With six enormous set-pieces and over forty individual on-screen deaths, the Final Destination franchise has something to scar every kind of horror lover. Each viewer brings their own personal phobias and experiences into the theater with them. For this reason, everyone’s ranking of the franchise’s carnage will be different.
Viewers who live in buildings with fire escapes may be most scarred by the death of Evan (David Paetkau) inFinal Destination 2. Gymnasts and athletes may have the image of Candice (Ellen Wroe)crumpled on the floor inThe Final Destinationburned into their memory. And everyone with a septum piercing will certainly cringe whenever they think ofthat sceneinFinal Destination Bloodlines. This same individuality applies to the opening disasters that set the tone for each film. Here’s my ranking of every opening disaster based on how deeply they scarred me for life.
6The Flight 180 Plane Crash
‘Final Destination’ (2000)
A group of classmates and a few teachers board Flight 180 bound for Paris for their (very lavish) senior school trip inFinal Destination. Immediately after takeoff, the plane explodes into flames and claims the lives of everyone on board. The incineration of Flight 180 is where it all began for this iconic franchise. For a mid-range horror movie filmed in the late 90s, such a set piece was pretty ambitious. Unfortunately, for this humble viewer, that ambition did not result in a particularly scarring viewing experience.
A plane crash is a very common fear among most people, but I am not one of them.Normal people who are fun to chat with at parties probably have no idea that there are 25 seasons of the documentary seriesMayday. Outside the USA and Canada,Maydayis known asAir Crash Investigationsand the show has over 250 episodes. I have seen most of them. The key lesson from watching episode after episode ofMaydayis that it is really,reallydifficult to crash a plane. Typically, several technical faults and several human errors have to coincide to result in a serious accident or crash. This comforting knowledge means that, of all the opening disasters of the Final Destination franchise, the crash of Flight 180 is the least scarring.
Final Destination
5The McKinley Speedway Disaster
‘The Final Destination’ (2009)
The only thing worse than being stuck at a racetrack watching cars turn left for several hours is being bisected by the flaming tire of one of those cars. Other set pieces from the Final Destination franchise have a terrifying commonality to them and instill the idea in audiences that something this disastrous could happen at any moment. As someone who wouldn’t be caught dead sitting track-side at a car race, I feel quite safe from Death’s design in this instance.
While the McKinley Speedway disaster fromThe Final Destinationhasn’t scarred me too deeply,the set piece does touch on a few common elements that could occur in other scenarios.Crowd crushing and bottlenecks at exits are very real failures of crowd design that can have deadly effects at concerts and sporting events. These components weren’t a huge feature of this set piece, but even exploring this phenomenon for a moment is enough to get me feeling restless and claustrophobic.
The Final Destination
4The Suspension Bridge Collapse
‘Final Destination 5’ (2011)
As someone acutely aware of the integrity of American bridge infrastructure (spoiler alert; it could be better) the suspension bridge collapse ofFinal Destination 5has always held a special place in the pit of my heart. Intentionally designed to flex as a means of absorbing wind and other impact, the experience of crossing a suspension bridge and feeling it creak and buzz beneath car tires is uniquely eerie.
Part of what makes the collapse inFinal Destination 5so scarring, is how many opportunities there were for the film’s characters to get to safety.Many of them make a run for it immediately, but the cost-cutting and poor maintenance move quicker than any horror movie character is able. The result is a range of characters, scattered through different parts of the disaster, all facing their own challenges. Whether it’s falling towards the water, only to be impaled by a sail boat’s mast, or balancing with bated breath while crossing a narrow beam to safety, there’s nothing pleasant about being stuck in the middle of this bridge disaster.
Final Destination 5
3The Devil’s Flight Roller Coaster
‘Final Destination 3’ (2006)
While attending the very extravagant senior graduation carnival, Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and her friends take their seats on the Devil’s Flight roller coaster. Within moments, the youths are thrown from the malfunctioning roller coaster and wind up splattered across the cars and rails of the Devil’s Flight.
Roller coaster accidents do happen, typically at smaller venues or transient carnivals. Despite the potential for danger, who among us hasn’t taken a chance on a less-than-stable-looking roller coaster at a temporary carnival space? I certainly have, and as recently as a year ago, I even dared to approach a twenty-year-old roller coaster called the Supersonic Odyssey which wraps around theinsideof a mallin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As I approached the front of the queue, I thought of the Devil’s Flight roller coaster fromFinal Destination 3and realized that I was putting my life in the hands of a mall’s maintenance crew. Obviously, I still got on the Supersonic Odyssey, but I did so with the knowledge that I may be leaving Malaysia in one (or several) body bags.It’s clear thatFinal Destination 3has left a deep scar on my psyche.
Final Destination 3
2The Skyview Restaurant Catastrophe
‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ (2025)
Perhaps it’s recency bias, or perhaps it’s because the opening disaster ofFinal Destination Bloodlinesis so kick-ass that it takes the number two spot. Whatever the reason, it’s undeniable that the Skyview Restaurant disaster isa thing of nightmares.The opening set piece ofFinal Destination Bloodlinesis definitely one of the most intricate set pieces in the history of the franchise, and manages to weave in a huge range of terrifying and unique set-ups .
Crowd crushing, heights, fires, plummeting elevators and bratty children are just some of the fates that await diners at the Skyview. Part of what is so scarring about this sequence is the reminder of just how frequently we’re at the mercy of industrial engineering. Every time you step foot in an elevator, a high-rise building or even a staircase, you put your life in the hands of engineers, builders and architects, and you hope that one of those architects wasn’t Death himself.
Final Destination Bloodlines
The premonition-based horror franchise returns in Final Destination Bloodlines. This entry acts a relaunch for the series with the formula remaining the same. Each Film’s protagonist is given a vision of a deadly event that takes several lives - by using this information to avoid their own death and the deaths of others, By doing this, death looks to claim those who’ve escaped by orchestrating bizarre accidents that kill them one by one.
1The Logging Truck Freeway Disaster
‘Final Destination 2’ (2003)
Once in a generation, a film will implant a terrorso profoundthat it will shape the behavior of those who saw it for decades to come. For the Baby Boomer generation, that film wasJaws. After viewing theSteven Spielbergclassic, audiences of the 70s became acutely aware that each time they dipped a toe into the ocean, they were relinquishing their status as an apex predator. Perhaps the pool is a better choice… For edgy Gen X youths approaching their late teens or early 20s, one ticket toDarren Aronofsky’sRequiem For a Dreamprovided a stronger case for avoiding drugs than any childhood PSA or school assembly.
For younger millennials, this once-in-a-generation trauma came in the form of a much less artistic and prestigious film:Final Destination 2. Skeptical readers may doubt that the impact of the log truck disaster is as profound as I have made it out to be. Well, to those skeptics, I present thisten-year-old Redditpost from a user who has since deleted their account. It doesn’t get more credible and scientific than that, folks. For everyone who has engaged their turn signal at the sight of a logging truck,the freeway pile-up will always reign supreme as the most scarringFinal Destinationdisaster.
Final Destination 2
Next:The 10 Greatest ‘Final Destination’ Series References in ‘Bloodlines’ That Prove Death Never Forgets
