‘Final Destination’ series reboots with ‘Bloodlines’

Final Destination Bloodlines arrives this weekend a surprising reboot of a series that was thought well dead The series began with the new century in March While Bloodlines marks the th film in the franchise this ranks as a reboot the first entry since What s made Final Destination a fan favorite is that its murderous mayhem is far from the slaughtering monotony of deranged implacable ghouls that drive the Halloween or Friday the th series There s more going on than the countdown of survivors facing gory deaths via improbable Rube Goldberg-like mechanics complicated contraptions that killed again and again and made the Final Destination franchise so irresistible It s the disturbing premise that continues to stand out Yes you may think you re escaping Fate aka Death but you can t In each film a sudden premonition prevents a small group of people from a horrible mishap But instead of going on with happy lives they are each subsequently killed in spectacularly innovative avenues When Final Destination premiered it was part of a profitable Hollywood wave of horror movies and thrillers that shocked and somehow surprised led by a mostly youthful cast Screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick s original idea was to write an episode of The X Files based on the notion of miraculously escaping Fate It ultimately morphed into a hit movie starring Devon Sawa Ali Larter and Tony Todd Three years later the second entry a sequel arrived with Larter as its star It begins with a massive highway accident and continues as casualties multiply When Final Destination came three years later in it was a stand-alone entry not connected in any way to previous characters It opened with a truly wild and rollicking rollercoaster accident and became the highest grossing entry in the series The Final Destination arrived in HD D broke the box office record of its predecessor and begins at a stock car speedway where a young woman in the stands is decapitated By film s end no one is left standing For the Final Destination the series went back in time for a first-ever prequel For the second time in the series it was shot in D and from the original cast Tony Todd returned It begins with a bridge collapse In a new wrinkle is added to the premise You can escape your Fate if you kill someone first By film s end there is a satisfying circular return to the original s first mishap Which is forthwith followed by another unexpected out-of-nowhere demise Bloodlines is the first in the series to be seen in IMAX and boasts the return yet again of Tony Todd reprising his role of William Bludworth However Todd died last November The studio published a announcement that he had filmed all his scenes Final Destination Bloodlines opens in theaters Friday Tony Todd reprises his role as William Bludworth in quot Final Destination Bloodlines quot Eric Milner Warner Bros Pictures via AP