Final Destination: Bloodlines
As 28 YEARS LATER ravages across multiplexes, the most recent installment of a very different horror franchise has just about ended its successful theatrical run and is now available to view at home.
Unlike the insatiable fans of the 28 DAYS LATER saga who were begging for another chapter, I’m not sure how many were dying for a return to the FINAL DESTINATION universe. It was a silly saga that had run its course yet back in 2011 with the release of FINAL DESTINATION 5. What began as a clever idea in 2000 (a gleefully grotesque horror film that had no visible villain) had devolved into the typical forgettable fodder of cash grab dullness.
Now, nearly 15 years later, FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES proves to be a surprisingly entertaining return to form for the franchise.
Student Stefani Campbell (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) isn’t having the college experience that most kids hope for. Every time she falls asleep, she has a shockingly realistic and absolutely horrifying dream in which her grandmother, Iris (Brec Bassinger) is attending a party in 1969 at a new sky-rise restaurant, only to have a premonition of the building collapsing. Fans of the franchise have seen scenes like these dozens of times before, and an elaborate death-fest ensues. This shocking opening sequence sets that tone of things to come and is a gloriously gory throwback to what made moviegoers fall in love with the franchise to begin with. It sets the tone of the carnage to come, leaving the audience squirming and gasping as it unfurls a series of twisted and delightfully demented kills.
Unable to focus on her studies, Stefani returns home and begins asking her family questions about her grandmother. Her dad, Marty (Tinpo Lee) and her uncle Howard (Alex Zahara) don’t seem to want to talk about what happened in the past and are no longer on speaking terms with Iris due to her obsession with death. Stefani’s brother, Charlie (Teo Briones) and cousins Erik (Richard Harmon), Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner), and Julie (Anna Lore) are relatively indifferent about Stefani’s return, and don’t want to hear her maniacal rantings. 
As Stefani begins to understand that death is coming for their family, she goes to great lengths to end the cycle. She tracks down Iris who has a book of death that, as she flips through it, will delight longtime fans searching for easter eggs. She understands that death is always on the lookout for their family and gives subtle hints that it’s about to strike. It’s the reason she doesn’t leave her home, and being vigilant is the only way she has survived…for now.
Whereas 28 YEARS LATER found a way to blend horror and storytelling with a seamless cohesion, FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES is all about the kills. That’s not a knock or a criticism, because that’s what it was always going to be. The family aspect provides enough of a plotline to give the film a title and a connective thread, but make no mistake about it, this is Death’s show. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein do an excellent job toying with the emotions and expectations of the viewer, constantly setting up kills that never occur. By constantly showing us instruments of impalement, it places the audience on the edge of their seats in a way that is unique and fun. It creates an air of tension in each scene, often paying off with a shockingly brutal moment that kills off yet another character. Most importantly, the film never takes itself too seriously, which is the key its success. Lipovsky and Stein never lost sight of what audiences came to see, and it is this understanding that allowed BLOODLINES to be a devilishly disturbing good time. 
FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES
GRADE: B
RATED: R
RUN TIME: 1h 50min
GENRE: Horror
STARRING: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt
DIRECTORS: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
WRITERS: Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon Watts
Now playing on various digital formats.
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