Ranking the Most Brutal Deaths in ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Final Destination: Bloodlines.
Final Destination feels like an anomaly. Debuting in 2000, James Wong’s brutal shocker serves as a bridge between the teen slashers of the late ’90s and the gritty torture porn films that would dominate the genre in years to come. Spiraling into four inventive sequels, the franchise explores abject horror with increasingly gruesome variations on a well-loved and surprisingly simple formula. A young man or woman has a vision of imminent disaster and saves a handful of people meant to perish in the carnage, but once the dust of mass casualty settles, the survivors begin to die in unthinkable ways. It seems Death itself is targeting them, intent on cleaning up the loose ends of its master plan.
After lying dormant for fourteen years, directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein bring Death roaring back to the big screen with a new legacy sequel merging past and future events. In Final Destination Bloodlines, now playing in theaters, Iris (Brec Bassinger) is a young mother-to-be whose dream date turned proposal is interrupted by a vision of calamitous destruction. Though her premonition saves patrons of the Skyview tower, she inadvertently creates a sprawling family tree of survivors and descendants who were never supposed to be born.
Decades later, her granddaughter Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) begins dreaming about this lethal vision and seeks out the truth of her family’s dark past. As in each Final Destination film, the inciting bloodbath is but an explosive prelude to a series of unlikely decapitations, dismemberments, explosions, and derailments all orchestrated by the Grim Reaper himself.
But which is the most upsetting or outlandish? And which best exploits our own fears of mortality?
8: Closing Time
Once fans became familiar with the formula, franchise directors began intentionally trying to throw audiences off with elaborate executions that twist and turn. Part of the fun is spotting the inevitable murder weapon among a sea of seemingly innocuous threats and predicting the unlikely way each victim will die. Bloodlines pushes this deception to its furthest possible limits with an entire death sequence serving as a distraction. Erik (Richard Harmon) has just followed his father’s funeral by listening to Stefani explain that their family is part of a lethal list. But he refuses to believe and goes about his daily life in the face of a million tiny dangers.
That night, the grieving tattoo artist delays closing up shop to ink a poignant tribute to his late father. Distracted by intense emotion, Erik doesn’t notice the flammable liquid pooling on the floor or the ominous breeze filtering through the closed room. When a loose chain snares his septum ring and begins wrapping itself around the ceiling fan, Erik is dragged upwards by his facial skin. He climbs onto more and more precarious pieces of furniture hoping for enough slack to free himself while a fire blazes under his feet.
Finally freed from the shortening chain, Erik falls to the floor as the room erupts in flames. We assume he’s been burned alive, but Lipovsky and Stein have a more upsetting death in store for this lovingly irreverent character. Moments later, we see him alive and well, having gained a false sense of indestructibility. Set to Air Supply’s cover of “Without You,” this harrowing scene plays into fears of body modification and immolation while stringing a hapless man up by his nose—disturbing imagery that made its way into visual promotion for the film itself.
7: Seeing is Believing
Plagued by nightmares recounting Iris’ horrific vision, Stefani begs her family for more detail. Eventually she’s able to track down her estranged grandmother in a well-defended cabin in the woods. Convinced that she’s next on the Grim Reaper’s list, an aging Iris (Gabrielle Rose) has spent years keeping the Grim Reaper at bay with a highly controlled environment and absolute isolation. Despite removing every possible threat, she’s become adept at spotting Death’s design and compiled her findings in an elaborate book. Franchise fans would love to comb through its intricate pages which highlight the Flight 180 disaster of the opening film, the bizarre gymnastics casualty in Final Destination 5, and likely many more. But lurking among the ominous sketches is a drawing of the weathervane that sits atop her fortified home.
When Stefani politely tries to flee, Iris is forced to make a painful decision: she must venture into the unsafe world in order to prove that the threat is real. Clearly interpreting the signs, she crosses the threshold and hands Stefani her beloved book, then warns her to take a step back. Seconds later, Death sparks a series of events that sends the fated weathervane hurling through the back of Iris’ skull as blood gushes into her granddaughter’s face. This sacrifice helps Stefani embrace her fate and believe Iris’ admittedly outlandish predictions, but it also hides a devastating truth: in connecting with the ones we love, we are opening ourselves up to the inevitable pain of love and loss. Iris has spent decades hiding away from the world, but she sacrifices herself for a few brief moments with her granddaughter and gives her life in hopes of saving the rest of her family.
