I saw the first Final Destination film as an on-flight movie once. That’s love. It’s been imitated, perhaps replicated, but never duplicated, even by any of its own films in the franchise. Don’t get me wrong; they try, and they’re good tries…

But the original Final Destination is brilliant.

It was a gateway horror film for many millennials and a nice treat for the Gen-X crowd who’d just survived the crap-CGI horror snore-fests of the late nineties. Found footage saved horror, but Final Destination made it fun again. Let’s see what the fine folks at Wikipedia have to say about this film.

Final Destination Bloodlines is a 2025 American supernatural horror film directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein from a screenplay by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor, based on a story by Jon Watts, Busick, and Evans Taylor. The sixth installment in the Final Destination film series, it stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana as a college student named Stefani who inherits visions of a previous premonition that averted a deadly structural failure of a skyscraper in 1968 from her dying grandmother and is warned by her that Death is coming for their family. Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd appear in supporting roles.

After the commercial success of Final Destination 5 (2011), a new film entered development, described as a “re-imagining” of the franchise. In March 2020, series producer Craig Perry said the film would be set “in the world of first responders” and in October that year, series creator Jeffrey Reddick confirmed it was the sixth film in the franchise. In January 2022, the film was planned to be released on the streaming service HBO Max, with Lipovsky and Stein as directors and Busick joining Taylor as co-writer for the film. In March 2024, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that the film would instead receive a theatrical release. Filming took place in Vancouver from March to May 2024, following delays due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Final Destination: Bloodlines was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on May 16, 2025. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $285.3 million worldwide, becoming the best-reviewed and highest-grossing installment in the franchise.

The Rev-iew…

No one can forget the log truck on the highway scene from the second film and, even though it falls into the ugly CGI category as well, the rollercoaster nightmare from the third. I remember nothing about the fourth and fifth films. Sure, I watched them, and I remember enjoying them for what they were, but they’re nothing I’d rewatch.

I mean, what fresh way can you spike a tired franchise with a half-dozen films already in the bucket – other than giving it to Rian Johnson for a saga coup?

Let me set up my review:

My wife is a millennial who’d never watched a horror film until our union six years ago. Her favorite franchises in that six year period? Paranormal Activity, The Purge, and Final Destination. She’s all over the place.

Still, my wife was itching to see this one. Also, the horror community – in which my life is firmly seeded; engulfed, even – wouldn’t shut up about it. They said it was the best of the franchise and breathed new life into what had become nothing but tired tropes. I was curious, but had more important matters at hand.

Rather than follow the masses to a franchise, I chose originality. Sinners released about the same time as Final Destination Bloodlines, and I was smitten. Sinners will be the next horror milestone; you wait and see. I need more horror to touch me like that film did. My wife and I saw it on opening night and we were the only two white people in the whole theater. That was exactly how I wanted to see it. I knew the movie was about music, and I wanted those blues to take me home, baby. I wanted to feel that film, and dammit, I did.

I’m not even sure if it’s fair to review horror films for a while until the Coogler spell wears off. Damn, that film is a masterpiece.

After much hype, I finally sat down with my wife to say goodbye to the great Tony Todd. Candyman is a beautiful film and another of my childhood favorites. After the Gen-X/Millennial debate, we both decided it was “meh”.

Middle of the road. Best of the sequel trilogy, if we can refer to it as such. Rise of Skywalker-ish.

I know everyone goes to see these films for the shock-kills, but I no longer find them shocking. They’re hilarious now. As a dark comedy, this film was epic.

It’s not, though. It’s horror, and horror is a subjective term. What is horror to you may be joy for me. It’s like art in a museum. It’s all art, but not every piece will get a rise out of you.

Sinners may have horror-spoiled me for a bit.

Final Destination Bloodlines was a fun watch, but no more memorable than the two films which came before. The CGI scenery looked a bit discounted, and the camera crew relied too much on drone shots. I just want “professionals” to get creative again. Go back to the basics. Please, major studios, give Damien Leone a shot or someone with fresh vision.

A lot of people died and it all looked like a videogame.

But I laughed. A lot.

I like laughing.

Then they pseudo ripped-off the first film in the newer Halloween franchise.

And there you have it.

3/5

Preach truths, toke jokes, and shoplift Amazon.

Also, don’t forget your book!

Today’s offering?

The Dime Western Returns!

“Reading Jim Walker and the Redemption Hymn is equal parts quirky fun and riveting action. Cloud’s confident, entertaining voice draws the reader in like an old radio western: the perfect bite-sized story with a main character you’re ready to follow through every adventure he finds himself on. So, tune in next time…”

– Megan Stockton, author of Lovely, Dark & Deep

The history books would read that Jim Walker was brutally executed after the Battle of Goliad, but a few promises in the right ear blurred the contrast between blood and ink. Now an aging bounty hunter on the verge of retirement, his services are requested in the Northern Arizona Territory to solve the terrifying mystery of the Verde River Massacre. With guns from a local Deputy, courage from a saloon proprietor, and a deathbed confession from an all-too-familiar Medicine Woman, Jim sets off on what could be his final adventure. Will he lay the ghosts of his past to rest once and for all, or is he simply whistling his Redemption Hymn?

Also, there’s a few other things not listed here that are floating around out there. Best of luck with the hunt.