Overview
Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.
It’s been 14 years since The Final Destination graced the screens, wrapping the series up in a smart way, whilst still delivering the expected Rube-Goldberg style of deaths that fans of the franchise loved. Now comes this reboot of the series that serves as a legacy sequel and prequel all at the same time.
Opening with the usual major disaster that the series is known for, this time the disaster is in the late 60s, with Iris Campbell and her fiance attending the opening night of a new restaurant, the Skyview Tower. But disaster strikes as costs were clearly cut in the construction, with it being completed months ahead of schedule, and as one small incident sparks off a barrage of deadly events, the tower is engulfed in flames and partially collapses taking the lives of the mass of people at the event. The film cuts to the present, where college student Stefani Reyes has nightmare visions of the disaster – a disaster that never took any lives, and was avoided due to Iris having a premonition of it prior to the disaster taking place. Seeking answers to her recurring nightmare Stefani finds that her family don’t like to talk about Iris, believing she was crazy, so Stefani takes it upon herself to track her down, discovering that she has eluded death for decades from the safety of her secure, remote home. But death is coming for her, and her descendents that were not meant to exist, and so begins a series of elaborate accidents as death works to correct things once again.
Right from the opening I knew I was going to have fun with this, as the film opens with some music playing on a radio that serve as a portent for the disaster that follows. The Skyview disaster itself is slowly built up in that glorious manner that the franchise is known for – we see all the elements start to come together, or piece together moments from scattered dialogue – before it all literally comes tumbling down in bloody, gruesome, and shocking ways. By the time the film cut to the present, I was fully engaged, and ready for whatever came next. That opening segment ranks highly across the series, and is perhaps my favourite disaster offered to date, largely due to the scale and numbers involved. As the film works through the usual method of deaths by accident, each are well staged, and never feel overly gimmicky (unlike some in the 3rd and 4th films in particular), and fans of the series will relish each and every one of them from initial signposting to final delivery.
The cast are all fine, playing a dysfunctional family unit well, with Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Stefani certainly holding her own in the central role. Tony Todd, in his last on screen performance before his sad passing (the film is dedicated to the memory of him) gets to say goodbye to his William Bludworth character with a scene that serves as a fitting tribute to the actor himself at the same time.
But what really makes this stand up as the strongest entry in the series since the first is how well it honors the legacy of the films before it. From small details, to quick glimpses of notes in Iris’ research, it suggests a deeper connection between all the films, which is reinforced over the closing credits as a timeline map is traced on screen behind the text.
Bloodlines is a welcome revival of the Final Destination franchise that builds well on what has come before, delivering the same expected thrills and splatter (some scenes will have you wincing for sure), with dark humor that lands, whilst expanding the lore out in a smart way. This is a crowd pleaser horror, ideal for a late Friday night viewing on the big screen.