Every Final Destination Movie Ranked (Including Bloodlines)

Final Destination Bloodlines is the series’ first attempt to capture audiences again after a 14-year hiatus, which is quite a long time for a horror movie franchise to be on pause. Bloodlines is arriving at a time when there is an entirely new generation of horror fans who could be showing up in the theater, with little to no reference for what happened in the previous installments. So, as a guide for new fans, and to stoke another round of debate with longtime fans, we’ve gone through and done our latest ranking of the entire Final Destination saga – including where Bloodlines fits into the mix.

Any horror movie fan of the 2000s knows that the five Final Destination movies have been a very mixed bag. Some had truly intriguing stories that were often accompanied by smart twists, and eventually an entire puzzle-style mythos of grim cause-and-effect tragedies, linked by some sentient force of death on a perpetual hunt. Other entries were shameless cash-grabs that tried to exploit premium formats like 3D, or traded smart Rube Goldberg kill sequences for the edgier “torture porn” trends of the time.

See if you can guess which ones are which in the list below!

6) The Final Destination

The fourth film in the series is still easily the worst, although not by a large margin. The Final Destination is the most egregious cash-grab in the franchise, including cheesy, over-the-top 3D kills, which now look crazy, visually, on 2D HD screens. Even the opening act disaster fails, as the NASCAR speedway crash and stadium collapse is the worst premonition sequence in the series. Paper-thin characters played by mostly forgettable actors, which is saying something in a franchise built on disposable bodies.

The story by Eric Brees (The Butterfly Effect) is also a misstep, including double-dipping into the premonition trope for a cheap fake-out, which is quickly negated by an even worse twist ending “surprise.” The Final Destination is even more baffling as it is the second installment of the franchise directed by the late David R. Ellis; Ellis’s previous installment (Final Destination 2) was a superior effort, while this fourth film represents the franchise at its absolute worst.

In the end, this installment is so forgettable that its very existence and title (the “Final” Destination) were quickly invalidated by the fifth film. The fact that Final Destination 4 is the highest-grossing film in the series ($186+ million worldwide) is the most baffling thing of all, possibly the most death-defying act the franchise has ever pulled off. 

5) Final Destination 3

Final Destination 3 is the point where the franchise pivoted from a semi-smart interwoven story about the ripple effects of cheating death, and started to become more of a loosely connected, anthology-style franchise of Rube-Goldberg kill sequences. The drop-off in quality is noticeable right from the start, with an amusement park roller-coaster disaster that feels like the smallest and least impressive opening in the sequels. 

Even with original Final Destination director James Wong (The One, Dragonball Evolution) back at the helm, Final Destination 3 only avoids the bottom spot on the rankings thanks to having actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Star Wars: Ahsoka, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Thing) in the lead role.

Final Destination 3 also recaptured the offbeat weirdness of the original with its kills, as Death seemed to take a more cleverly sinister and active role in finishing off survivors. Final Destination 3 was the first to fully spotlight some of the darker human vs. human elements in the lore, which would be expanded upon later in the franchise.  

4) Final Destination Bloodlines

Final Destination Bloodlines attempts to reboot the franchise around a whole new concept: death killing off entire families, instead of collections of strangers who survive a calamity. The change isn’t executed all that effectively in this first attempt: too much character development and backstory are required to make the viewer care about the doomed family members, but not enough is done to make each loss feel any more significant than your standard Final Destination movie.

That all said, the film’s kill sequences are admittedly some of the most inventive – and brutal – of the franchise, placing the reboot right in the middle of the pack. Getting one last cameo from late franchise icon Tony Todd (see above) makes this installment a milestone that must be acknowledged.

[RELATED: Final Destination Bloodlines Official Review]

3) Final Destination 5

Final Destination 5 ranks high on our list for being an underdog success that managed to surprise fans late into the series’ run. It has the best storyline since the original film introduced the “Death’s Design” mythos, with writer Eric Heisserer (Arrival) serving up a surprise prequel to the first film that no one saw coming. James Cameron’s longtime collaborator and protegé Steven Quale used competent 3D filming setups, Hitchcockian suspense, and slick misdirection to create arguably the most intensely nerve-wracking and surprising kill sequences in the series, up to that point. The opening act disaster (a bridge collapse) also ranks as one of the best in the series, and still traumatizes many fans to this day. The cast was stacked with some solid performances, including the lead trio, who have a much deeper dramatic arc to play out than in other films. 

Final Destination 5 also gets a lot of high-mark points for adding some exciting new elements to the lore – namely, the “Kill or be Killed” loophole wherein a doomed person can sacrifice someone else to Death’s Design, and inherit the victim’s remaining lifespan. The ending of Final Destination 5 is also the best of the series, as the final guy and final girl get a happy end and a new beginning abroad – only to have it revealed that they end up on flight 180, and die horrifically in the same fiery explosion the characters of the original film escape. That larger scope of Death’s Design opened the door for Bloodlines to continue the franchise from a whole new angle.  

2) Final Destination 2

Final Destination 2 was a definite departure from the original Final Destination. The sequel turned the opening disaster premonition into a full-fledged action-stunt spectacle, a highway pileup crash that is arguably still the best of the series (who ever drives down the highway without thinking of it?). A story about characters from a connected social circle was replaced with one about seemingly random strangers coming together to cheat “Death’s Design,” only to learn things aren’t as random as they seem. 

Final Destination 2 had enough twists in its story to be a novel addition to the franchise rather than a hollow and formulaic sequel. It had some fun and surprising kills, while also expanding the franchise lore to include interesting new ways to escape Death’s Design, as well as having a talented ensemble who intriguing angle of how escaping death creates the sort of ripple effect that Bloodlines is now tapping into on a larger scale.

Final Destination 2 does lose points for having a cheap gimmick tied to the first film it didn’t need, with Ali Larter’s Clear Rivers making a return to mostly just spew hokey expository dialogue. Also: killing off franchise protagonist Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) off-screen, and telling us via off-handed mention wasn’t cool. At all. 

1) Final Destination

At the end of the day, there’s just no beating the original. Final Destination kicked off 2000s horror with its weird and off-beat new take on how death can stalk us – getting millions of viewers to sweat over any ominous event, strange occurrence, or funny coincidence they encounter in life.

Even though it now seems out of step with the rest of the sequels that came after, the indie aesthetic of Final Destination only works to the benefit of preserving it as a cult-hit horror movie achievement. It’s chock-full of 1990s horror-comedy overtones (and music), down to casting actor Devon Sawa in the starring role. Obviously, Final Destination also gets major points for spawning an entire franchise, for the modest price tag of $23 million. 

The Final Destination movies are currently streaming, while Final Destination Bloodlines is in theaters now.