Final Destination (article)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 24 September 2025

You can’t cheat death! Final Destination is a horror film franchise that ran from 2000-2011, spanning five movies. Following its reboot with Bloodlines earlier this summer, let’s cast an eye over the deathly series!

Each film sees the protagonist have a premonition of a forthcoming disaster and convince a group including themselves to avoid the event, only for death to catch up with them in the most graphic of manners. The first film details a plane explosion, the second film a motorway crash, the third film a rollercoaster accident, the fourth film a motor racing incident and the fifth film a bridge collapse.

Final Destination

Alex Browning is flying to Paris on a school trip with a group of his classmates when he has a violent premonition of the plane exploding mid-air. The vision is undeniably more graphic than the real-life occurrence but what makes the actual event such a chilling scene is the way the gang argue in the airport as the plane explodes in the background to their horror. Death then proceeds to hunt them down in grotesque ways, including an accidental hanging in the shower, run over by a speeding bus, stabbed with a kitchen knife and hit by shrapnel from a train collision. This first instalment also introduces the mysterious William Bludworth, played by the Candyman himself Tony Todd. The ominous undertaker is the only recurring character in the film series, often explaining the situation to the survivors and giving them advice on how to break it. In Bloodlines, it provides details on Bludworth’s backstory, revealing that he was rescued from a disaster as a child and is still alive as the bloodline of his savior hasn’t been killed yet. Alex and fellow survivors Clear and Carter meet in Paris, the location they were never meant to reach, when Carter is hit by a swinging sign as the screen cuts to black.

Final Destination 2

Kimberley Corman prevents a group of people from entering Route 23 after she envisions an accident on the highway. Again, it comes true, but what makes this scene so epic is the logging truck that causes the incident in the first place as it has become a cultural instinct to feel slightly uneasy every time you pull up behind a vehicle transporting such lumber. Death then proceeds to restore order with more unfortunate endings such as impaled by a ladder, crushed by a glass pane, decapitated by an elevator, impaled by a pipe, dismembered by barbed wire, explosion from an oxygen leak and finally a grill explosion. In this second instalment, the characters receive omens serving as warnings of their upcoming deaths and attempt to use these to avoid disaster, though ultimately aren’t successful. This second entry also has a couple of unique factors as Kimberley Corman is the only character from the franchise to still be alive after she beat Death by drowning and then being resuscitated, and Clear Waters is the only character in a main cast to come from a previous film.

Final Destination 3

Wendy Christensen and her friends visit a theme park to celebrate their high school graduation. They ride a rollercoaster, which derails, killing them all. Except, Wendy had a premonition of this before it actually happened and therefore was able to save some of them. As per usual though, the survivors are not as lucky as they think as Death isn’t going to let them bypass their destiny that easily! Unfortunate fates this time include being burned alive on tanning beds, head sliced by an engine fan, a weight machine crushing the head, a nail gun firing nails into the head, impaled by a flag pole and getting bisected by a cherry picker. This time, omens appear in photographs taken by Wendy, which the gang use to foolishly attempt to beat the system that viewers by now know won’t relent. The three that make it to the end then meet their untimely demise with a train crash.

The Final Destination

Nick O’Bannon’s premonition of a disaster at a speedway saves the lives of his girlfriend, friends and a group of other spectators… but not for long. This time, the first catch-up death occurs as early as the group leaving the stadium as a flying tyre from the destruction decapitates Nadia. The others don’t last for much longer though as they too meet their grisly ends by being burned alive whilst dragged by a tow truck, hit by a rock caught in a lawnmower, cut into pieces by a metal grid fence, disemboweled by a pool drain and crushed by a bathtub. Further deaths include being run over by a speeding ambulance, stabbed by projectiles from an explosion at a movie theatre and getting sucked into the gears of an escalator, but in a twist, these are revealed to have all been part of another premonition. The survivors then meet up at a café where a swerving truck crashes, taking out the rest of them. Upon impact, an innovative closing sequence begins, showing them being crushed as animated skeletons. Initially intended to be the last in the series, hence the name change, a fifth film entered development following its box office success.

Final Destination 5

Sam Lawton is heading on a work retreat with a bunch of colleagues when he saves them from a suspension bridge collapsing by experiencing a premonition moments before. The bridge collapse itself is cinematic, like something out of a disaster movie. Once again, Death hunts them down one by one. The first individual death to occur is Candice’s gymnastics incident in which she breaks her neck and is a particularly tense one to watch as it keeps teasing different factors that could each contribute to the end result. Further deaths include being crushed by a Budai statue at a spa treatment and falling to death after laser eye surgery. However, the course is changed when one of the survivors accidentally kills someone else, taking his lifespan and inadvertently saving himself. This entry also diverts from the norm as another unstable survivor targets the remaining others. In a final shocking twist, Sam and his girlfriend Molly prepare to fly to Paris on Flight 180, revealing the film to be a prequel set before the first movie, concluding the series with a full circle feel and perhaps symbolising the circle of life (and death).

Following the success of Bloodlines, a sequel is in development, so here’s to the future of the Final Destination franchise!