It's been 14 years since Final Destination 5 seemingly wrapped up the series with a twisted final flourish from Death, as it was revealed that the movie's survivors were actually about to board the doomed Flight 180.
If Final Destination fans were sceptical of Final Destination: Bloodlines as a result, it'd be understandable. That's coming from personal experience too because as excited as we were for the return of the series, it was with a healthy dose of apprehension because of how well Final Destination 5's ending was judged.
The packed screening at London's horror festival FrightFest back in August 2011 for the movie remains a personal highlight. A ripple of knowledge spread across the crowd the moment everybody heard a scuffle on board the plane, with a rapturous applause breaking out as soon as we saw Carter and Alex being separated by flight attendants.
It was a perfect twist that deserved to be applauded, but my love affair with this series runs deeper. Whether it was compiling an oral history for the 20th anniversary of Final Destination, rewatching every movie at least once a year (except the fourth, obviously) or owning the first movie on DVD and being too terrified to use its Death Clock special feature, the series has always held a special place in my heart.
This is all a slightly long-winded and indulgent way of saying that, unlike with most other movie reviews, approaching Final Destination: Bloodlines as a fully objective reviewer wasn't quite possible.
But on the flipside, it means that when I say that Final Destination: Bloodlines is a gory dream come true for fans, you can trust that it comes from a place of genuine affection, the kind of place that wouldn't take kindly to anybody screwing with this franchise.
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In truth, it might not take that long for any potential fears to be put to rest. Final Destination: Bloodlines opens with a premonition sequence that's as strong as any the series has delivered to date.
Following Iris (Brec Bassinger) at the opening of the Space Needle-esque Skyview Restaurant in 1968, the sequence is stuffed full of ominous warnings – 'Ring of Fire' plays on a car radio, somebody is told to "watch their step" – that are immediately obvious to fans. It's not long before an errant penny kickstarts a chain of events that sees the entire restaurant up in flames and its patrons plummeting to their brutal deaths.
It's extremely bloody and yet playful, with an audacious 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' gag that will end up as one of the year's best. As outrageous as it gets, it's a sequence that remembers small is sometimes better, capped off with a degloving moment that will make even the most hardened horror fan wince.
You'll be immediately reassured that directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, along with writers Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, know the franchise and what fans want. Yet they also want to subvert those expectations and toy with us too, bringing the premonition out not with Iris before the restaurant, but with her granddaughter Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) in the present day.
It's something that continues throughout, not just with the protracted death sequences we've come to expect from Final Destination, but also with deaths not coming when you expect. While the final act might miss the genius twist of the previous movie and plays out as you'd expect, there's enough surprises elsewhere even for the most clued-in fans.
Final Destination: Bloodlines is the first in the series to have sequences filmed with IMAX cameras, adding another effectively playful element where the aspect ratio shifts when Death is around. If you can see it in IMAX – and it's worth it for the vertigo-inducing opening sequence alone – it elevates the death sequences, leaving you on edge the moment you spot the shift.
Purists might long for the more practical days of the earlier Final Destination movies as there's noticeable CGI in not just the deaths, but digital elements in other sequences. Death also feels like more of a character than ever before here with a genuine vendetta, linked to a plot element that ties the whole series together (just don't think about it too much as you'll spot holes a truck-full of logs could go through).
If not entirely flawless or the best sequel of the series (Final Destination 2 will always be my true love), Final Destination: Bloodlines crucially has the spirit of the series and its own dark heart in the right place. It's evident with the deaths as well as its treatment of the late, great Tony Todd whose beautifully-judged final appearance in the series will provoke tears.
Ultimately for long-running fans or brand-new ones, Final Destination: Bloodlines proves there's plenty of life left in this series.
Final Destination: Bloodlines is released in UK cinemas on 14 May and in US cinemas on 16 May.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
