The Final Destination franchise is back after a prolonged absence with Final Destination: Bloodlines.
“Final Destination is such an amazing treat for directors, because really at the end of the day it’s the filmmaking that comes for these characters,” says co-director Zach Lipovsky.
The series adheres to a strict formula: a group of characters survive a near-death experience, then must contend with death itself as it comes back to finish the job.
“There’s no personified antagonist, there’s no man with a knife or a monster or anything like that,” Lipovsky tells ABC Audio.
Final Destination is known for elaborately staged kills, often triggered by something as benign as condensation on a paper cup, or a load of logs on a tractor-trailer.
“We often start with this idea of what it is that we can ruin for people,” says Lipovsky. “What are objects that we all experience throughout our daily life that we could put into the film in a way that will horrify people to no end every time they see that object in the rest of their lives?”
Many of Bloodlines’ gory effects are done without the help of computer effects, which star Kaitlyn Santa Juana says helped her performance.
“It’s so much easier when there are literally limbs flying everywhere!” she says.
Bloodlines marks 25 years since the first Final Destination hit theaters, and in that time the franchise has garnered a rabid fanbase.
“I was a little bit nervous to do right by them because that was really important to me — that we make a film for the fans,” says star Teo Briones. “And I think we achieved that.”
The film also features one of the final performances from horror legend Tony Todd, who’s appeared in nearly every Final Destination film. Todd passed away last year, and Bloodlines is dedicated to him.
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