Death strikes in unexpected ways in theFinal Destinationseries. It’s ahorrorfranchise that’s built its reputation on elaborate death scenes that are tense, darkly amusing, and often shocking. The tradition of raising the bar has continued into the most recent entry,Final Destination Bloodlines, where an entire family tree avoids being uprooted.
With the use of clever writing and increasingly impressive special effects,theFinal Destinationmovies have the potential to go on for years to come, shocking audiences with one misdirect at a time. The following deaths are the ones that surprised viewers the most, making them think twice about boarding planes or driving too close behind a loaded truck.
10“Bird Droppings”
‘Final Destination 2’ (2003)
Final Destination 2sees Tim (James Kirk) and his mother, Nora (Lynda Boyd), have a dentist visit from hell. After Tim nearly chokes to death sitting in the dentist’s chair and Nora narrowly misses an electrocution via a water leak, the two leave the medical building to find Kimberly (A.J. Cook) and Thomas (Michael Landes) warning them about pigeons. Tim doesn’t listen and spooks a flock of birds into taking flight,causing a crane operator to drop a large piece of glass onto the teen, resulting in instant death.
Between the nitrous gas malfunctioning and the toy almost suffocating him, there was such a focus on Tim’s encounters at the dentist that when they left, it seemed as if he truly avoided danger. So, after dangling so many threats over Tim’s head, in some cases literally, it was shocking and unexpected for him to die mere steps after leaving the building. The good news is, Tim ultimately avoided having to get that cavity filled.
Final Destination 2
9“Garbage Day Disaster”
‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ (2025)
Final Destination Bloodlinesmanages to throw some surprising curves at an audience of fans now primed for the unexpected. After not hearing from her cousin Erik (Richard Harmon), Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) and her brother Charlie (Teo Briones) arrive at his house to see that he’s OK after surviving a fire the night before. Confused but concerned, Stefani tries to protect him, not realizing that his sister Julia (Anna Lore) has been inadvertently knocked into a garbage truck, where she is soon crushed to death.
It’s not uncommon inFinal Destinationmovies for someone to avoid death only to die from a random occurrence afterward, so all eyes were still on Erik in terms of an unpredictable death. To her credit, Stefani completely figured out how the death would happen, but because the audience didn’t have all the information about their family tree and Erik’s real dad,no one expected the series of events to happen to Julia.If the twist weren’t shocking enough, the visual of seeing Julia crushed in the garbage truck would easily do the trick.
Final Destination Bloodlines
8“Hot Tar”
‘Final Destination 5’ (2011)
The opening ofFinal Destination 5doesn’t waste time before putting its doomed cast of characters on a collapsing bridge. Sam’s (Nicholas D’Agosto) vision of bloodshed involves his corporate retreat-bound bus stuck in traffic as a suspension bridge falls to pieces, killing his friends and co-workers in horrible ways. Sam’s boss, Dennis (David Koechner), receives one of the worst twists of fate whenboiling tar tips over onto a dangling Dennis, burning him alive while he screams.
Up until the release ofFinal Destination Bloodlines, with its massive opening scene,Final Destination 5had set a high bar with not only alarge-scale disasterbut also in the number of ways the cast died. Since Dennis was spared the vision of the disaster he avoided, he could never understand how a wrench to the head was a much faster and preferable death than being scalded with hot tar from top to bottom.
Final Destination 5
7“Escalator Gears”
‘The Final Destination’ (2009)
Lori (Shantel VanSanten) has the misfortune of dying in two different premonitions inThe Final Destination.After avoiding the destruction at the speedway, Lori is on death’s door once again at the mall when an explosion destroys the large structure. In a glimpse of what’s to come, her boyfriend Bobby (Nick O’Bannon) attempts to rescue her, but he’s unableto prevent Lori from being ground alive by the motor of a broken escalator.
Another case of deaths in the vision being far worse than death’s second pass, Lori’s death in the second premonition of the film ranks high as one of the most painful-looking deaths to endure. Considering how mundane some of the actual deaths were inThe Final Destination, maybe saving intricate and over-the-top scenes like the escalator encounter for the focused kills of the film would have brought more goodwill from fans.
The Final Destination
6“Barbed Wire Dissection”
After the survivors ofFinal Destination 2nearly die in yet another car crash, the majority are able to leave the vehicle while Kat (Keegan Connor Tracy) is stuck inside the driver’s seat. In the process of trying to free Kat, the airbag is triggered, killing her instantly by driving a pole through her head and causing a cigarette to fall from her hand. The lit cigarette lights leaking gasoline,creating an explosion that sends a piece of barbed wire flying toward Rory (Jonathan Cherry), cutting him into three pieces.
