“Final Destination Bloodlines” was directed by Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein, is the 6th film in the “Final Destination” franchise and is based the original characters by Jeffrey Reddick. It stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner & Brec Bassinger. Tony Todd is the only character to return to his previous role from the other films. After the events of the last film, Reddick pitched a 6th sequel as a “re-imaging of the franchise” but rather than being a direct sequel to the last 2011 film, this film serves as a separate story entirely.
In 1968, a young woman named Iris (Bassinger) survives a terrible accident at the Skyview Restaurant that led to the death of everyone at the party there. 50 years later, Iris, now an estranged grandmother, lives in complete isolation from her family. Her granddaughter, Stefani (Juana) is having dreams of the events at the Skyview Restaurant and then begins searching for answers. When she goes to Iris, she is horrified by the tales of death & links to previous characters & films. As Stefani leaves, Iris is killed by a series of events that began when Stefani arrived. Now, confirming her grandmother’s stories, Stefani warns her remaining family that the spirit of death that haunted their grandmother is now coming for the rest of them.
I’ve always enjoyed the “Final Destination” series, but they quickly became a repetitive storyline of a vision of a horrible accident then saved by a sole survivor only to then be picked off one at a time. The first film was a great setup, the 2nd up the shock value & the 3rd had a much more interesting story & lead performance. The 4th & 5th film were fine but that’s where the fatigue started coming in. “Bloodlines” did an amazing job expanding the scale of targets to not just the sole survivor of the visions, but trickles down into their families. Tony Todd was the perfect facilitator to this story having been a survivor himself from the previous films, but like he says in the movies & trailers, “Death Comes for Us All”. That low & deep voice of his makes the fear much more menacing & really drives home the fact of spirit of death is real and lurking. I’ve always compared this franchise to the “Saw” franchise. You don’t go for the story; you go for the over-the-top death scenes. While the “Saw” movies have much more of a murder mystery element to them, “Final Destination” has the shock values of death scenes. The scenes here are gory and entertaining & do a fantastic job winding up the audience before releasing that last bit, which is the franchise’s “bread & butter”. Even the film is the same setup as the rest, the film shines at the idea that death doesn’t stop at the survivors, it keeps going.
Overall, this was a pretty entertaining film. I think it’s better than 4 & 5, right on par with 3 but not as good as 1 or 2. New Line Cinema announced the film back 2019 but wouldn’t move forward until 2023, however the film would be delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike & wouldn’t begin production until March 2024. Tony Todd had announced in 2011, before the last film’s release, if the film was successful, he would return to film another 2 sequel, which is what Reddick had originally planned. Sadly, after the film wrapped in May of 2024, Todd passed away later that year in November. The film was dedicated to him for his role in all 6 of the films. The film hit theaters on May 16, 2025.