6: Delayed Danger
As Stefani approaches her grandmother’s cabin, she’s surrounded by a yard full of dangerous objects. Sharpened steaks protrude from the metal gates and tires litter the unkempt yard. An elaborate system of floodlights has been erected to allow constant vigilance throughout the night. But when Iris opens the door to meet her granddaughter, she enables a string of unlikely occurrences that will eventually take the life of her daughter Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt). Now next on the fated list, this distant mother decides to barricade herself in Iris’ abandoned cabin where she will stave off death to protect her children. But the fraying hemp of a hanging plant holder causes a massive explosion as she opens the door.
Though horrifically burned, Darlene manages to free her son Charlie (Teo Briones) from heavy debris, but as she begins trying to locate Stefani, an unstable pole sends a heavy floodlight crashing down onto her head. Though brief, this kill feels particularly cruel. Not only has Darlene finally reconnected with her estranged children, she’s been felled by dangers lurking in her own mother’s home. Despite years of hard work and isolation, Iris has failed to protect her beloved daughter.
5: Trains and Logs and Trucks
Surface level reads of Final Destination films view them as anxiety-inducing accident porn, but deeper interpretations find hope in nihilism. After all, if there truly is no way to stop oncoming tragedy, then we might as well enjoy our lives. Each film concludes with a few survivors finding the courage to explore their wildest dreams despite the possibility of grim fatalities hiding in plain sight. Though most eventually die in shocking final scenes, their deaths are preceded by moments of joy. Bloodlines follows suit with a heartbreaking conclusion which harkens back to the franchise’s most memorable moment.
In the aftermath of the cabin explosion, Stefani drowns only to be resuscitated by Charlie. They emerge from the woods believing that they’ve broken the chain of Death’s design and are now free to fully enjoy their lives. But while preparing to send Charlie off to prom, a conveniently placed Coroner delivers devastating news. If Stefani could be revived through lifeguard techniques, then it’s likely her heart never truly stopped, meaning she hasn’t yet died and been brought back to life. The siblings stare at each other in horror, realizing that the dreaded curse is alive and well.
Moments later, a massive train derails and begins sliding down the suburban street, wrecking everything in its path. They manage to escape the initial crash, but a cargo truck slams into the wreckage sending heavy logs flying through the air. They crush first Stefani then Charlie—in the order they were always meant to die. While outlandish, this shocking final scene nods to the iconic pileup in Final Destination 2 while presenting the story’s overarching message. Each film may have evolved to reflect the passage of time, but the Final Destination franchise remains what it has always been, an extravagant meditation on the futility of control and the search for joy in the shadow of death.
4: Sinister Soccer Ball
In each film, one character is blessed—or cursed—with a dark premonition and the ability to predict the Grim Reaper’s master plan. Having fully accepted her place on the list, Stefani begins noticing deadly objects perched all around. She points out each danger to her cousin Erik, but he dismisses her theories as ridiculous. While mocking her warnings about a passing garbage truck, his sister Julia (Anna Lore) falls into its gears.
A leaf blower/tree trimmer combo sends a soccer ball careening into her face, which in turn knocks her into the truck’s refuse bin. Julia scrambles to escape the disgusting compartment as the compactor wall begins to move. Stefani manages to climb onto the truck and grasp her cousin’s outstretched hand, but not fast enough to save her life. The compactor, sliding relentlessly forward, severs the top of Julia’s upturned face. Both disgusting and insulting, this cinematic demise explores fears of what will happen to our mortal remains. Like Julia, will our bodies be tossed aside? Will we ultimately become just another piece of meaningless garbage destined to be discarded and destroyed?
3: A Ring of Fire
In addition to elaborate deaths exploiting our deepest fears, each Final Destination film is known for opening with a horrific massacre. From malfunctioning roller coasters, collapsing bridges, and exploding planes, they are jaw-dropping disasters that define each iteration of the story. But Bloodlines opens with a catastrophe for the ages. Iris feels uneasy just looking at the elaborate Skyview, a Space needle-style restaurant perched atop a 500 ft. tower. She’s particularly unnerved by the repetition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and a series of unlikely omens that begin with a bratty tween stealing a penny from the wishing well. Later, he will throw the same coin from the observation deck, inadvertently lodging it in the tower’s ventilation system.
