‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ Revives the Franchise With Gory Glee

Alci Rengifo

The revival of any and all hit franchises continues with “Final Destination: Bloodlines.” Horror fans need no introduction. Like its characters, this is a film series constantly defying death. The first movie premiered in 2000 and was a hit with its teenage heroes trying to stay a step ahead of the Grim Reaper. Five other sequels followed, the last of which premiered in 2011. This latest entry is a lesson in how some formulas do survive the test of time. If you liked the previous movies, this one follows the formula exactly, yet finding new story avenues. More than anything it’s still a midnight guilty pleasure, finding horror in every day details.

This is the first in the series to open as a period piece. In 1959 a young couple, Iris (Brec Bassinger) and Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones), drive to dinner at a new restaurant atop a tower that looks like the Seattle Space Needle. While going up the elevator, Iris is struck by a terrifying vision predicting a catastrophe that’s about to hit the tower and its denizens. It is very timely considering Paul is planning to propose. Then, the vision is revealed to be a dream plaguing Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juan), Iris’ granddaughter in the future, meaning the movie is actually in the present. When Stefani starts asking her family questions, they get annoyed and warn her to stay away from Iris, who is now elderly and becoming senile. A persistent Stefani soon concludes death is out to close unfinished business from 1959, meaning her brother Charlie (Teo Briones), cousins Julia (Anna Lore), Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) and Erik (Richard Harmon), and Uncle Howard (Alex Zahara) and Aunt Brenda (April Telek) might be facing the prospect of gruesome fates.

“Final Destination” is a sly form of popcorn entertainment that hides a deeper idea in all its carnival distraction. Remember the 2000 original was directed by James Wong and written by Wong and Glen Morgan, both pioneering writers on “The X-Files.” Even its sequels, which range from decent to forgettable schlock, never lost sight of toying with the idea of death’s inevitability. Like this year’s “The Monkey,” this franchise is about accepting death is a part of life and we’re foolish to think otherwise. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein never pretend they’re re-tooling the premise. Wisely, they brought back the late Tony Todd for one last turn as undertaker William Bludworth, who has to plainly instruct these younglings on the merciless nature of death (Todd died six months ago of cancer is admirable in the commitment to his scene). In the case of Stefani, there are 12 potential victims due to connections and patterns she finds related to the 1959 tower incident.

Fans have already guessed her family will just laugh at Stefani’s warnings, except for her estranged mother, Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt). The expected Grand Guignol parade commences. One of the devilish pleasures of a “Final Destination” movie is in how the writers always borrow either from the news or the most common tools to conjure horrible deaths. Remember the girls who burned to death in their tanning beds? The classic spilled liquid onto an outlet is back, though writers Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor deserve credit for actually finding new terrors we haven’t seen in the other entries. A tattoo parlor becomes a painful death trap. An MRI machine turns into a literal vortex of destruction. Not even penis piercings are safe in this story. Bodies explode or get crushed, nice barbecues are decimated. You walk out of “Bloodlines” terrified of what might fall into your drink at a party. 

“Bloodlines” won’t be fun for the squeamish, who will avoid this movie anyway. It defines popcorn escape, without even relying too much on CGI except for a few key sequences or gory shots designed to get a laugh. Some of its best tension happens when the directors know exactly how to tease you with a passing truck or sudden door closing. You don’t need concocted monsters when a garbage truck can easily be deadly. The “accidents” in a “Final Destination” movie tend to be just plausible enough, with, again, a few outrageous exceptions. The soundtrack is another howler, providing sing-alongs for grinning at Death like Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” There is no copping out with the final shot, which is merciless. Considering the times we live in, maybe we need to be able to mock our mortality a little. “Final Destination: Bloodlines” justifies this franchise coming back, reminding us death can be one wrong step away.

“Final Destination: Bloodlines” releases May 16 in theaters nationwide.