Final Destination: Bloodlines is a supernatural horror film and is directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, and the cast includes Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd.
My Thoughts on Final Destination: Bloodlines
I’ve seen a lot of horror movies in my life. Some that made me think, some that made me laugh, and a concerning number that made me question who let certain people near a camera in the first place. But then there’s the Final Destination franchise, which has always existed in its own weird corner of horror - one part slasher, one part Looney Tunes, all parts chaos.
It’s the cinematic equivalent of watching someone slip on a banana peel and land in a wood chipper. And somehow, despite being dormant for over a decade, Final Destination: Bloodlines managed to not only wake the corpse but also slap a fresh coat of makeup on it and send it dancing into the spotlight.
This is still very much a Final Destination movie, and has what you have come to expect from the franchise. But someone actually cared about the story this time. Not just the kills. Not just how many ways you can make someone’s skull resemble a dropped watermelon. There’s plot. Characters. Continuity. Emotion, even.
The film opens, of all places, in the 1960s. And already I’m wondering if I walked into the wrong screening. But no, this is the Final Destination universe filtered through vintage cocktail dresses, big hair, and a tower-top restaurant that looks like it was built purely to tempt fate.
We meet Iris, who gets one of those good ol’ death-vision migraines right as things are kicking off. The entire sequence is a masterclass in how to stretch out impending doom until your stomach’s in knots - or you’re howling with laughter. Possibly both.
After the historical carnage, we crash (pun fully intended) into the present, where college student Stefani is waking up from what she assumes is just another nightmare. Except it’s the same one. Every night. Same tower. Same deaths. And, as it turns out, same grandma?
Because yes, the plot twist here is that the doomed Iris might actually be Stefani’s long-lost relative, and suddenly this blood-soaked rollercoaster becomes a mystery about family secrets, generational trauma, and the very real possibility that your family tree might have pissed off the Grim Reaper.
This is where things start to feel... ambitious. Which is a strange word to use for a franchise that once killed a character with a laundry line. But Bloodlines tries to build a mythology. Stefani, alongside her brother, estranged mother, and a few extended relatives with varying levels of usefulness, tries to trace the curse back to its roots.
And it kind of works. Not perfectly. Not even smoothly. But the effort is there, and that’s something this series hasn’t exactly been known for.. But this time, there’s actual weight to the relationships. The film slows down enough between death scenes to let characters talk, argue, and occasionally even bond. You start to care a bit about who’s going to bite it next, which makes their deaths feel like more than just punchlines. Although they’re still punchlines. Very bloody ones.
Now, we have to talk about the return of Tony Todd. The man, the myth, the mortician. Watching him shuffle back into Bludworth’s shoes is like watching the Ghost of Horror Past dropping in to remind us how long we’ve been doing this dance.
He’s visibly unwell, but he still brings that same presence we love. One line in particular, about life being precious, hits very hard, and Todd’s delivery makes even the cheesiest line sound like scripture. Either way, it’s a moment.
Of course, no one shows up to these movies for emotional nuance. We’re here for the kills. The insane, elaborate, completely avoidable kills. And Bloodlines doesn’t hold back, and it features the kinds of deaths that make you paranoid about your own furniture.
But credit where it’s due - the movie also manages to surprise in how it ties everything together. It respects the rules of the franchise while updating them just enough to keep things interesting. There’s lore, but not too much lore. Hints at why Death operates the way it does, why the visions happen, and maybe even what Bludworth really is. It’s just enough to spark conversation without choking on its own mythology like so many horror reboots do.
The major weakness at times in the film though is the CGI, because in places,it looks like it was rendered during a coffee break. And while the first half hums along with a surprising amount of confidence, the third act starts to sag a bit under the weight of its own exposition.
There are moments where the film clearly wants to say something profound, only to trip over its own shoelaces and land in a puddle of blood and irony. But I’ll take clumsy ambition over lazy repetition any day.
I came into this expecting a cheap nostalgia cash grab, but what I got was a movie that respects its roots, takes some risks, and manages to be both ridiculous and surprisingly thoughtful. Not too thoughtful, mind you.
For fans of the franchise, or even just casual gore-hounds looking for a creative thrill ride, it hits the spot. If you have a weird affection for films where fate is less a concept and more a snarky bastard with a grudge, this one’s absolutely for you. And if you’re like me - someone who loves film, loves horror, and occasionally loves watching people get turned into meat confetti in ways that defy common sense and physics - then yeah, Final Destination: Bloodlines is worth your time.
Just maybe avoid tall buildings and glass floors for a while. You never know who Death’s got on the list next.