Film Challenge Week 21: A film from the 2020s
Film: Final Destination Bloodlines (2025)
Genre: Horror/Mystery
Watched on: HBO Max
The Final Destination franchise is the root of my many irrational fears. It's why I avoid driving behind trucks transporting long metal poles or logging trucks. The franchise is why I would never do LASIK surgery. When I'm swimming in a pool, there's that deep, irrational fear of being sucked by the pool drain and drowning.
Last year, I had an itch to watch the entire franchise in sequential order. Partially to relive those scenes, maybe they aren't as scary as I thought? They were. But also, the completionist in me loves watching franchises in their entirety. During the pandemic, I have fond memories of watching the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe in chronological order, excluding the TV series, which would have been excessive. My next challenge is to watch the Alien and X-Men franchises in chronological order.
Back to Final Destination. When I embarked on my rewatch of the Final Destination films, I learned that a new addition was set to be released in 2025.
I didn't get to catch this in cinemas, but the cinema-to-streaming platform pipeline is at the speed of light these days. I missed Caught Stealing when it was showing in cinemas in October/November, but it is now available on Netflix. The younger generations will never understand the patience needed to wait for the DVD release.
Final Destination Bloodlines is a mixture of a prequel and a continuation of the franchise.
To avoid giving any spoilers, the film follows a college student who keeps having a recurring nightmare to the point where it's affecting her grades. Trusting her intuition, she heads home to speak with her family members who may be able to help her break through.
I have to give credit where credit is due. The Final Destination team did not disappoint with the unpredictable kills that draw on outlandish scenarios. A few new fears were definitely unlocked after watching this. It was imaginative, refreshing, and horrifying all at once. The gore is potentially on a higher level compared to some of the others, maybe because the CGI has improved drastically. Don't get me started on how atrocious the effects were for The Final Destination, the one involving the race track. It was the worst of the franchise, in my opinion, but almost to the point of being endearing.
One thing I love about the franchise is how it balances camp and gore. The beauty lies in the creators not taking the franchise too seriously. It's pure fun. For the sixth film in the franchise, I genuinely believe that it hasn't lost its charm or spark. If anything, Bloodlines has revived the franchise.
My current ranking of all Final Destination films:
- Final Destination 2
- Final Destination
- Final Destination 3
- Final Destination Bloodlines
- The Final Destination
- Final Destination 5
In reviewing the full list of the franchise, we have a seventh film in the works! I rated Final Destination Bloodlines 3 stars.
