Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein — Screenplay by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor.
It was only a matter of time before the recent trend of legacy sequels, including in horror, would make its way to the Final Destination franchise, which burst onto the scene with James Wong’s iconic 2000 entry but stalled after Steven Quale’s Final Destination 5 in 2011. Now the horror movie franchise, which is built around a Rube Goldberg machine-esque chain reaction focus on Death’s design as a direct result of someone having cheated death, has been resurrected a quarter of a century after the release of the original film. I’ll admit that I was concerned that the inevitable legacy sequel would just be a quick cash grab, but I’m happy to report that it’s, in actuality, one of the sharpest films in the entire series. It’s clear from the first scene to the last that this was made by filmmakers who have a lot of love for these films and who understood fully what makes these films tick.
Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Final Destination: Bloodlines follows Stefani Reyes (played by Kaitlyn Santa Juana), a college student who suffers from recurring nightmares about an incident in the 1960s involving her grandmother, Iris (played by Gabrielle Rose and Brec Bassinger). Hoping to find some answers, Stefani returns home to talk to her family about her dreams. When she meets with her grandmother, Iris, Stefani learns about what happened to her grandmother decades upon decades ago, but when incidents occur and people start to die, it becomes clear to Stefani that, as a direct result of her grandmother’s actions, her family is on Death’s list.
Often times, it is the act of sticking too closely to a set formula that gets films in trouble because you tend to run into a case of ‘been there, done that,’ though in the case of this series the thrill of these films is in the effective formula being carried out with great forethought or planning that makes for the gradual chain reaction of horrific events to be visually communicated in inventive or fun ways. Bloodlines, from a script by Lori Evans Taylor and Ready Or Not co-writer Guy Busick (Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts also gets a story by co-credit) understands when to stick closely to the formula and when to adjust things ever so slightly so that the dark comedy of the film can earn laughs. Directors Lipovsky and Stein effectively pull off both the ‘wince and avert your eyes in horror’ aspect of the franchise, as well as the aforementioned mean-spirited humor of it. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, but what is taken seriously are the chain reaction death sequences.
At the height of its powers, this franchise and its mean-spirited death sequences can create new fears that take hold of not just individuals but generations. It did that with planes, it did that with old theater park rides, it did that with tanning beds, and it definitely did that with logging trucks. I won’t spoil the latest film’s tricks other than to say that it, too, creates fresh new fears from its sometimes ludicrous (but always entertaining) elaborate sequences.
What, however, this film will be most remembered for are, first, its inspired period-set sequence, and, second, the way it shows love for one of the genre’s and franchise’s biggest stars, Tony Todd, who sadly passed away in November of last year. Bloodlines is dedicated to him, and the filmmakers made a smart decision to give him the opportunity to deliver powerful dialogue in arguably the film’s best scene. It is a very touching farewell. As for the aforementioned sequence, it is set in the 1960s, and it makes a compelling argument for taking this franchise back in time rather than forward. It’s not a complete home run, as the film is a little bit too long. Nonetheless, it is an effective legacy sequel that emphasizes what works about these films and remembers to be tongue-in-cheek and playful about certain things. It works because this set of filmmakers understood the assignment.
7.5 out of 10
– Review written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 