Final Destination

Rating: 6/10 (11 March 2005)

"In death there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes!", from one of the creators of The X Files, James Wong, this is a really clever scary movie. Basically Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) and his class are getting on a plane for a field trip to Paris, France, but before the journey has even begun he is having weird thoughts, and ultimately he has a horrific premonition of the plane exploding on take off. He and a few of the other passengers are taken off the plane because of his panic, and then everyone is shocked when it turns out that the plane does indeed explode. But this is only the beginning of the nightmare, as after the funeral at the school, where the survivors pay tribute to those who died, the strange events take place. Tod Waggner (Chad E. Donella) is the first victim of a series of bizarre "accidents", as he slips on water and is strangled to death by the wall wire in the bath full of slippery products. Alex and his close friend Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), who got off the plane because she believed his premonition was true, they go to see Tod's body, and the mysterious mortician William Bludworth (Candyman's Tony Todd) gives them seemingly insightful knowledge about how Death (The Grim Reaper) works. They conclude that Death is stalking them until all the survivors of Flight 180 are dead, unless they can find a way to cheat death again, and at that point they witness Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer) suddenly hit by a bus. Alex works out the order that they were meant to die on the plane from his premonition and from the news giving detail about the direction of the explosion, and he works out that teacher Ms. Valerie Lewton (Kristen Cloke) is next, but he is too late to save her from getting computer glass in her neck, a knife in her chest and dying in an explosion. The remaining survivors, Alex, Clear, Carter Horton (Kerr Smith) and Billy Hitchcock (American Pie's Seann William Scott) know they have to stick together if they want to live, but Death will always find a way to get them again. This is seen when Carter contemplates getting himself killed, and at the moment he changes his mind it looks like he won't survive, until Alex saves, and it skips to the next victim, Billy, who gets beheaded by a piece of car shrapnel whipped by the passing train. While Carter goes away knowing he is safe, Alex knows he will be next, but he manages to save himself, and then he dashes to rescue Clear who is trying to escape the various methods of death, such as glass shattering, electrocution, and an explosion, until Alex sacrifices himself. Six months pass, and Alex, Clear and Carter have arrived in Paris where the class were meant to be, and they are sure they have cheated death and defeated the design, until of course it comes again, and it fades to black when Carter is about to be crushed by a sign. Also starring Daniel Roebuck as Agent Weine and Roger Guenveur Smith as Agent Schreck. It was number 46 on The 100 Greatest Scary Moments. It is a very clever film because there is no psycho killer, no alien creature and no dangerous monster, the villain is simply Death itself, so all the killings can be as gory and inventive as possible, and they are, expect plenty of bizarre but affective incidents, and a good amount of blood, a most worthwhile horror thriller. Good!