For nearly three decades now, young adults have been thwarting Death’s grand plans only to be savagely hunted down one by one in bizarre, often darkly humorous scenarios. In the words of mainstay funeral caretaker Bludworth: “you don’t even wanna fuck with that Mack Daddy.” In 2000, there was no other slasher on the market that featured an invisible killer, and there has been nothing like it since. Originating as an X-Files episode, Final Destination would become a horror mainstay that traumatized a whole generation. Marking the first entry to the series since full-circle masterpiece, Final Destination 5, Bloodlines had a whole lot to prove when it comes to crafting a macabre new chapter in a seemingly closed book. Dual directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein easily prove their fluent understanding of franchise DNA. Final Destination: Bloodlines is a gory masterpiece that celebrates the entire series with a gleeful sadism and a darkly comedic jagged edge.
In a major buck from the formula, Bloodlines turns back the clock to the 60s, where we follow a blindfolded blonde cutie (Brec Bassinger, V.C. Andrews’ Dawn, Stargirl) on her way to an unknown destination. Iris’s beau (Max Lloyd-Jones, War for the Planet of the Apes, Hotel for the Holidays) has a surprise: he snagged them an exclusive reservation at the grand opening for The Skyview Tower. This massive 494-foot tall high-rise restaurant has been reinforced with concrete and steel “months ahead of schedule.” For anyone familiar with the workings of Death, be prepared for one of the most jaw-dropping premonition sequences ever put to film. Intricately-designed pinball-esque Skyview Tower makes for a perfect playground of mayhem that manages to deliver big crowd-pleasing moments early on.
Plagued by nightmares of Iris’s premonition, her granddaughter, Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana, The Friendship Game, CW’s The Flash) cannot escape the awful images. Stefani’s on academic probation at college, on the cusp of losing her scholarship for good. There’s only one possible solution. Stefani must head back home to track down her grandmother, whom she has never met. Maybe with Iris’s help, Stefani can permanently shed the horrors of the past, and move on to a fresh start. Santa Juana makes for a compelling protagonist—over the course of the film, Stefani evolves into a fierce family protector. The script from Guy Busick (2022’s Scream) and Lori Evans Taylor (Bed Rest) weaves in generational trauma, leaving room for a trio of excellent female performances.
By shifting from friends and strangers to a more familial aspect, the stakes are upped significantly. These aren’t just a couple of friends and an assortment of strangers, but Stefani’s actual bloodline on the chopping block. A major reason we care once the brutally violent deaths start happening can be attributed to the chemistry between them. Clocking in as the longest entry in the series, we get plenty of time with this cast before they begin to meet their untimely demises. Stefani’s cousins, Erik (Richard Harmon, CW’s The 100, Grave Encounters 2) and Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner, Julie and the Phantoms, The Veil), provide heart and comic relief in equal measure. Their brotherly connection paves the way for an all-timer death scene involving peanuts, a wheelchair, a vending machine, and an MRI. Always a good reminder to keep an EpiPen handy!
As Stefani’s younger brother, Charlie, Chucky breakout Teo Briones establishes a caring bond with his sister that is only exacerbated by the sudden appearance of their absentee mother, Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt, Heroes: Reborn, Home Alone 3). Kihlstedt makes Darlene into a complex parent that spends much of the runtime looking for redemption. Like her mother Iris, Darlene’s often rocky relationship with her kids can be traced back to that fateful event at the Skyview. So too, it seems, can the deaths of hundreds of others. By preventing the awful tragedy, Iris unknowingly set loose a chain of events allowing Death to let loose on those saved by her swift actions. Death has finally worked its way all the way around to Iris and her bloodline, desperate for the loop to finally be closed once and for all.
Those hoping for nasty deaths—and let’s face it, at this point, who isn’t?—will be satiated, and then some. Bloodlines utilizes a toolbox of practical effects perfectly blended with CGI to create wildly creative moments destined to live forever within the horror sphere. Each kill matters, plastering the screen in graphic decadence. There was great attention paid to the Rube Goldberg portion, orchestrating each kill with careful precision. The tension builds to cathartic releases; would it even be a Final Destination movie if one didn’t leave the theater darting their paranoid eyes in every direction? In that regard, expect to have some nightmares related to piercings.
For fans, there are Easter eggs galore that add extra layers to the mythology. Even in the form of a brief wink or nod—Darlene recalls a hospital by the wrong name, Clear Rivers—a true love for what came before easily shines through. In dedication to Tony Todd, the actor delivers his most meaningful final onscreen performance as Bludworth. Though he only features in one scene, Bludworth’s words again serve as eerie warnings, a harbinger of what may come. Bludworth’s appearance feels especially meaningful in the wake of Todd’s tragic recent passing. More than other entries, a veritable rollercoaster of emotions await, despite not being the installment featuring a rollercoaster premonition. How heartwarming to remind viewers in between scenes of popping heads and flaming bodies that life is precious, and we should live every second to its fullest.
Fueled by a biting meta humor, an epically punny soundtrack, and a tightly-knit cast of potential victims, Bloodlines may end up being a new favorite for many. If we forget about 2009’s 3D cash grab The Final Destination, this franchise remains one of the most consistent in the realm of genre filmmaking. How apt that we are treated to a wonderful entry that revitalizes what could have been a tired rehash just as other reboots are content to reheat their own stale leftovers. Handcrafted for fans by fans, Bloodlines justifies its own existence by finding the macabre humor in the most innocuous of circumstances. Then, it self-destructs in a pulpy burst of entrails without overstaying its welcome.
Explore the origin of Death’s design in Final Destination: Bloodlines, charting a new path exclusively in theaters on Friday, May 16th.
Great review