Death comes in many forms. One thing is for sure: at one point your number will come up. I’m just glad I don’t know when that moment will arrive, nor would I ever want to know. There are people who believe that time is pretty much set, and you don’t have any influence on it whatsoever. I for one believe that’s partly true. I could go and try to jump out of a plane without using a parachute, but I guess than it’s pretty much a given that I would not survive the attempt. But that would mean I would have to get over my fear of flying, in order to enter a plane in the first place. So yeah, no chance of that ever happening. Okay, that’s enough of these morbid thoughts let’s get on to something more cheerful, shall we? How about a review for a horrormovie about death? Erm…wait….
What’s better than learning French in class? Well how about a schooltrip to Paris? And that’s exactly what highschool student Alex is about to do, together with the rest of his class. Arriving at the airport he boards the plane that will take him and his fellow classmates to the city of romance, flight 180. But then when he has just taken his seat, he experiences a terrifying vision. In this vision he sees the plane explode right after take off leaving no survivors. The experience was so real that he tries to leave the plane in horror. This ofcourse causes quite the commotion and eventually six other students together with a teacher exit the plane together with Alex. They are forced to stay behind by the airline, and flight 180 leaves for Paris. It doesn’t come very far however as the horrifying vision Alex had, becomes a reality and the plane explodes in mid air. Both relieved but also in total shock that they survived and basically cheated death, the survivors try to pick up their lives as best they can. But it seems death doesn’t take kindly to being cheated, as one by one they begin to die…….
I had a blast watching this movie again. Although it is not as big a classic as the other movies that I have so far been featuring in my Countdown to Halloween series, it’s still a highly enjoyable movie that will entertain most lovers of teen slasher films. I thought the concept of the film was pretty original. You sometimes hear about certain miracles that happen in real life with people surviving disasters or walking away from accidents, that under normal circumstances should have left them dead. Final Destination is of course taking things into the extreme zone, but that’s why we call this a movie in the first place. One of the things we watch films like these for, and please don’t deny that, is seeing these teens die in horrifying and inventive ways. And yes I do know how that sounds. Luckily Final Destination serves that up, and then some, but it is also pretty refreshing that it never gets really gory. The death scenes are certainly gruesome, but the red stuff doesn’t explode in fountains across your television screen.
The cast of the movie is made up of your stereotype bunch of teens, or in other words actors and actresses that were much older at the time but still looked young enough to pass as teenagers. That said, the acting certainly isn’t bad, and a cut above the normal level for these kind of movies. Ali Larter is probably the best known actress from the film, as she has since gone on to play in several other horrormovies including the Resident Evil series. In Final Destination she plays Clear Rivers, the love interest for Alex, and she would also return for the second installment. She was the character in this film that I had the most sympathy for. The rest of the survivors were all pretty self centered but she at least had a bit of depth and some back story to her. Also worthy of note is a small, but highly entertaining role for veteran actor Tony “Candyman” Todd. His sinister voice and natural creepyness are always a joy to watch, and in this film that was no exception.
The Franchise
From all the franchises that are featured in this special Halloween series of blog posts, this is the one with the least amount of parts. Final Destination went on to produce four more sequels until death finally called it quits. There have been rumors for a sixth installment for a while now, but nothing really concrete has so far emerged for that. The sequels all featured variations on the first film, with a big disaster occuring at the beginning of the movie, and a couple of teens escaping from that at the last second. I honestly have to say that the sequels were not bad. The fourth part for me was the overall weakest of the bunch, but the rest of them were actually quite entertaining. I especially liked the ending of part five, that featured a really cool twist. As usual though, the gorelevel rises a bit in the sequels, but it never reaches Saw-like levels thankfully. A trademark of the series is of course making you think twice about doing certain things, or exploiting a fear you might have had already. I am not a big fan of roller coasters for instance, but after seeing the opening scene of part three, I think most people will give them a pass. I have included the scene below for your viewing pleasure 😀
The Verdict
So there we have it. As they say, all good things must come to an end, and we have almost reached it for my Halloween series. But there is still one more movie to come, namely the John Carpenter classic Halloween. That one will be coming up next week. Let’s not forget the verdict for Final Destination though. As mentioned this movie may not be such a timeless classic, but it is actually quite a good horrormovie. With a fun storyline, pretty decent acting, and a couple of awesome deathscenes you could definitely find worse movies out there. If you like films such as Scream or I know what you did Last Summer, this one can be added blindly to that list. So over to you! Have you seen the movies from this franchise? Do you have any favorites? Or perhaps even a favorite deathscene? Let me know in the comments section below. As always, thank you for reading and see you at the next post!
I give Final Destination a 8 out of 10 score.
I always thought this movie was much more entertaining than it had any right to be and I rewatch it whenever it comes on. Thanks for the great review – it brought back some fun memories.
