Final Destination (2000)

Film: Final Destination (2000)

Stars: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke, Seann William Scott, Tony Todd

Director: James Wong

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

All October long, The Many Rantings of John is running a marathon dedicated to the Horror classics of the 1960's-00's that I'm seeing for the first time this month.  If you want to take a look at past titles from previous horror marathons (both this and other seasons) check out the links at the bottom of this article.

We are completing our trio of turn-of-the-millennium young hot people in an ensemble horror film miniseries with Final Destination, which is also our penultimate picture this month.  While The Faculty and Urban Legend have something of a cult following, they weren't massive hits in the way that Scream had been...but Final Destination was.  This was a major movie, one that spawned an entire franchise behind it, and became so ubiquitous in pop culture that the title would become shorthand for avoiding death.  It's also a movie that feels pretty mid in terms of modern horror fans (it doesn't seem to have the same sort of devoted fanbase that Freddy, Ghostface, and Jason all have where people go back again-and-again).  This is maybe because it doesn't have an actual villain at its center to inspire nightmares...the villain here is fate, but shrouded in the black cloak of death.  Still, I was excited to finally get in on some of the jokes I've heard about this movie, and it turns out-it wasn't a particularly bad picture when it all comes down to it.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film opens with Alex Browning (Sawa) nervous about taking a class trip to Paris.  He is clearly apprehensive about flying, but his buddies are cheering him on, particularly because they think they're going to get laid on the trip.  When he has a premonition on the plane of it blowing up, he tries to escape, and gets into a fight with Carter Horton (Smith), which results in a group of six students and their teacher Ms. Lewton (Cloke) being thrown off of the plane...and then Alex's premonition comes true as the entire plane explodes during takeoff.  This sets off a series of deadly circumstances, where Death comes to claim the lives of the people that it was cheated out of on the plane, doing so in the order that they would've originally died had they been on the plane.  Alex, Carter, and Clear Rivers (Larter...and yes, that is somehow the character's real name) try to escape death, eventually finding that if you can beat the circumstance you can stave off fate a little longer, but the coda to the film proves...it'll come for you eventually.

The opening scene of the movie is why it's famous, and it works really well.  I honestly have no notes.  They quickly establish all of the characters, Alex is shown to be our dorky-but-cute leading man, and we see what would've happened if they hadn't gotten off the plane...and then we understand it's a fake-out, so Alex is able to save the people on the plane.  It's thrilling, and several years after Scream it probably worked really well if you hadn't seen the trailers, because what would be more interesting than a movie where they kill off most of the main cast in the first 15 minutes (i.e. the Drew Barrymore effect on steroids).

But after this, it settles into too predictable of a script, and doesn't give us enough to go on.  The rules are loose, and not entirely clear even when the credits roll (are they all just always going to die, or can you actually beat the system?), and the acting is not good.  Kerr Smith (fun fact) is the reason I came out of the closet, as his portrayal of Jack McPhee on Dawson's Creek was the first portrayal of a gay teenager I had ever seen in my life (I watched the Prom episode immediately before coming out as a way to be brave).  He is not, however, a good actor, and is super stiff in the role of Alex's (really sexy) adversary.  None of the acting in this is particularly good, and while everyone is young & hot (this was one of Devon Sawa's last major roles before he graduated into "former child star" status), it feels like a really good idea that doesn't land.  Still, Sawa is fun and the opening is so good that I can't help but recommend it, and I get why this concept became the source of so many future horror sequels.

1920's: The Golem, The Phantom of the Opera

1930's: The Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Dracula's Daughter, Frankenstein, Freaks, The Invisible Man, Mad Love, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, The Raven, Son of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London

1940's: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Cat People, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Dracula, The House of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Man's Revenge, The Invisible Woman, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Invisible Agent, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Ghost, The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb, Phantom of the Opera, She-Wolf of London, Son of Dracula, The Uninvited, The Wolf Man

1950's: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, The Blob, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Creature Walks Among Us, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came from Outer Space, Revenge of the Creature

1960's: The Devil Rides Out, The Innocents, The Masque of the Red Death, Night of the Living Dead,Village of the Damned

1970's: The Amityville Horror, Black Christmas, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Don't Look Now, Flatliners Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes, The Omen, Phantom of the Paradise, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, When a Stranger Calls, The Wicker Man

1980's: Altered States, An American Werewolf in London, The Changeling, Child's Play, The Evil Dead, The Fly, The Fog, Friday the 13th, Gremlins, Hellraiser, The House on Sorority Row, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Pet Sematary, Poltergeist, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Sleepaway Camp, The Thing

1990's-Present: Arachnophobia, The Blair Witch Project, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Candyman, The Faculty, Flatliners, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Interview with the Vampire, Paranormal Activity, Scary Movie, Scream, Urban Legend