Final Destination Bloodlines

Directors: Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein
Starring: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, Gabrielle Rose, Brec Bassinger, Tony Todd, Jayden Oniah, Tinpo Lee, April Telek, Alex Zahara, Max Lloyd-Jones, Brenna Llewellyn
Running Time: 110 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)     

The Final Destination franchise has always been somewhat underappreciated, especially considering how its premise of death taking who it wants when it wants contains more than just a kernel of truth. Characters who can't shake that sinking feeling of quiet dread may decline to take that last minute flight or pause before getting in the car to drive to work. And yet their fates are still sealed when they learn the hard way that the grim reaper doesn't take kindly to being messed with. 

It's an idea the supernatural horror series has exploited to mixed effect, as a number of gruesomely elaborate sequences show many failing in their attempts to avoid the inevitable. But in Final Destination Bloodlines, a thrilling opening lays the groundwork for co-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein to reinvigorate this moribund property with a wild ride that prioritizes story over gore. We still get our fair share of over-the-top death scenes, only with higher stakes as its insanity serves a larger purpose. 

College student Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) is haunted by reoccurring nightmares of her grandparents, Iris (Brec Bassinger) and Paul Campbell (Max Lloyd-Jones) dying in the 1969 collapse of the Skyview tower restaurant in her hometown. Heading back to New York to see her father Marty (Tinpo Lee) and younger brother Charlie (Teo Briones), she searches for answers after discovering the tower never actually collapsed. Though her dad is unwilling to dredge up the past, she grills Uncle Howard (Alex Zahara), who begrudgingly shares that Iris subjected him and Stefani's mother Darlene (Rya Kihlstedt) to a childhood of extreme isolation in the years following the Skyview's closing. 

After meeting an ailing Iris (Gabrielle Rose) at her secluded, reinforced cabin, Stefani realizes she somehow inherited her grandmother's Skyview premonition that saved hundreds of lives. Or at least until death spent the ensuing decades picking off the survivors and their offspring, who were never meant to exist. Now coming to finish the job, death's targeting Iris's entire bloodline, which not only includes Stefani and Charlie, but Darlene, Uncle Howard and his kids, Erik (Richard Harmon), Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) and Julia (Anna Lore). Armed with Iris's survival handbook, time's running out for Stefani, who has to convince her skeptical family that they're next.  

The film's sensationally staged opening shows what happens when the impending sense of doom that's defined this franchise is put in the right directors' hands, firing on all cylinders. From the moment the credits roll, we're bombarded by a series of close calls and "almosts" that visually manipulate the audience in order to generate maximum suspense. And the opening of this Space Needle-like tower provides countless opportunities for that with its creaky elevators, extreme heights, irresponsible patrons, structural flaws and sizzling cuisine. But as is usually the case, the catalyst for chaos is what you least suspect.

Carried by capable performances from Bassinger and Jones as the young couple, we wait for the other shoe to drop, feeling every bit of Iris's anxiety as catastrophe approaches. It's only after an onslaught of nerve-wracking fake-outs that the skyscraper transforms into a towering inferno full of guests meeting their grisly demises. Cleverly though, screenwriters Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor use what could have easily been the script's high water mark as a launching pad for the idea this fatal premonition is passed on through the generations. And with death climbing down the family tree one branch at a time, it lands on Stefani, who's plagued by Iris's vision of the averted disaster.  

There are more twists where that came from, most of which involve Stefani's efforts to stay a step ahead, cracking the code in an attempt to assign an order to the victims. An immensely likable Santa Juana capably carries the load as this heroine struggling to regain the trust of a family who believes she's been as emotionally absent as her estranged mom. On the verge of failing out of school, she needs these nightmares to stop, even if that means playing a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with death. 

Richard Harmon delivers a great supporting turn as the heavily pierced and tattooed Erik, eerily channeling the kind of crazy jerk Matthew Lillard would have played in a 90's. Put through fate's wringer, he'll gradually show that familial loyalty comes first, while the late, great Tony Todd makes his final appearance in the series as creepy coroner William Bludworth. With a backstory crucial to the main plot, his role proves to be a moving send-off for both the character and horror icon portraying him.      

If uncontrollable havoc is par for the course in this series, Bloodlines raises the bar with some immensely satisfying set pieces. One centers around a family barbecue where unattended drinks, hoses, trampolines and runaway lawnmowers transform into instruments of mass destruction. But it's a jaw-dropping incident involving an MRI machine that rightly earns its designation as the franchise's most memorable death sequence. 

Despite us having a strong idea who might be left standing at the end, the film's final minutes are surprisingly gutsy in hammering home its dark central conceit. While the reaper occupies every corner of this universe, previous installments sometimes struggled to cohesively present the notion as more than just a collection of creative kills. Breezily paced and edited, this sequel exceeds those expectations with an experience that keeps audiences guessing through each outrageous development.