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Aww thank you, that is very kind of yiu to say so 😊 I totally agree with you on the movie. For some reason this film just was a lot of fun, and highly enjoyable. It’s one of my favorites as well, and perfect rewatch material so to speak 😀
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I agree there is a sense of schlocky dark humour to these films and their ludicrous death traps. While not a classic, this surely is probably one of the easier franchises to devour in a Halloween (despite some of the later entries dulling the formula a bit).
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Agreed. But when I look at horror franchises in general, I don’t think I know of a single horrormovie where the sequel was better than the original. Sure, some of them were fun to watch, but did they pass the original? No way. But you are right, these films are just perfect popcorn entertainment and great to watch on Halloween with a couple of friends 😀 Thanks for your comment 😊
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Ouija: Origin of Evil would be a prime example of the sequel overcoming the original XD. Well I mean when the original set the bar at tripping point that probably wasn’t so hard to do.
And there was one of the Final Destination movies that I felt was close to capturing the magic of the original, Final Destination 5. Probably the one film when I was marathoning them years ago that made me actually raise an eyebrow because I was impressed (besides the first).
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Haha, yeah I guess you are right, that one is a very good example (although one has to wonder if that one is really fair, considering how awful the first part was lol 😂😂).
Final Destination was pretty awesome, esoecially because of the cool ending sequence that had a really nice twist. I agree with the other parts not reaching the same level as the first one, but when compared to some other franchises, they were at least still entertaining 😀
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I love the original Final Destination film probably because the set up is simple but really creepy and it is just well done as a teen horror flick. The sequels inevitably upped the sex, violence and kept trying to add to the formula by putting in twists or additional rules and conditions and never managed to capture just what made the first film so much fun.
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Yeah, that is true. Even though the sequels weren;t incredibly bad, as some other horror franchises, they never reached the height of the original. But there were certainly a couple of fun things in them nonetheless. The original though, will always be the best one. It’s one of the better teen horrorflicks out there, and one of those movies that I rewatch every once in a while 😊
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Definitely a good movie. I think I saw one and two. I don’t remember much about it. Now I’m reading your review about the airplane scene and I don’t remember it either. I guess it’s time to watch it again 🙂 Great review!
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Thank you 😊 Yeah then it’s definitely time to rewatch it. Seriously though, it is still a great and fun film, and with Halloween coming up, it’s a perfect time for it too. Hope you will still enjoy the film 😊
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I thought this very predictable,and after watching for about half an hour turned it off.
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Haha, well these movies certainly aren’t for everyone, I can agree on that. It certain,y has a lot of predictable things happening I won;t deny that, but for a horror teen slasher movie, I still think it’s a fun film. Thanks for your comment 😊
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It’s been a while since I’ve seen any of them, but I reneger enjoying the first two. I have a vague recollection of one of the later ones being slightly interactive in the DVD release with you being able to choose end it something like that?
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Don’t know about that, I don;t have any final destination that let’s you choose an ending. Maybe that’s something they only released abroad? But as mentioned, as I compare these to other horror franchises, these films are actually still entertaining enough. Some of the others just seem to ramp up the gore and head into awful territory 😊 Will have check up on that choose your own ending. It sounds cool if you were allowed to do that 😀
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Here it is: http://finaldestination.wikia.com/wiki/Choose_Their_Fate
It wasn’t the only one either.The film My Little Eye (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Eye) was interactive o nthe DVD version.
Definitely agree with you though. For the subgenre, Final Destination was a decent series, and easily stood out among some other releases.
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That really is a pretty awesome feature. I definitely would have remembered if that was featured on the dvd I bought for it. Sounds seriously cool though, and it’s also very original. Thanks for sharing this 😀
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No worries. When the My Little Eye one came out, I remember thinking ‘This is what DVD was built for’. I really think that there should be more interactivity like that.
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This was pretty much my first horror film that wasn’t a ghost related. You could say ut started my journey on to tge gord route.
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Cool 😀 Yeah I love horror in pretty much any form, but my favorites are psychological horror, or slasher movies. But I also livecabaret monstermovie 😊
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Just one movie left in the Halloween series? Aw. I saw this movie at the cinema and liked it. A slasher movie without a murderer is a cool idea and the kills were creative. Tony Todd has a great voice. I wish I could speak like that. Not sure if it would attract or scare away chicks.
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Haha, yeah, but knowing my love for horror it won’t be the last horrormovie that I will be reviewing on my blog lol. It’s definitely a fun film, and one of the better ones in the slasher genre.
Lol, I don’t know if that voice would attract chicks. You could try it at some point by using a tape to project his voice and pretending it’s you. Hmm…sorry my imagination is getting the better of me again 😂😂
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To be honest, its been a while since I last watched one of these movies. 🙂 All I can remember is a very unfortunate occurrence in an elevator, a meat hook and a BBQ busting into flames. 😀
I’ve also just realised that most of the classic horror movies, involve teens meeting horrible ends. It’d suck to be a teen, stuck in a horror movie hehe 🙂
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Haha, well those are all scenes from sequels. The BBQ is I believe in part 2, the other scenes I can’t quite remember which parts they were from. I haven’t seen the sequels as much as part 1, maybe I will rewatch the, at some point as well.