But it’s arguably shoddy construction that seals the diners’ fate. A loose diamond from a lux chandelier cracks the glass-bottom dance floor while partygoers dance and sing to a live rendition of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” On a jubilant downbeat, the floor shatters, sending revelers hurtling to the ground hundreds of feet below.
Sheer pandemonium erupts as everyone rushes towards the exits, but collapsing walls and a crumbling floor send even more sailing through the open air. Others try to cram into the elevator, putting immense pressure on the untested system. One careless man tries to force himself inside and is sliced in two when the cables snap, sending the overstuffed car down the elevator shaft. As the Skyview erupts into flames, a grand piano smashes through the glass walls, splattering diners along the way. Chaos ensues as bodies, furniture, and flaming infrastructure begin raining down on the ground below. As Cash’s iconic song predicted, the Skyview has become a deadly ring of fire.
2: Backyard Bedlam
While the Skyview disaster may set the tone for lavish destruction, it’s a backyard scene that may incite more fear. After all, we can bypass Iris’s date from hell by only patronizing ground floor restaurants, but we can’t avoid the hidden dangers lurking in our own backyard. Following Iris’ memorial service, her relatives gather for a celebration of life and a long-awaited family reunion. But it’s not until she senses death approaching that Iris chooses to join the doomed party.
After a near miss on a threadbare trampoline, her uncle Howard (Alex Zahara) steps on a jagged shard of broken glass accidentally mixed into a sinkful of ice. As he writhes in pain on his well-kept yard, a rogue bucket of rakes topple onto his electric lawnmower, propelling it forward onto his face. The remaining family members scream as blood pours from his mangled head. While not as massive as the Skyview disaster, we watch a series of deadly puzzle pieces fall into place, all the while wondering who will be next to die. And though Howard suffers a relatively quick death, at least by Final Destination standards, it’s hard to imagine a worse way to go out than a furious lawnmower to the face.
1: MRI Massacre
In addition to a de facto prophet, each Final Destination film features a character or two determined to find a loophole or trick to outwit the Grim Reaper’s plans. In a touching reunion with the series’ most beloved star, Bludworth (Tony Todd) recaps strategies tried in previous films. The only way to escape the list is to kill someone, stealing their remaining years, or technically die then be brought back to life. Certain that his time has come, Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) allows his brother Erik to concoct a dangerous plan. Already at the hospital, he will eat a peanut butter cup to trigger his severe nut allergy and cause his heart to eventually stop. Erick will then find a doctor to bring his brother back to life thus cutting off the Grim Reaper’s line of imminent victims. But as Bludworth warns, outside interference causes things to “get messy” and this risky plan goes spectacularly wrong.
As Bobby’s face and throat begin to swell, a nearby MRI machine surges to research level power. Metal objects begin hurtling forward including the multiple piercings adorning Erik’s body. Earrings, nose rings, nipple rings and a presumed Prince Albert all rip through his tender flesh, but they’re nothing compared to the large wheelchair he’s pulled into the room. The assistive device pins Erik to the machine and bends his body backwards as it’s sucked into the cylindrical chamber. Bones and organs puncture his tattooed flesh as the wheelchair slowly pulls his torso apart. With his own face beginning to swell and distend, Bobby grabs his epi pen and activates the lifesaving meds. But no sooner has he begun to feel relief than a broken spring from the vending machine hurtles towards the MRI chamber and into his head.
In some ways par for the Final Destination course, this double demise perfectly encapsulates the franchise’s heart. Lipovsky and Stein exploit our collective fear of torn flesh and medical trauma in two slow, ironic, and painful kills. Though it may be one of the most brutal executions in franchise history, this sequence is still preceded by a tender moment between brothers.
Final Destination films may delight or horrify us with a parade of seemingly inexplicable fatalities, but each iteration carries a message of human connection and Bloodlines never forgets this central premise. Bolstered by a touching final message from Bludworth himself, we’re reminded that it’s only in the shadow of death that we can truly appreciate the beauty of life and remember to enjoy what time we have left.
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