What began as a script for an episode ofThe X-Filesended up as one of the most surprising and lucrative horror film franchises in history.
WithFinal Destination: Bloodlineslooming menacingly over the horizon, as well asThe Monkey, the spectacular horror-comedy take onFinal Destination’sformula shocking audiences everywhere, it’s perhaps time to look at a final ranking of the five movies in this series.
The Final Destination(2009)
Even though it’s by far the biggest moneymaker in the series, this foray into cheap 3D deaths and expensive tickets is easily its lowest point.
Even though it features a decent intro with a lot of mayhem at a race,The Final Destinationthen devolves into a string of nonsensical and silly-looking kills that fail to be anything other than unintentionally funny. That’s quite the problem for the series that thrives by creating new fears of everyday stuff with each new installment.
Final Destination 3 (2006)
Final Destination 3sits at a strange spot. Its opening sequence — one of the most important elements of this series — is good. Still, the rest of the deaths, due to a strange overuse of unrealistic CGI, fail to capture the realistic look of the kills in the first two movies, which, despite not necessarily being so, have always felt that way.
Also,Final Destination 3fails to take the series in a new direction, and the ending feels extra mean and a definite step down from the more interesting ending of the first sequel.
Final Destination 5 (2011)
I’m glad for the existence of the fifth entry in theFinal Destinationseries and not just to guarantee thatThe Final Destinationdoesn’t actually end up as the de facto final movie.
Final Destination 5’sintro sequence isn’t spectacular because of some less-than-stellar CGI and some surprisingly PG deaths, but the concept rules. The deaths throughout the movie are also uneven and never really hit the high bar set by the best movies in the series, but the film makes up for it with a great ending that provides a neat twist that ties the whole series together.
Final Destination (2000)
The originalFinal Destinationdeserves a high place on the list, not simply for coming up with the concept but also for giving us one of the most solid and freshest horror movies of the modern era. Though the intro sequence is far from the greatest in the series, and a few of the kills get convoluted to the point of you wondering if you’re looking at slapstick comedy, the movie’s fresh take on horror brings it a notch above most other movies in the series.
Though it remains a blast for newcomers even in 2025, the formula and flow would only reach its peak in the following feature.
Final Destination 2 (2003)
Movie sequels tend to follow the rule that bigger is better. Final Destination 2 does that, and it just works. The intro sequence is not just the most memorable in the series but one of the best in horror history in general. From then on, the movie gives us the most original, surprising, and coolest death sequences in the series.
It completely changed how we look at the concept and completely traumatized an entire generation regarding the seemingly normal concept of driving behind log transportation trucks. If you know, you know. Also,Final Destination 2is the first movie to end on a hopeful note, a welcome change after an entire movie’s worth of cutthroat suspense. It’s a shame that the series pretty much ignored this ending going forward.