Glad I’m not a teen anymore (although I do still feel like a child at times 😂😂), but yeah they do seem to get it every time in horror films lol 😂😂
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I wouldn’t even know which sequel they belonged too hehe. 😀
You’re not alone. I also feel like a huge child at times.
Especially, when my sister’s 3 year old makes me, plait all her my little ponys hair. I act like I’m just doing it to keep the child happy. But secretly, I love plaiting those ponys hair 😀
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I actually find (most) of these films to be oddly charming. They are definitely in the funny horror camp for me, but that’s ok. The third one, which is the roller coaster one I believe, is the best one though. If you had it on disk you got to make various choices that influenced how things went. It’s got a ton of extra footage. Super cool.
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Yeah: someone else said that as well, but for some reason that feature never got included on the dvd release in Holland. Which is a real shame as I would have loved that feature. Haha: yeah the films can be considered funny as well I guess, that ‘s certainly true. But as far as horrorfranchises and sequels ate concerned, these aren’t bad: not bad at all 😀
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That’s super lame to hear 😦 Sucks that you don’t get the cool feature for that one.
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Yup….that’s Holland for you…/we never get the cool stuff. Well, almost never 😊
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At least you get cool stuff sometimes 🙂
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This was an absolutely hilarious read 😂😂😂 I love how you always give your horror posts a lighter and funnier tone, because many people do the exact opposite. Your posts actually make me want to watch horror movies! (But I might skip them… Because I’m a wuss 😂😂)
I feel like such a contradiction: loving Halloween but not scary movies… Huh.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this one and again, you are a master storyteller without ever revealing too much, which is just awesome 😊 I didn’t take the bait of watching the clip, though. That was where I crossed the line hahaha
Great review, Michel! I will have to go check your other Halloween series posts as I seem to have missed them!!
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*drew the line, I mean!
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Haha, I’m glad it made you laugh lol 😂 Yeah, I always try to put a bit of a laugh into them, else it night turn into a post that’s just way too depressing to read 😂😂
But seriously no worries, horror isn’t for everyone. There are certainly many different types of horrormovies, so there might also be one out there for you.
As for the clip…well….I don’t think it’s too bad. And you can always turn it off lol 😂😂 Thanks for another amazing comment, they are always a joy to read: and before I forget, even though it’s still early: happy Halloween 😀
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I find that works best, for sure!
Hahaha and thank you! 😄 You too 😊
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The pictures are so gory. Films like that that are too difficult for me. Although I like gore when mixed with humour…
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Than you are safe with this one. There is so e humor mixed into it, and even though the pictures might tell you otherwise, this movie is really not that gory. The sequels though, do head into that territory 😊
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https://echosynthetic.com/2017/10/14/horror-a-thon-frailty-2002
(Just in case, I thought you might be curious of it?)
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Wow, that is one cool looking blog. Thanks for sharing the link 😀
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Final Destination is probably my favorite horror movie. I loved it when it first came out and thought the next couple were alright. It’s one of the few horror movies I watched multiple times. These movies definitely freaked me out on a big level though and are a big reason I don’t watch films like this anymore. I’m glad I enjoyed it years ago because I certainly wouldn’t now, lol
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Lol, I can understand that. It’s a rarity in that it is truly a franchise that has produced what I think are very decent sequels. But the first one will always be the best one, and a personal favorite of mine as well 😀
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I’ve only seen some of this, but Kimmie liked it. By the way, this was a great idea doing horror movie reviews this month! Sorry I couldn’t take more part in it. In any case, I’ve never been a big fan of these sorts of movies. The whole concept of predestination was neat, but it’s not my style of horror. Gore doesn’t really do it for me.
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No apologies necessary at all. I’m pretty busy myself currently, so I might miss out on the occasional post myself. As for this one, there really isn’t much gore in it at all. It’s only a small scene that features that, and even that one is hardly as horrible as some other movies 😊 Thanks for the kind words again 😀
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I find that idea of death being the villain of the piece. It’s so interesting because it has so much potential.
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It certain,y is so much better than having a “normal” type of villain. Usually you get these unstoppable killing machines that turn out to have an uncanny power of living trough anything. Now we have an enemy that actually is elusive and invisible, which in my opinion is way cooler 😀
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Yes, elusive is exactly what it is. And the fact that it is so relentless is particularly terrifying. Plus, death is a common fear among many people and this movie plays into that excellently.
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Thanks! Will see it.
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Cool, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did 😀
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I agree! I enjoyed Final Destination movies but they aren’t like the Saw movies! Great Review!😁
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Nope they certainly aren’t. Even though they are just completely different franchises, and very hard to compare, I like Saw better. Speaking off, I saw (pun intended) Jigsaw yesterday….and it was pretty good. Expect a review coming up soon 😊
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Awesome!!! I can’t wait for your review!!!😁❤
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Haha, well it’s here: hope you will enjoy it 😊
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,Will have to check it out!!!😁
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Great movie
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It definitely is 😊😊 The sequels are as well 😀😀😀
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