The Final Destination movies were a franchise that I had no intention of ever visiting.
Hear me out. I am a huge horror fan. I always have been, always will be, because I genuinely love getting the crap scared out of me. I love scary doll movies, I love creepy clown movies – heck, you could sign me up for a new Halloween film and I’m there. But there was just something about the Final Destination movies that never sat well with me, ever.
Maybe it was the fact that it was about Death hunting down people one by one. Maybe it was that I was raised in a Catholic upbringing and most certainly saw death almost as an angel of darkness. Maybe I just didn’t like seeing people die on screen in glorious bloody fashion. But you know what? I gave it a shot.
I gave the Final Destination movies a shot and thanks, now I’m terrified of literally everything.
But because I want to talk about it, here are my thoughts on all five Final Destination films, and how much I literally wish I never watched them.
The First Film Was The Most Fear-Inducing
I never really had a major fear of flying. I actually really love to fly. It’s one of my favorite things to do whenever I go on a vacation. It’s the journey that makes me happy, not the destination – even if I really do enjoy getting to the end.
But man, this movie straight up makes me never want to get on a plane again.
If you're wondering where the Final Destination cast is now, check out this article.
Yes, I know, the chances of what happened in Final Destination are slim to none but you can’t blame a girl for getting nervous about that stuff. The first film takes so much time to not only build the suspense, but make sure you’re feeling just as much fear as the characters around you. It seeks to terrify you, make you think that somehow, these characters somehow got out of this crappy situation alive, and then rips you of that hope seconds later.
This film really shook me to my core and made me realize that you really can’t outrun death – not when death has a plethora of ways to kill you.
And Those Deaths Are Some Of The Most Randomly Creative Ones I’ve Ever Seen
There are some majorly creative ways that people are killed in this and it almost made me laugh in certain points because how does this stuff happen?
From the time that Tod accidentally hanged himself in his shower – because what – to Ms. Lewton getting impaled by a knife that just happens to fall, or someone getting their head literally decapitated by shrapnel, good God.
Just writing about it makes me want to hurl. There’s a few deaths in here I can feasibly see happening to anyone, but some are just out of this world creative and I never would have thought of them.
Final Destination 2 Isn’t As Great – But The Kills Are Pretty Gruesome
The second movie isn’t as great, just because I feel that the suspense has been taken out of the equation a little bit and it’s starting to feel just a little campy, but there are certain scenes that get me – and those are the death scenes.
While they don’t feel as creative, they do feel a million times more gruesome. People getting crushed by window panes, elevators decapitating people, the dismembering of limbs – everything is upped to the max and it made me want to actually shut my eyes and cower in fear because GOD why are they so gruesome? Why can’t death just be like ‘I’ll just give you a heart attack.’ Come on, my guy!
Specifically In That Log Scene – You Know The One
I genuinely never understood why my brother switched lanes whenever he was behind a truck with cargo, logs, or steel pipes.
I know now.
And I am going to do the same thing for the rest of my life, thanks.
The Third Film Holds A Special Place In My Heart As A Theme Park Lover
I love theme parks. Legit, I could spend countless hours at them and never get enough, so imagine my horror and delight when I found out the third film was set at a theme park and covered the premonition of a ride about to get derailed.
I genuinely enjoyed the heck out of the third film. The deaths still felt very gruesome and not super original, but there was just something about it that made me enjoy it even more than the previous sequel, whether it be how the film ended more on a cliffhanger than someone dying, or that there was so much more story included in this. It was so much fun.
And Mary Elizabeth Winstead Is Always A Win
I also watched this film for the first time to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead in it, and she was probably one of the biggest reasons I ended up sticking around. I said it once before and I’ll say it again – Winstead needs to do more horror films.
The actress has a way of drawing you in very easily and guiding you throughout the film to a compelling story. I genuinely loved Wendy as a character and I wish we could have seen more of her in later installments in the franchise, but I suppose one and done is fine too.
Final Destination 4 Was The Worst Of Them All
I really didn’t like the fourth movie, otherwise known as The Final Destination. In fact, I’d call it a slog of a film. I had a hard time paying attention through most of it. And newsflash -- it was indeed not the final destination.
This was the first movie in the franchise where everything sort of felt like it was moving at a snail's pace, and that nothing was really new or inventive, even the deaths. It was the same thing, “death comes, hunts people down when they avoid their said death.” But there was nothing inventive about it that made me want to keep watching for the fifth film.
I almost stopped watching after this because I was so bored, but I decided to give the fifth film a shot – and I loved it.
But Final Destination 5 Brought Life – And Death – Back To The Franchise
Is Final Destination 5 a brand new idea? No. It’s really not. It’s the same thing, about a group of young adults avoiding death and needing to somehow stop Death’s plans in order to survive afterwards. But what I really love about the fifth film is how much has changed.
It felt like the films had returned to more suspenseful horror than the campy nature we had experienced with the last few. The kills were impressive, and the visual effects were some of the best we had seen in the franchise so far. The characters could have been replaced by anyone and I probably wouldn’t have cared about them, but as for the actual story, it was a ton of fun.
If There’s A Sixth Film, I Might Be Brave Enough To Go See It In Theaters
When Final Destination 5 came out, I was absolutely not going to see this movie at all. Granted, I was a child back then, but I was getting into horror and this was not on my list. However, if there happens to be a sixth Final Destination movie, I might go see it in theaters now, as long as the story is good.
I can see the appeal of the franchise, and why some people enjoy it, and I could see myself liking it too. But it’s still a MIGHT. I don’t know if I’m ready to face Death head on again after seeing all these kill scenes. My brain needs a break.
What’s your favorite Final Destination movie? I know I won’t be re-watching these for a while – and trying to stay out of all lanes that have trucks with logs on them. No, thank you.
