Final Destination :Bloodlines

Of all the major horror franchises that have appeared over the past 30 years or so, Final Destination is a step or two apart from the likes of Scream, Saw, Conjuring and various others.

There are various reasons for this. They are undeniably creative, a solid story and mythos but mainly because they are a lot of fun. They blur the line between hardcore and bubblegum drive-in horror.

Having rounded off the initial five film cycle very nicely about fourteen years ago the was no expectation that the studios would sit on the hands. And so, comes Final Destination: Bloodlines.

It’s all quite familiar with the red herrings, single shots of potential suspect items and so on. But directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein along with writers Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor and Jon Watts have added a few twists.

The film opens with the usual death and mayhem this time at the opening of a tall tower with some situations recalling scene from the Towering Inferno. The survivor is Iris (Brec Bassinger) but the one with the recurring nightmare is Stef (Kaitlyn Santa Juana).

Some research and despite warnings from her family Stef tracks down Iris (Gabrielle Rose) (her grandmother and the sole survivor of the disaster) to her fortress in the middle of nowhere (with defences resembling those that Laurie Strode erected in Halloween 2018). Long thought to be mad Iris is actually terrified having worked out what is going on.

From here the film moves on into more familiar territory with gruesome and inventive deaths. What has been ramped up in Bloodlines is the outright comedy and black humour. The bizarre nature of the killings in the previous films have always had comedic appeal. Here that has been taken up a notch as well as a running joke stretching back to previous films.

The direction is assured, well-paced with the effects solid and exactly what is called for in a film as detached from reality as this one is. The cast are excellent getting into the rhythm quickly.

Then there is Tony Todd returning as William Bludworth in one of his final films handling his lines as professionally as ever and treated with due respect by the filmmakers.

Final Destination: Bloodlines will be in UK and Irish cinemas on 16 May 2025.