Our introduction to the Final Destination franchise began at the start of a new millennium. The 2000s became a decade in which horror was on a rollercoaster, from the torture porn of the Saw and Hostel franchises, the explosion of Found Footage Horror, the continuation of the New French Extremity movement to defining standouts such as Wolf Creek (2005) and The Descent (2005). What is certain of this period is that it was one where the genre was fun to engage with. This enjoyment seeped into the beginning of the 2010s when Blumhouse gave us Insidious (2010), Sinister (2012), and The Conjuring (2013) to feast on. However, during the latter half of the decade, the fun was brought to a halt as a wave of works concerned with societal issues came onto the scene. Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) began a movement in which themes, predominantly of race and class, took precedence over entertainment, becoming a masturbatory experience for activist film academics and students.
Now, as we’re halfway through the 2020s, we’re still enduring the leakage of woke horror. Franchises from the decade of glory, such as Saw, have reemerged with new entries in the last few years to capitalise on the cry out for nostalgia from audiences familiar with the 2000s. However, while Saw X (2023) rewarded us with glimpses of this nostalgia, it wasn’t a strong enough dose to persuade us that horror would become ‘fun’ again. Final Destination Bloodlines leads to the same conclusion. However, its spectacular opening scene delivers as close as we can get to experiencing that feeling we got from the 2000s. And just solely because of that, it is worth a cinema trip.
A young couple take a trip to the brand new opening of a space needle-style restaurant in the sky, where the man gets down on one knee and proposes, and the woman announces she’s pregnant. The future looks so hopeful and bright for this couple, until it's not. The signature red flags from the franchise appear when the young woman, Iris, realises something is not quite right as she becomes hyper alert of the danger that might follow from being over 600 feet in the sky. It turns out the construction of the building was completed earlier than expected, and it doesn’t take much damage for the whole thing to fall apart, leading to the death of everyone involved. The catastrophe in the sky is possibly Final Destination's best extravaganza of death yet. Characters' deaths are highly sensational, the violence escalating into even more ridiculous territory than what came before it. The laughter you endure from this high-quality entertainment fills you with joy, as it feels you’ve been permitted to have fun again with the genre.
Despite the rewarding opening, it kicks us off on a journey in which the deaths that occur later down the line struggle to top or even match the spectacle we begin with. While we are presented with impressive creativity involving an MRI scanning machine and a garbage truck, it doesn’t quite match the shocking hilarity of the gymnast in Final Destination 5 (2011), who swung to her death, breaking her body in half. Such a strong opener sets up Bloodlines on a downward trajectory, failing to live up to the high standard it set at the start. Story and character fail to compensate, but you may be a fool to have high expectations in this area with a franchise that's built its reputation entertaining its audience with a parade of death.
To give us confidence, or at least comfort us with the expectation that this current wave of diluted horror is on its way out, Bloodlines would have needed to deliver an experience where the adrenaline was consistent throughout to make a big enough impact to influence a change in direction for the genre. While that change will inevitably come, Final Destination is not the saving grace of the times we find ourselves in. Rather than reverting to successful franchises to spawn new creations, what is needed is brand-new IP (intellectual property) that dares to return to the extremes of the genre, watering down on societal critique, and showing the ability to have fun again. These requirements, along with compelling storytelling, may kickstart a brighter future for horror.
Out in UK cinemas now
Share this post