Our JP gives us his thoughts on “Final Destination Bloodlines,” the sixth installment in the “Final Destination” film series, starring Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, and the late Tony Todd.
Final Destination Bloodlines
Warner Bros. Pictures
- Directed by Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein
- Screenplay by Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor
- Story by Jon Watts, Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor
- Based on Characters by Jeffrey Reddick
- Produced by Craig Perry, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Jon Watts, Dianne McGunigle, Toby Emmerich
- Starring Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, Tony Todd
Studio Synopsis:
The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice—“Final Destination Bloodlines.” Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefani heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle – her grandmother, Iris – and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.
JP’s Take:
The “Final Destination” film series is built around the premise of exploiting people’s anxiety and involving death. Instead of the usual creature lurking in the darkness or some ghost or monster chasing after its victims, “Final Destination Bloodlines” makes death itself the boogeyman.
In this darkly comical horror / thriller from which there is no escape, the prequel / sequel sets out to find its origins, where the Campbell / Reyes families — plagued by the notion of death following them — are in danger of being erased.
As the sixth installment in the series, this film bears the brunt of tying up loose ends. Here, the opening takes place in 1968 where a young woman named Iris (young Iris played by Brec Bassinger, older Iris played by Gabrielle Rose) and her fiancé Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones) are all dressed up and ready to attend the launch of the Skyview Restaurant Tower. The construct of such a story is ratcheted up by the fact that Iris seems to have a gut feeling that something isn’t right altogether. What transpires in the coming moments will leave you both horrified and on edge. Once Paul and Iris reach the top of the tower, Iris’ terrifying premonitions manifest themselves as a series of ordinary events that lead to a devastating domino effect. Be aware: you’ll bear witness to some gruesome death scenes soon after.
If you can stomach these moments in the beginning, you have passed the test, as those premonitions are carried onto the long-lost granddaughter of Iris and Paul, Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana). Away at college, Stefani awakens nearly every night with the same horrifying visions as conceived by Iris. The culmination of Iris and Stefani’s nightmares leads to branching stories that all come together graphically and comically. Off hand, I mean that in a good way, because somehow amidst the grueling bloodbath, you’ll find yourself chuckling heavily throughout.
However, this sets in motion the search for her estranged grandmother and mother, while she also investigates some seemingly accidental deaths surrounding her family members.
It’s a zany and dark concept that writers Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, and Jon Watts have concocted, where death itself is a mythical conspiracy as though it were purposely gunning for this family. The reinforcing plot behind such a conspiracy is that you can’t cheat death, whereas Iris has seemingly found a way to keep the proverbial grim reaper at bay.
Within the nearly 2-hour bloodletting, which you can see coming, the creative ways each character is killed off are nothing short of gut-wrenching. Simple objects such as a shard of glass, a soccer ball kicked in the face of one of the characters, a nose ring caught on a chain via a ceiling fan, or even an MRI machine spark a Rube Goldberg effect of happenings — each ending in people’s dismemberment, being impaled, broken in half, or shredded and charred.
Usually, I’m not into the slaughterhouse-style horror films as they can get messy and sickening. Yet, the way this grindhouse horror was done was realistic and relatable enough that I felt like I was watching actual freak accidents unfold right before my eyes. I couldn’t tear myself away from the screen.
The performances were enthusiastic, quirky, and slightly off-key in enjoyable ways. Santa Juana’s role as Stefani was spirited, even a bit heroic to some degree. Tony Todd, in his final performance as William Bludworth, was the connective tissue to the previous “Final Destination” sequels. His presentation here was apropos and searingly poignant.
As for the remainder of the cast, Richard Harmon (Erik Campbell, one of Stefani’s cousins), Owen Patrick Joyner (Bobby, another cousin), April Telek (Stefani’s aunt Brenda Campbell), Alex Zahara (Howard Campbell, Stefani’s uncle and Iris’s son), Rya Kihlstedt (Darlene Campbell, Stefani and Charlie’s estranged mother and Iris’s daughter), Teo Briones (Charlie Reyes, Stefani’s younger brother), and Gabrielle Rose (Iris) all gave supportive performances. Additionally, Brec Bassinger (young Iris) and Max Lloyd-Jones (Paul Campbell, Iris’s husband) do set the stage nicely for this carnage.
Throughout the narrative, the plot is challenged by how they could conquer death, even if they managed to do it. What would follow their victory?
Despite these heavy thoughts, I still enjoyed “Final Destination Bloodlines” as a wild, gory, and delightfully chaotic experience.
