I’ll tell this story one more time then put it in the penalty box for a while, but this is my favorite Final Destination story and one of my favorite moviegoing experiences. I was 15 when the first film opened and my mom took me and my siblings to see it in theaters as a reward for a round of good report cards. My sister was 11 at the time and the movie proved to be too much for her, and my mom took her to a different auditorium for a calmer movie (The Tigger Movie, I believe). Memories. Flash forward, now we’re both parents; my sister was dragged to the theater to see Final Destination Bloodlines by her two teenagers and I had to leave the film after the opening scene because my 11 year old was too freaked out. This weekend, with Bloodlines now available on streaming and 4K UHD and Blu-ray, I finally got to see the film from start to finish. What a treat. Bloodlines is not only as good as the initial reviews proclaimed, but it’s even better. It may even be the best of the series, but time will tell on that front.
Building on the mythology from Final Destination 5 that explicitly tied the series together, Bloodlines goes even deeper. The opening disaster sequence, set in a Space Needle-esque high-rise restaurant, shows that the franchise hasn’t lost a step in the 14 years since the last film came out. Iris (Brec Bassinger) is a young woman on the cusp of starting a family with her beau, but life, and Death, have other plans. Iris avoids calamity and lives happily ever after. Or, rather, she lives. Jumping 50 years to the present day, Iris (now played by Gabrielle Rose), lives in isolation and spends her days in a tête-à-tête with Death, talking to herself/Death like two old-timers playing chess in the park. Iris has passed her trauma down the family tree and Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) has taken up the mantle of family seer. She has a recurring nightmare of the disaster. That leads to Stefani learning the comically bleak family history and how each branch of the tree has died off, save for the one headed by Iris.
It’s always been amusing to me that the Final Destination movies essentially peak in their opening set piece. That’s by necessity to set up the blueprint for the rest of the film and because it’s the only time in the films where the whole cast is incorporated in the mayhem. It also becomes something of a challenge to the filmmakers to find ways to make the rest of the film as compelling as the opening. Writers Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor have come up with a story that effectively plays the hits but puts as fresh a spin on the material as you can realistically get a quarter century into the franchise’s existence. They also give the characters enough juice (as does the cast) to rise above the cannon fodder status that befell the last two films. These movies are exponentially more fun when you’re rooting for the characters instead of their demises.
Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein show a similar glee at getting to play in this sandbox. Lipovsky and Stein favor wider shots to show off the Rube Goldbergesque machinery of Death throughout the film. It makes the film visually dynamic and draws the audience in. It’s very entertaining to scan all corners of the screen to see what random objects and people are feints and which will play into the fates of the characters. There are a few death scenes where they’re able to frame all of the component parts in the shot and these are some of the film’s best payoffs.
Amidst all the mayhem and bloodletting lies the film’s biggest shock, which is the film’s surprisingly touching send off for both Tony Todd and his coroner/mortician character William Bludworth. Todd’s appearances in the series have always been highlights of the non-death parts of the films. Final Destination has always been merciless about death, but the best entries tend to consider the weight of death and the impact it has on some of the characters. Having Todd’s curtain call fit within the confines of the story makes it feel especially poignant.
Bloodlines is a prime example of a filmmaking team knowing what’s expected of them and delivering the goods. It welcomes a new generation of fans to the series and genre, while also doing right by the older fans. Final Destination has one of the highest hit rates of any horror franchise and Bloodlines raises the series’ batting average. Getting a new Final Destination movie is a treat, getting one this good is a genuine surprise, which is something very few series can say about their sixth entry.
The film’s 4K UHD release looks and sounds spooktakular. In a world where Death is lurking around every turn, being able to hear every gust of when or see slight movements in the corner of every room is important. The film is brightly lit, so even its darkest moments are easy to follow along. The special features offer typical looks from the set (“Death Becomes Them: On the Set of ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’”), and a closer look at the film’s kills (“The Many Deaths of Bloodlines”). The commentary with directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein is a fairly typical track, but Lipovsky and Stein are fun hosts and their enthusiasm for the film and franchise makes for a good time. The anecdote about the Easter Eggs they put into the movie as well as the ones they asked the production team to sneak in without telling them, makes for amusing reactions throughout the film. “The Legacy of Bludworth,” has the late Tony Todd looking back on his character and the franchise itself. All in all, this is certainly a release worthy of the film and franchise.
