In the pop culture realm of horror films, most of the actors committing the murders and crimes are real people – or at least physical ones to fight.
In the “Final Destination” franchise, adults are staving off horribly grisly and painful demises awaiting them after cheating “Death” itself.
Now, the thing is, the audience never gets to see death as some spectral figure or ominous shadow – it’s a subtle warning breeze before a series of seemingly innocent moments add up to something horrible.
Needless to say, I’ve been a fan or the films since the first came out 25 years ago, so, grabbing a seat for “Final Destination: Bloodlines” was a no-brainer last week.
While I’m not a fan of the use of more CGI instead of practical makeup effects for anyone meeting an unfair death, the ways these unfortunate characters died was unique and that is where the novelty lies.
Or, at least for me!
It’s worth noting if you haven’t seen any of the franchise films since the original hit the big screen, all of the other five flicks are streaming on Max currently.
Bloodlines is an American supernatural horror film directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein and written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, based on a story developed by them and Jon Watts.
It is the sixth installment in the Final Destination film series following “Final Destination 5” (2011).
The film stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Gabrielle Rose, Brec Bassinger, Max Lloyd-Jones, Alex Zahara, April Telek, Rya Kihlstedt, and Tony Todd.
Clocking in at 110 minutes long, the movie is rated R for strong violent/grisly accidents, and language.
In 1968, Iris Campbell (Bassinger) and her fiancé Paul (Jones) attend the opening ceremony of the Skyview Restaurant Tower.
At the dance party, Iris has a premonition of a chandelier’s shard cracking open the glass floor beneath the guests while a gas heater leaks, exploding the tower and killing everyone.
In the present, college student Stefani Reyes (Juana) suffers from recurring nightmares about the collapse.
Realizing that the nightmares are linked to her maternal grandmother, Iris (Rose), she returns home to seek answers.
She is greeted by her father Marty (Lee) and her estranged brother Charlie (Briones).
The siblings visit their uncle Howard (Zahara), aunt Brenda (Telek), and cousins Erik (Harmon), Julia (Lore), and Bobby (Joyner).
When Stefani asks Howard about Iris, he explains that Iris subjected him and Stefani’s mother, Darlene (Kihlstedt) to an overprotective upbringing.
Once their father died, Iris then became reclusive and the trauma caused Darlene to abandon the family.
Brenda gives clues to Stefani on where to find Iris’s letters, leading her to a fortified cabin where Iris now lives.
Iris tells Stefani that she disrupted Death’s design by stopping the chain reaction causing the tower’s explosion.
As a result, Death began killing the survivors in the order they would’ve died, along with their respective descendants.
After Death killed Paul, Iris documented Death’s modus operandi in a book.
Despite having cancer, which Death has given her, Iris goes outside to give Stefani her book.
Iris also allows herself to be impaled by a weather vane to prove Death’s plans for her family.
After Iris’s funeral, Darlene returns, but Stefani resents her for being absent from childhood.
From there, it’s a race against the clock to outrun Death with bodies quickly piling up.
Overall, I enjoyed how the film stayed true to its roots from 2000 and still created unique ways for Death to get its revenge.
Check out Bloodlines in theaters now!
