they linked it into previous films, and they didn’t linger on it too long or try to overly explain it. Also loved how they made Todd an important part of this film and gave an explanation as to why this will be his last.

Cast were good fun to watch and came together on screen well. Was great seeing Teo Briones in another horror after his role in Chucky. Even if Stefani’s character did come across annoying now and again, she was the driving force of the film. I thought Kaitlyn Santa Juana did well with it, hopefully see her in more horror moving forward.  Highlight for me was Richard Harmon as Erik, the film’s comic relief. Had some great scenes, quite a few decent laughs and one liners, and arguably the best death scene in the film- I’ll get to that in a minute.

Lastly of course onto the late Tony Todd in his final appearance in a pretty pivotal scene in the film, it was a beautiful yet bittersweet moment- he was great as always. It was nice he got to say goodbye to his fans and leave final message. Won’t lie, this scene hit me in the feels a bit. He’s a hell of an actor that will be sorely missed, especially within the horror community.

“I intend to enjoy the time I have left, and I suggest you do the same. Life is precious, enjoy every single second. You never know when. Good luck.”

So, the big question with any Final Destination film- how were the deaths? In short, they were great. Everything you’d come to expect from a Final Destination film. As I said above death is relentless in this, and he takes no prisoners. And as Bludworth said in this “If you f*ck with death and lose, things can get very…messy”- and things get messy! They’re all as intricate and meticulous as we’ve seen previously; I will admit there were one or two moments that bordered on the bit too ridiculous/comical area, but overall, the deaths were great.

It was great to see that practical effects were being utilised for the deaths and gord as well. There’s a few decent behind the scenes featurettes on YouTube of how they did some of them- fantastic to watch. Highlights for me were death by rubbish truck (choice of song was hilarious as well), and deaths by MRI Machine & vending machine. Won’t give you details but rest assured you see everything in very explicit detail full of copious amounts of gore and blood- it is awesome. For anyone who is squeamish, maybe skip the snacks whilst watching this one. Oh and for anyone thinking the trailers ruined a lot, they didn't. Still plenty of surprises, twists and turns.

All in all, this is a solid entry into the franchise, but certainly not the best. Is it worth watching- 100% yes. It’s great fun, well shot with a great soundtrack and delivers everything you’d expect from a Final Destination film. Did love the humour in this one- even the twisted stuff.

To conclude, where I’d rank it third within the franchise. My ranking from best to worst would be-

Final Destination 2

Final Destination

Final Destination Bloodlines

Final Destination 3

The Final Destination

Final Destination 5