If thereโs one thing the “Final Destination” franchise has taught me, it ainโt a fan of Fugees. โKilling Me Softlyโ it does not. When the bastard comes, it comes with bloodthirsty revenge! All sadistic, all brutal, and all with some twisted sense of humor.
Piling up this list was both an easy and a hard task. I think placing them in order from least to best was rather difficult. Hence – and I might be, like our leads, cheating – why I like to see this list as my favorites one in the franchise, the ones that left an enduring impression on me right after the film concluded. As you will see, some managed to land here because of their execution, their level of fun and absurdity, how traumatic they were either for me or other people, and so on.
So, without further ado, letโs kick this large chain of events off. And donโt forget to tell me what your favorites are and how you would rank them yourselves!
15. No one can’t touch me! โ Final Destination 3
Starting up, we have one that I wouldnโt be surprised has traumatized some gym bros/sis. But itโs also another example of the dark comedy that pervades this film. Basically, you get what flexing so much can get you in the Final Destination universe. You feel and see yourself as so invincible, and it gets to your head, and Death is like โKโ and smashes your head/brain out.
Fun fact: I thought they shot this in a real gym, but apparently it was all a set. Also, there was almost an entire science behind having our man getting his head crushed, something not strange to the FD series, where they have to look for ways to make the kill more believable.
14. Smashing crystal – Final Destination 2
Despite all the freaky deaths and whatnot, this will not stop Nora from driving her son to the dentist, because everyone knows thereโs no place safer than a dentist. Of course, while Death fools around like the troll it is, ultimately, our Tim boy meets his demise thanks to messing around with some pigeons. This is yet another kill that has a comedic element to it. “Final Destination 2” truly embraces its ridiculous premise instead unlike the first film, and it does so not only through some of the dialogue, but the kills themselves have this level of absurdity that is cool and gnarly.
This is easily the goriest of them all. What I also liked about this one was the build-up. There are all of these great red herrings in which the film keeps you in suspense, not knowing how things will go. Or better said, in what way will things happen? How would this poor kid find its demise? Is it by choking? A dentist drilling his mouth and him bleeding to death? Or electrocuted (we got killer liquid!).
13. Rollercoaster – Final Destination 3
Story time: I once went with my friend to this Fun Park center called Arcadas. Among all the stuff they had, there was this small, circular rollercoaster. Nowhere near as huge and intricate as this or the ones in Six Flags, etc. So I went in and got myself in the vehicle. All was good. Except when we get to this sort of cave-shaped location in the middle. What the vehicle did was go down, inside the cave, and then speed out and do the same, like three times in a row. Now you may be wondering, whatโs the problem?
Well, the problem was apparently I was too tall or something because we went down, I legit thought my head was going to hit the top of the cave-shaped thing, ending with me at best a hit and massive headache, at worst getting beheaded. So, needless to say, I yelled my way out of the rollercoaster. Luckily, they did, and I get to live another day. As for the kill here, apparently this was shot three nights in a row, where the entire cast will be riding the rollercoaster dozens and dozens of times to the point they had to sit on towels. But yeah, this was brutal stuff and a good way to kick off the film.
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12. Train to hell โ Final Destination 3
Five months later, it appears all is fine. Our three survivors have died just like Kimberly and Burke. But the people in the test screening didnโt like that. So we got Wendy experiencing more omens while riding a subway train with her roommate Laura and her friend Sean. As Wendy is about to disembark, she suddenly reunites with Julie and Kevin, who have also boarded the same train. Wendy receives another premonition that the train will crash, killing everyone on board. Panicked, the three attempt to stop the train, and it crashes as the film closes.
You know what? I kinda dug this. Apparently, this was not the original ending, and the film was meant to end with my man Ian getting killed and our three survivors just walking out of frame. Fin. But with this one, I like how it all came full circle with them dying in a fast-track vehicle. Death has done them three times, each in every installment. First in Paris, then Clear being literally baptized by flames as she should have died in the first one, and now Wendy and co. dying on the train. All in between have been random accidents, but itโs like Death wants these survivors to die in some version of the same way they were meant to die initially. At least that seems to be the case so far.
11. Off the rail – Final Destination 6
Siblings Stefani and Charlie leave to tell another day, which in the FD universe, means nothing really, at least when your name is Kimberly Corman. And that happens to be the case as we almost immediately learn Stefani just lost her consciousness, therefore, she never died. Whoops! Following probably the third entry in the franchise, there seems to be a rule that the final kill must be as cool as the opening one. In a subtle or not-so-subtle way, what goes around, will come around as our protagonists meet their demise in a way that echoes back to the initial death.
