Final Destination: Bloodlines
It's been 14 years since the last Final Destination movie, so if you're unfamiliar with the concept, a quick catch-up: Death has a plan for you. In each movie (five so far), a young person sees a vision of themselves dying, typically in a huge disaster that kills many others. They manage to dodge their fate, but Death is petty and doesn't like his plans ruined, so he finds new ways to bump off everyone who should have died, usually involving elaborate Heath Robinson-esque traps, just to drive his point home. It was always an extremely strong idea, but the movies didn't entirely live up to the premise. This, though. This might be the most fun one yet.
It begins with the best death sequence of any of the movies. In the 1960s, a young couple head out on a special date to a new restaurant. We won't spoil just what goes down, but from the moment you see that the restaurant is at the top of a slender tower – 'completed five months ahead of schedule!' a staff member breathlessly boasts – you can feel something awful coming. The sheer volume of awful things coming, however, is astonishing. It's a scene that bounces you between wincing, shrieking and laughing, impressively balanced by directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.
After this belter of an opener, it initially looks like that the best might be over. In some very clunky scenes, we're introduced to Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), a modern day college student who's plagued by nightmares of the restaurant incident. Determined to find out why she's having these visions, she heads home and learns the secret of a grandmother who ruined her family's life by raving about death. All this happens in the space of about ten minutes, in scenes that lurch through inelegant exposition. Thankfully, it soon becomes clear that this heightened plotting is a choice. It then settles into an extremely enjoyable, vastly over-the-top mood.
It's daft as hell and a heck of a good time
Stefani learns that Death is coming for her entire family, and she knows in which order. What follows is an equally hilarious and horrifying game of trying to dodge fate, with lots of twists, switcheroos and bloody kills. Family resentments bubble up as Death draws closer. It's like the world's bloodiest therapy session.
The deaths aren't repulsive in a Saw way, but amusingly repellent. Lipovsky and Stein enjoy themselves lingering on all sorts of mundane objects – a trampoline, a beer bottle, a leaf blower – challenging you to work out how they might all come together to turn someone to pulp. It never happens in the way you expect.
This movie does exactly what a horror reboot should, taking the best bits of the original and heading in a smart, inventive new direction. There's minimal reliance on nostalgia. It's daft as hell and a heck of a good time.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Sinners to land on streaming services just 2 months after 'cinematic triumph'
You can soon watch one of the best films of the year in the comfort of your own home as the horror thriller Sinners is set to land on streaming platforms from June Sinners has been a huge success with critics and audiences alike, and fans will be grateful to know that the box office hit is about to land on streaming services after releasing in cinemas just last month. A collaboration between writer-director Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan, Sinners sees the Creed star playing both twin brothers Smoke and Stack in a thrilling new film. The story follows their journey back to their Mississippi home town to have a fresh start, however the plans take a terrifying turn when they have a run-in with a travelling band of vampires. Since its release in cinemas at the beginning of April, Sinners has dominated at the box office alongside Marvel's latest release Thunderbolts and the sixth instalment in the Final Destination franchise. But now as it finishes up its nearly two-month-long theatrical run, anyone who didn't have time for a trip to the cinema will be able to watch it from the comfort of their own home as it is reported to launch on streaming platforms such as Prime Video and Apple TV on Tuesday, June 3. READ MORE: Ben Stiller defends Sinners against critical headline after an impressive box office debut After its first launch, the film was an instant success with critics, skyrocketing to an incredible 99% on the critic's website Rotten Tomatoes. Having dropped just two points in the last few months, it also impressed audiences on the website who gave it a very impressive score of 96%. One Google reviewer who rated the film five stars heaped on the praise: "Ryan Coogler's Sinners is a cinematic triumph that blends gripping storytelling with raw emotion, and at the heart of it all is a powerhouse performance by Michael B. Jordan that will be remembered for years to come." While another particularly impressed with Jordan's performance added: "What a beauty! Michael B. Jordan delivers a career-high performance in his double role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack. Miles Caton as Sammie, the blues guitarist, steals every scene he's in with a soulful, electric presence. Everyone else is great in their roles too. The film pulls you into its universe, and you become completely immersed." Despite critics typically panning horror films, the film even scored an A rating on CinemaScore, becoming the first horror film in its 47-year history to achieve the score. Haillee Steinfeld plays Mary in the film, a "white-passing" character who helped her explore her own heritage. Speaking to Haillee said: "This movie in general, and this role specifically, pushed me to, I guess, include as part of my research digging into my family history... something I've done here and there throughout the years, but never like I did when I took on this role. "I love the research period for what we do, and the fact that this was something I got to walk away with, feeling closer to myself and closer to my family, was the most incredible thing."
