Final Destination: Bloodlines – Film Review

Directors – Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
Writers – Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon Watts
Stars – April Telek, Tony Todd, Brec Bassinger

The first Final Destination movie was directed by James Wong and released in March 2000. It went on to spawn four sequels, and Final Destination 5 was released in 2,011. Now, some 14 years later, with teen horror films doing well at the box office, it’s no surprise that this franchise is undergoing a reboot!

The opening scenes are set in the 1960s, where a young, fresh-faced couple visit a new building. It is a sky tower, with a bulb perched high on top of a long tower section. We are told it is built from reinforced concrete, steel and glass, although it seems they have used glass for most of the structural elements. What could possibly go wrong? We see a penny stolen from the fountain at the base do untold damage as it bounces through the air conditioning system and beyond, as the entire structure comes crashing down.

Although, is this all a dream? We’re back in the present day, and Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) wakes in a cold sweat as she’s just had a horrific dream. She’s had the dream several times, and she can’t sleep for fear of seeing the building coming tumbling down. She knows the name of the young couple in the 1960s, and they happen to match with her grandparents. She sets out to investigate these strange happenings.

The premise is a little more convoluted than usual, but when you get down to it, it’s the same old formula, with Death trying to take those souls who escaped his clutches. As ever, Death is a fan of the more intricate death sequences, and largely seems to go for chain events involving household and garden appliances.

It does feel slightly different from the previous incarnations of the franchise. The evolution of CGI since the time of the last feature has allowed the filmmakers to up the ante in terms of the deaths. Also, the level of gore has increased considerably, as we see a variety of decapitations and people being pulled apart. While the film has a 16s cert, it must be clinging to the edge. There are a few interesting characters among the collection of teens who meet grisly ends, and this carries the story along. While it’s not of the quality of the first few in the franchise, if you’re looking for some teen-based horror scares, this will fill the gap. Special mention must go to Tony Todd, who turns up in a short cameo performance for his final screen appearance. It couldn’t help but pull at the heartstrings!