This one, on the other hand – and I lowkey liked it because of that – plays like an amalgamation of things that came before. The short but cool part of them running away from the train (clearly a callback to the third) just to get killed by a log (freeway anyone?) and all caused by a goddamn coin (the opening). The way it’s shot, there was some good, fun-type tension as you didnโt know what would happen, and I was lowkey on the edge of my seat. And then the whole thing with the log was, again, darkly comedic.
10. Bridge is falling down โ Final Destination 5
Protagonist Saw Lawton and his friends head over to a company retreat where, if Death hadnโt come for them, they would all die of boredom. And we all know that can be a torturous of saying Adieu, Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen! For whatever reason, despite all the warnings, this may not be a safe bridge; yet our folks have decided to pass through. In their defense, many others do the same, which I donโt know, if it were me, Iโd take another direction. Then again, maybe there was only that option. But you know the drill: the bridge collapses, and what we got is yet another of the best opening kills in the franchise.
After the goofy and very disappointing one in the previous entry, this one is pretty exciting as we see our leads trying to make it out alive. Thereโs a constant sense of peril that makes everything more thrilling. Death lurks around every corner, and like a cat toying with its prey, it gives our ragtag team the illusion of a fighting chance, only to mercilessly impale, crush, and decapitate them one by one, save for a lone survivor. The CGI is both great and rough. Some things work, others, like that ending with Samโs body falling off the screen as the credits play, looked like a bad dummy was coming my way. It was kind of laughable.
9. Killer electric stairs โ Final Destination 4
Easily the best kill in the film and arguably one of the best in the franchise. Boyfriend and Girlfriend Nick and Lori try not to get blown into tons of pieces when the whole mall goes kaboom! And call me a fโed up individual, but there was this time this pretty popular small mall had its fate sealed when a pizza chain was installing themselves in the food court, but something went wrong and the place exploded with the theater which was next to it suffering major damages, the electric stairs also were damaged as well. It was chaos.
The mall still lives, and people like me go, but its glorious days were over after that fateful day. Anyways, this kill. The whole thing was gnarly AF. That ending with Lori being dragged and pulverized was brutal. Maybe it was the CGI, but there was something darkly comedic about the way her body was leftโflattened like a cartoon character whoโd just been steamrolled or dropped from a great height.
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8. The pot – Final Destination
Professor Valerie Lewton is having it very rough, dealing with some major survivorโs guilt. Then one day, when sheโs trying to just chill at her house, in comes Alex, doing a terrible job trying not to come off as a creep, which fails miserably. What she doesnโt know is that being stalked by a student would be the least of her problems.
So we got two kills in which liquid and fire are involved. Guess death was feeling wet and hot, amirite? But seriously, after two simple kills, this is probably the most creative of the bunch and the most brutal in the series. The whole Rube Goldberg set piece with the way blood served as a fuel to drive the fire is something Iโve never seen before then or now. And doubling down with the stabbing. Up to this point, like I said, other than the opening with the plane, death has kept things very simple. Now, why did Death choose to get as brutal as it did with the poor teacher? Guess death has something against the school system?
7. Teddy and the laser beams โ Final Destination 5
Olivia Castle is looking to start a new life without the need for glasses, so she finally gets a LASIK eye surgery. Good for her. Except seeing how she survived and had two of her friends dying in a freaky way, you would think she would have second thoughts about it. But then again, many people in these movies arenโt the smartest people in the world.
The result? One of the lowkey best (double?) kills in the franchise as she gets one of her eyes burned, basically destroyed by those lasers. Not only does the way Quale shoots the scene shoots the scene but MacInnes Wood’s performance makes the horror, the pain, and overall the whole scene more effective. The punchline in the end with she actually dies by falling off the building, again, another of the good ironic twists the franchise has become known for.
6. What goes around, comes around – Final Destination 5
The best plot twists are the ones the film has been hinting at, and you donโt pick up on until you look back and start putting the pieces together. We get a reference to a log truck, a recurring classic rock song and many more clues โ but for me at least, I never picked up on that not only because I wasnโt paying much attention, but knowing already what was going to happen and having seen the other films, the franchise is no stranger to get a little meta and call back to other films. Also, I speak for many when we didnโt know this was meant to be a prequel, so again, you could easily discard these things as tongue-in-cheek references.
But no, it was the film spoiling us about what was going to happen in the end. That cutaway scene to Alex had me all giddy. I was like โHoly crap!โ, but also screaming at the screen for Sam get off that damn plane. For some, it would not make any sense that he didnโt get to see all the clues and leave the plane, but remember, he thought he was saved. And how many times have people been kicked out of a plane after they go nuts? But then we got all the carnage candy, Sam getting cooked. The kill here was arguably even better than in the first one in terms of its execution and how it was shot.