Spectator
3 days ago
- Spectator
A lovely album: Saint Leonard's The Golden Hour reviewed
Grade: A+ The kids with their synths and hip producers, dragging the 1980s back: I wish they would stop. It was, in the main, an awful decade for music, the bands trite yet portentous, the stupid burbling bass guitars, hubris-stricken vocals and tinny drums. The kids retread all the dross. Yet if you were actually around and sentient in that avaricious decade, as was Saint Leonard, you could find a certain chill beauty in hidden corners. Not the New Romantics, not Japan, not SAW. Just small niches here and there of inventiveness and clever pop. Saint Leonard – Kieran Leonard to his mum – draws down all that was good about the cool side of the early 1980s: the motorik beats, the synths that were only three steps above a theremin, the primitive stuttered drums appropriated from Germany. You can find Cabaret Voltaire, Berlin-era Bowie and very early Ultravox within here. And the later part of the decade? David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti's lush, minimalist, collaboration with Julee Cruise. Maybe a little debauched Gina X. The good stuff, in other words. It helps, of course, that Saint Leonard can write a tune – both 'Martini Symphony' and 'Threshold' are simply great pop songs – but also has the confidence in his melodies to allow room for them to breathe, such as the Sprechgesang on the beautiful 'The Florist'. This is a lovely album, but it is too clever, too sincere, too knowing in its musical pedigree to grab the attention of the radio programmers. Which is, I think, a great shame. Because bad though the 1980s were for music, they were always better than naive retreads of Depeche bloody Mode and the scarifying Kylie.
Metro
5 days ago
- Metro
Viewers have unsettling Final Destination experience after life imitates art
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Remember the Final Destination scene where a cinema ceiling fell? No? That's because it happened in real life when theatre attendees were watching the sixth film on the big screen. Final Destination: Bloodlines was released earlier this month, following Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) as she uncovers a deadly family secret that threatens all of their lives. It marked the final film appearance of the late genre icon Tony Todd, who had played the mysterious William Bludworth throughout the franchise. But cinemagoers in Argentina got an impromptu 4DX experience when, during a screening of the film, the theatre's ceiling began collapsing. The incident occurred around 9pm on May 19 at Cinema Ocho in La Plata, Buenos Aires, reports InfoBae. Attendee Fiamma Villaverde told the publication that she went to see the film as part of her 29th birthday celebrations, but did not expect to become immersed in it quite so much. 'There was a really loud noise. At first, we thought it was part of the movie because we were so absorbed, but then a huge piece fell on me,' she recalled. Around 40 attendees found their screening disrupted as the ceiling in screen 4 began to fall down, with Fiamma reportedly being struck by debris, explaining, 'It didn't hit their head because they were leaning slightly over the armrest.' She was allegedly struck in the shoulder, back, knee, and ankle, and sustained bruising from the accident. Video shared on social media shows a large hole in the ceiling of the cinema, with debris on the floor and in the aisles. 'I asked for my ticket money back,' Fiamma, who attended the film with their 11-year-old daughter, continued. She claimed: 'While I was waiting, the theatre manager came to talk to me. He asked, 'How do you want to fix this?' I got angry: 'How do I want to fix this? I'm going to file a complaint. Just imagine if they hit my daughter in the head! They're irresponsible!'' The film has proved a hit for the franchise, grossing a whopping $187.1 million (£138 million) worldwide so far, making it the highest-grossing installment of the franchise. More Trending Speaking to Metro ahead of the release, directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky shed light on how they plotted those 'staggeringly grisly', intricate death scenes, sparked from random freak occurrences. 'From the very beginning, we call it, 'What can we ruin for people?' so that after you see this movie, for the rest of your life, you'll never be able to look at a cup filled with ice in the same way, or a garbage disposal truck, or hear the song Shout without thinking of this movie,' Adam teased. 'That was a big conversation. I think that's the legacy of Final Destination: that it takes potential anxieties and brings them to life in a way that ruins them for people forever. 'We always wanted to create a movie that you had to watch through your fingers, but while you were also smiling. Getting that tone balance right was very tricky.' Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: The best Wes Anderson films to watch if The Phoenician Scheme isn't your vibe MORE: Michael Jackson biopic's exhausting runtime confirmed in major update MORE: The Phoenician Scheme review – My sky-high hopes for Wes Anderson's latest were dashed
