at .  What makes the franchise unique compared to Halloween, Friday the 13th, Scream, and A Nightmare on Elm Street is the villain.  That’s Death itself, which never materializes except in the form of killing off characters in the method of a classic Mousetrap game–Rube Goldberg setup disaster situations concocted carefully through happenstance and the chaos of science–which amounts to fate or destiny–you be the judge.  In this supernatural construct, Death has a plan–and more importantly an order–to things.  Yet each story arrives with a hero or heroine that thwarts the plan, individuals with a premonition of the events that lie ahead and the ability to avoid death, but never for very long.  The villain is a classic mystical “pusher”–able to subtly affect reality in ways only chaos could dictate.  It’s no wonder the movies began as an idea for an episode of The X-Files. 

It’s all about the drive to cheat death.  At its best the franchise is goofy fun, like Mary Elizabeth Winstead leading a group of friends to an unfortunate rollercoaster ride in Final Destination 3, Ali Larter taking charge in Final Destination 2, or the stacked premonitions and disasters of Final Destination 4.  All the movies are Rated R and at its worst it’s slasher movie fare, an excuse for the makeup, prosthetics, and stunt teams one-upping each other to come up with the biggest gross-out or body horror.  I’d still count the second movie as having the best balance of fun and suspense.  , which will feature Tony Todd as recurring character William Bludworth in his final movie appearance, isn’t hiding what it’s bringing to the table.  Enough to make you want to give up the idea of getting a piercing or a tattoo, check out its first trailer:

stars Todd along with Stargirl’s Brec Bassinger, The Imperfects and The Mandalorian’s Max Lloyd-Jones, and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Rya Kihlstedt.  Look for it in theaters May 16, 2025.

C.J. Bunce / Editor /