In 2000, the original Final Destination was released in cinemas, bringing something new to the horror genre. Instead of having a monster or zombie-like antagonist hunting down the main characters, the antagonist was simply Death. It couldn’t physically be seen, but its presence could be felt as it left a trail of corpses in the most creative and elaborate death scenes shocking and frightening audiences across the globe. The movie received four sequels, with the last entry released in 2011, until now. 14 years since the last film, Final Destination Bloodlines is ready to shed more blood, spill more guts and dismember more body parts in cinemas worldwide.

Plagued by a violent and recurring nightmare, college student Stefani returns home to try and find some answers, believing it could be more than just a nightmare. Her search eventually leads her to her grandmother, Iris, who is seen as crazy and detached from the rest of the family due to her extreme paranoia, but she could be the only one who could help Stefani. Iris explains that Death is coming for their family in a specific order, with her being next, but she’s been able to delay it for so long until her own life was then taken right before Stefani’s eyes. After Stefani figures out the order of the upcoming deaths of herself and her family, she must convince them of her premonition and try to break the cycle of death to save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.

The film primarily centres around Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Stefani in what could be her breakthrough role. Being one of the only characters aware of how Death is approaching her and her family, she has to convince everyone to take her seriously and not think she’s crazy like her grandmother. She’s shown to care for everyone in the family, even relatives she isn’t close with. No matter how hard it is to get everyone to believe her, she remains determined to prevent more needless deaths from occurring.

Brec Bassinger portrays her grandmother, Iris, in her younger years and Gabrielle Rose in the modern day. Iris’s role plays a big part in the overall story. The film’s opening scene shows a young Iris being brought to a fancy restaurant by her then-boyfriend, Paul, played by Max Lloyd-Jones. Things are going well until the building begins to fall apart, killing everyone inside, including the two.

Decades later, it turns out that it was a premonition, as Iris explains to Stefani, and she managed to save many lives that day. However, because she cheated her own death and later lost Paul, she learns she’s next in line and spends the next few decades doing everything possible to keep herself alive so the rest of the family can live. After Death finally catches up to Iris, it’s now up to Stefani to prevent it from reaching the rest of the family.

The rest of Stefani’s family includes Teo Briones as Charlie, Richard Harmon as Erik, Owen Patrick Joyner as Bobby, Anna Lore as Julia, Rya Kihlstedt as Darlene, Alex Zahara as Howard, April Telek as Brenda, and Andrew Tinpo Lee as Marty. They all have diverse personalities and often conflict with Stefani, especially when she has to try to make everyone believe her crazy premonition. Erik, especially, provides some comedic relief to the film.

The late great Tony Todd, who passed away just last year, reprises his role as William Bludworth, a recurring character who has appeared in four of the five previous Final Destination films. The character has been a huge part of the franchise since the beginning, and it’s great to see the actor just one more time in one of his most iconic roles. More context is given to his backstory, and he gets a bittersweet ending. Final Destination Bloodlines is dedicated to his memory.

The film has an intriguing story with some subtle connections to all previous movies. The main attraction, of course, is the violence, and the film does not hold back. Whether they used practical or special effects, the death scenes will make you cringe and look away due to their extremely graphic nature.

The way they’re done may be over the top, elaborate, creative and highly unlikely to happen in real life with the way they’re set up and everything falling into place conveniently by chance. Still, just like the previous films, they’ll likely make audiences paranoid over the smallest things. There are also a few callbacks to past films that fans will either enjoy or unlock some unpleasant memories.

Most of the film occurs in the daytime, but this does not diminish the horror aspect. Even the music playing during some of the death scenes might seem out of place at first, but it strangely fits into its respective scenes as audiences watch on uncomfortably. The only minor drawback is that it seems to lack some of the tension buildup of the earlier films, but graphical violence alone stays true to a Final Destination film.

It seemed unlikely that another Final Destination film would ever happen or that it could be as good as the first three films. 14 years later, we finally get a worthwhile sequel that delivers on the violence and holds nothing back. Seeing Tony Todd one last time for his final film as one of his most iconic roles that explores his backstory is an absolute pleasure. Final Destination Bloodlines is back for blood, and plenty of it, as Death is always coming!

Written by: Sammy Hanson