Rory brought the comedic relief toFinal Destination 2, so in that role, he actually survived a decent amount of time before receiving his barbed wire curtain call. While the death of Rory was expected, the fact that Kat had just died implied to audiences that there would be more time between the next fatality. The explosion and resulting barbed wire happen so fast that the audience is still processing what happened as Rory slides apart.
5“Work Out Wreckage”
‘Final Destination 3’ (2006)
The audience wasn’t going to mourn the loss of the arrogant and aggressive Lewis (Texas Battle), but they still didn’t expect his death to be quite so severe. Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Kevin (Ryan Merriman) show up to warn Lewis that he’s next on death’s hit list, but he’s not in the mood to entertain any of what they have to say. However, if Lewis wasn’t so busy with his workout, he would have noticedthe weights were disconnected from the machine before they crushed his head.
Sometimes, even though everyone can see the particular death coming, the result is still a surprise. The momentum builds while Lewis forcefully works the weight machine, guaranteeing his demise is already in motion, even though the audience isn’t quite sure from which direction. The likely candidate is the swords hanging over Lewis’ head, so when they miss, the moment lingers for an early celebration before his hubris seals his fate with one final pull of the machine.
Final Destination 3
4“Clearing Out”
The survivors inFinal Destination 2are quickly dying at a rapid rate when the trio of Clear (Ali Larter), Kimberly, and Thomas arrive at the hospital looking for the pregnant Isabella (Justina Machado) and the injured Eugene. Isabella is giving birth, but Eugene is struggling to hold on when his death begins tampering with his life support equipment, filling the room with oxygen while pulling a cord out of the wall. As Clear makes it to Eugene’s door, a spark from the outlet ignites the oxygen, killing Eugene and Clear with a fiery explosion.
Clear’s return inFinal Destination 2gave the film a recognizable face to help sell the movie, and her take-charge attitude hinted that she would be the person to shepherd this cast and possibly future survivors through their efforts to cheat death. Clear didn’t die in the opening minutes likeDrew BarrymoreinScream, so her presence in the movie was more than stunt casting. The notion that Larter would be a returning face was cut short, and audiences would no longer doubt that anyone could die in a Final Destination movie.
3“Flight 180: Part 2”
Sam and Emma (Molly Harper) have had a rough time avoiding death from both supernatural forces and friend-turned-enemy Miles (Peter Friedkin), but they can finally put that behind them as they board a plane to Paris. The two haven’t quite made it in their seats yet when they witness a fight between none other than Alex (Devon Sawa) and Carter (Kerr Smith).In astunning plot twist,Final Destination 5is revealed to be a prequel toFinal Destination, andthe flight Sam and Emma are on is the doomed Flight 180.
The twist ending toFinal Destination 5was a brilliant pull of the rug for audiences and an unintentional commentary on how fashion didn’t really change enough in 11 years for anyone to notice. It’s a reveal that makes rewinding a mandatory function for the viewer to ensure they completely understand all the details before the plane takes its final lift off.
2“Last Call”
If the reveal ofFinal Destination 5as a prequel to the originalFinal Destinationwas enough, the movie had one more surprise before the credits rolled. The survivors of the bridge collapse become aware of a loophole that allows them to murder any of their choosing to claim the remaining lifespan of their victim. Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta) accidentally murders work rival Roy (Brent Stait), and thus trades his fate for whatever time Roy had left. It turns out that there wasn’t much time, becauseNathan learns Roy had a brain aneurysm that would have killed him “any day”, right before the wreckage of Flight 180 crashes down on him.
Final Destination 5is remembered as one of the stronger entries in the franchise, and the clever ending goes a long way to leaving audiences shocked and entertained. Between new ideas presented in terms of life-swapping, memorable deaths, and an ending that perfectly weaves in the first film to make a perfect loop,Final Destination 5closes out strong with Nathan’s fallout of choosing the wrong person to kill accidentally.
1“Magnetic Murder”
Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
After Erik had lost the man who raised him as a father and his half-sister, he swore to do anything possible to keep his brother Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) alive. Together, they devise a plan to kill Bobby and resurrect him at the hospital, but an overpowered MRI machine’s magnet pulls the piercings from Erik’s body before impaling him with a wheelchair meant for Bobby.
Amidst all the heartbreak oflosing his family members, Erik also has to process the revelation that his dad is actually someone else, meaning he’s not part of the cursed bloodline. For audiences,this meant Erik was safe to be his sarcastic self while keeping everyone alive, but it appeared that death took exception to his efforts. At first, the piercings being pulled from Erik’s skin seem like a painful sacrifice to keep his brother alive, but as he’s sucked into the machine and then impaled by the wheelchair, many were stunned that someone not in death’s plans could still be taken as collateral damage.
NEXT: The 10 Greatest ‘Final Destination’ Series References in ‘Bloodlines’ That Prove Death Never Forgets
