Full disclosure, I haven’t seen the new Final Destination movie, but I’ve been in the trenches defending this underrated slasher series since day one. Well, maybe not day one, seeing as I hadn’t been born yet when the first one came out. But I’ve been fighting in its corner for over a decade. It has some of the genre’s more memorable characters and easily the most inventive kills, a simple but effective concept that never fell into the trap of overexplaining itself, and a novel anthology approach that helped it stay fresh movie after movie.
Yet the series has always been panned by critics. The first scored just 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and the second (a horror touchstone for two generations, scarring us all with that log truck scene, which has been hilariously recreated as marketing for the new movie) barely beat that figure with its 52 percent rating. Up until Bloodlines, which released to an unprecedented 95 percent, the only Fresh entry in the series was Final Destination 5. I love that movie, but it’s in no way better than the first three.
Maybe Bloodlines really is the best of the bunch, I’m eager to find out, but looking back at how critics viewed these movies, I think it speaks to a cultural change more than Final Destination finding its footing.
It’s Not Just Final Destination: Saw X Was Adored, Too
Just look at Saw. The first movie is a modern classic, a low-budget splatter flick set mostly in one room. The series often gets unfairly labelled as ‘torture porn’, but that 2004 debut was psychological horror through and through.
We watched as two men, trapped in a dingy bathroom, were forced to mutilate themselves to claw back their freedom. It’s easy to see how it so effortlessly birthed a franchise, given the immediate, striking iconography of Jigsaw, and the unique spotlight that was given to each character and their inner turmoil, letting the actors shine with their understated performances as their slowly unravelling dynamic took centre stage. But that first movie only scored 50 percent, landing it with an undeserved Rotten badge.
The series floundered with low scores for decades until Saw X in 2023, which won over 81 percent of critics. Again, I adore that movie, but I’m not sure that it’s better than the first three. Instead, it looks like there’s been a shift in the last two decades. Critics are finally coming around to all facets of horror: not just the elevated artsy films, but the schlock at the genre’s bedrock. Or maybe it’s the critics who grew up on the sleazier side of horror now having a platform to voice their appreciation. Either way, I’m almost certain that if the first Final Destination or Saw were released today, they would be rated far higher than they were.
Slashers That Would’ve Once Been Panned Are Now Cherished
Take the Terrifier trilogy, which really is torture porn — seriously, those movies are gore for gore’s sake. Yet critics have been lapping them up, with the sequel peaking at 87 percent. I can’t imagine that happening 20 years ago, but it’s not just Terrifier. Totally Killer, The Babysitter, Happy Death Day, Thanksgiving, Fear Street… slashers that would’ve once been scoffed at are suddenly being given the time of day, whereas cult classics like Hatchet, Tourist Trap, Prom Night, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and My Bloody Valentine were once panned.
The Thing, now regarded as one of the best horror movies ever made, wasn’t as cherished when it came out, and was infamously described by Roger Ebert as a “barf-bag” and “geek show, gross-out movie”.
I’m not complaining. It’s refreshing to see all corners of horror uplifted, rather than the odd slasher or splatter flick slipping through the cracks. The genre has always been incredibly diverse and forward-thinking when compared to its peers, and has long been a seedbed for welcoming new talent into the industry (like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who arguably got her breakout role in Final Destination 3). So much of that happens in the corners of horror that critics have long looked down on, so to see it finally given its due is cause for celebration.
Maybe Final Destination Bloodlines deserves its spot as the best-rated movie in the series, or maybe it doesn’t: I don’t care. It’s just nice to see horror, especially slashers, finally earn a seat at the table.
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