The Mosley Review: Final Destination: Bloodlines
Oh man what a breath of fresh air! Long have I missed the days of horror films with elaborate and cheeky death scenes and a plot that was just dumb enough to be fun and balanced at the same time. With all the horror film revivals, reboots and requels, they've all copied the same formulaic structure of bringing back the legacy characters only to die and usher in the new kids. This film wisely doesn't follow that tired trope and gives you a tight, entertaining and fun new sandbox of death to play in and it was a blast. Yeah, the story of the franchise is always the same, but this time there’s a family driven approach that was surprisingly heartfelt and darkly humorous. From the fantastic opening scene to the final blood splattered finale, I found myself having the best time and oddly routing for death to succeed. Even though I was there for the bloodshed, the characters themselves were fleshed out well and I enjoyed the nightmare they took us the audience through.
Brec Bassinger and Max Lloyd-Jones were wonderful as the loving couple Iris and Paul Campbell. They open the film with a classic love story and Max truly brought out the classic and honest love of Paul. Brec was fantastic as Iris and her innocence was charming and their chemistry was great for the time we spent with them. Brec's performance was outstanding as the opening mayhem began and she sold the horror of it all so brilliantly. Gabrielle Rose was awesome as the older Iris and I loved the refreshing and smart lore dump she delivers later in the film. Kaitlyn Santa Juana was fantastic as our lead in the current day, Stefani Reyes. Not only does she have a great scream, but you feel the weight of the insane premonitions that plague her dreams throughout the story. Teo Briones was good and bratty as her younger brother, Charlie. The distance between them was the classic sibling divide when one isn't around as much and it worked. Rya Kihlstedt was awesome as their estranged mother, Darlene Campbell. The three of them were the core of the film and I liked that they actually felt like a broken family trying to reconnect. Richard Harmon nearly stole the film as Stefani's cousin, Erik Campbell. His sarcastic and morbid sense of humor was fun and I liked his cavalier attitude. Their is a family plot line with him that was straight out of a daytime soap opera thought was absolutely hysterical. The wonderful and iconic Tony Todd returns as the great William Bludworth and as always, he drops the most poetic wisdom. This film fully completes Williams' story with an good origin story and a swan song of an end. Tony Todd delivers a truly heartwarming final performance and takes a graceful bow. This was a beautiful to tribute one of the most iconic actors of all time and his last speech was truly from the heart.
The score by Tim Wynn was bombastic, haunting and fun. The playful nature of the music that accompanies the rising tension was great and I loved the build to the carnage. The set pieces of death in this film were absolutely some of the best the franchise has seen, but at a cost. I know that CGI has been used in the past, but I miss the practicality of the gore. There were times were it blended well, but the rest of the time it was too cartoony. The opening sequence and the cabin scene in the first half of the film were the true highlights of the film. Even with the problems I had, this was still a brisk paced horror thriller that delivers on the fun and gory mayhem the franchise is known for. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