5. Tan tan taaaan! FIRE! โ Final Destination 3
Weeks have passed, Death seems to just kicking off his murder streak, taking suckers one by one. The first in that list is bimbos Ashley and Ashlyn, who go for some tanning session as I am sure they have done for months, if not years now. But the moment we enter the place, all red flags and alert signs can be seen and heard all over.
One thing this third entry has been blamed for is not being funny and taking itself seriously. And you can use this as evidence that the opposite is true. So I always liked this one for how brutal and fun it is. Teenage me liked it forโฆ ahem.. other reasons. But yeah, loved the build-up. Wong and Morgan once again use music to signal a death, in this case โLove Rollercoaster,โ which let me say itโs lowkey fโed up, after surviving such a tragic event involving a rollercoaster, they go around dancing and singing this particular song? Not sure, whoโs more savage, these two bimbos or Death itself? Maybe we call this a team upโฆ or a tie.
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4. Magnet dick, Iron head – Final Destination 6
So this happens pretty much in a span of seconds between each other and involving the same equipment, so I am piling them together. Not sure if thatโs cheating, but thatโs what it is. Brothers Erik and Bobby try to fool death, Kimberly Corman style, by killing Bobby and bringing him back to life. Here, I guess, we actually learn Kimberly is alive. Wished we got her in a cameo or something, hopefully next time. Anyways, our siblings go to all extremes, and by that I mean having Bobby eat peanuts (which is what heโs deadly allergic to) and using this MRI to bring him back to life or something.
But death ainโt having none of that sโt. And through some good ole Rube Goldberg piece, the magnet goes all the way to the top, and well, you know, physics happens. Erik goes firsts by having all (I mean ALL) his piercings being ripped out of him with the one in his dick being the final blow (pun intended) as he gets sucked into machine and left in a gruesome position. The kill is both horrifying, as you, as a man, feel the pain down under, even if you donโt have a piercing there. But that same reasoning behind his demise makes the kill darkly comical. Bobby then gets pushed into the machine and finds himself being drilled in his head until his head gets pulverized. Lots of pulverization here.
3. Set me on fire in the Falling Tower – Final Destination 6
Iris Campbell and her fiancรฉ, Paul, attend the opening ceremony of the Skyview Restaurant Tower. My man wants for this to be a truly special day, but differently to other openings in the franchise where we take some time before Death starts throwing its bad omen, but here we already get some glimpses a few minutes into it with that โRing of Fireโ needle drop and from there all hell awaits to break loose as we have people skipping every rule in the book, fulling an elevator to its maximum capacity, elevator thatโs already malfunctioning. Stupid kid dropping coins when heโs told not to.
What we ultimately have is arguably one of the best kills in the franchise. Itโs too soon to say, but Iโd probably right now place it in the top 2 or 3 spot. Loved the way everything went on and on, taking every apparatus in the building and using it as a killing machine. The bodies dropping, the piano, the elevator slicing. There was also a solid amount of tension, some thrills, and some of that good oleโ FD cheeky humor. The CGI is a little rough, but it wasnโt entirely distracting, sometimes adding to the charm.
2. Nailing the move โ Final Destination 5
Promising athlete Candice Hooper is practicing like any other day, except this time, things are about to get very hot. And not only because the AC is not working. Okay, Well. I mean, thereโs a good argument to be made that this is the best fake-out-filled kill in the entire franchise up to this point. Loved the way director Steven Quale masterfully builds up the tension and suspense.
Differently to other similar kills, the way our supporting cast member meets their demise has nothing to do with the thing the film has been teasing us, whereas here that small nail eventually has something to do with the kill, just not the way we were expecting. The way the body is left is simple yet so gnarly, I felt every fiber of my body shaken, and that crackling sound effect made the thing more effective.
1. Logging trauma โ Final Destination 2
I mean, cโmon! Itโs obvious this would take the cake as the best kill in the franchise. It has everything! Itโs gory, itโs grand, itโs horny, itโs intricately brilliant and hands down one of the most traumatic things ever in cinema. While we donโt get much logging here on DR, we do have some terrifying, large loading trucks. I remember very recently one was parked very close to this curve my Uber took, and I could have sworn if he had taken an inch closer, we would all die by impalement.
This sequel also has a stunt coordinator and second unit director, which also helps make this kill arguably the most action-heavy. Itโs scary but also cool and exciting, which, from what I read, was all intentional. The writers really wanted to turn Death into a badass. Also, a lot of it was a blend of CGI and practical effects, and the final result is stunning, especially considering the technology at the time.
