Warning: spoilers for all Final Destination movies.

The Final Destination franchise is best known for its surprising deaths, but some movies were more intense in how they killed their characters. The list of the best horror movies of all time has a good dose of supernatural and disaster movies, and bringing both genres together are the Final Destination movies.

The saga began in 2000 with Final Destination, directed by James Wong, which introduced the audience to the survivors of Flight 180, as well as to Death’s plan and how it claims the lives of those who cheat its plans. The success of Final Destination spawned a franchise with a total of six movies and a seventh in development, all following the same core premise of survival.

However, some Final Destination movies were more creative with their deaths than others, and some were a lot more intense and shocking, unblocking new fears in the audience, as weird as some might be.

6

Final Destination

The events of Final Destination kick off when Alex (Devon Sawa) has a vision of the plane he just boarded with his friends and classmates exploding shortly after takeoff. The plane explosion is already intense, but it’s only the beginning, as Final Destination gets creative with the supposedly accidental deaths of its characters.

From slipping in the bathroom and being strangled in the shower, to a series of events that lead to the explosion of a house, being run over by a truck, decapitated by a piece of shrapnel, and being crushed by a giant neon sign, the deaths in Final Destination are unexpected, but the sequels amped up the intensity.

5

The Final Destination

The Final Destination is the fourth movie in the franchise, and its triggering event is a disastrous auto race. Nick and his friends go to the race, where he has a vision of a racetrack accident that rapidly escalates, with debris flying into the grandstand, killing various attendees in various ways.

The Final Destination has some by-then classic franchise deaths like decapitations and fires, but it’s notable for its pool drain pipe death, with Hunt being disemboweled by it. It’s this death that places The Final Destination above the first movie, as the rest don’t go too high in intensity in comparison to the rest of the saga.

4

Final Destination 5

Final Destination 5 was set to be the closing chapter of the Final Destination movie series, but it has a twist at the end that changes its place in the timeline. It all starts when Sam has a vision of the bus he’s on with his colleagues crossing a bridge that collapses due to high winds.

This sequence is quite intense, with a lot of unexpected ways of dying while Sam and the rest try to get to safety. This is followed by the shocking, painful, and famous gymnastics death, Isaac’s strange yet fascinating death at the spa, a traumatic death involving laser eye surgery, and the twist at the end resulting in three final shocking deaths.

Final Destination 5 isn’t the best in the saga, but it was an improvement on The Final Destination, and that twist at the end was totally unexpected. Final Destination 5 has memorable and creative deaths that rank among the most brutal Final Destination deaths.

3

Final Destination 3

Final Destination 3 begins at an amusement park, where Wendy has a vision right after boarding a roller coaster. The series of deaths after the roller coaster accident begins with one of the franchise’s most creative and shocking deaths that appeals to a common fear among those who use those services: Ashley and Ashlyn being burned alive in tanning beds.

Their deaths are followed by Frankie’s head being unexpectedly sliced by an engine fan from a truck, a death at a gym, Erin being killed by a nail gun that shoots several nails into her head, and Ian being bisected by a cherry picker. If that wasn’t enough, Final Destination 3 has one final twist for Wendy and her fellow survivors, and it’s as intense as the previous deaths.

2

Final Destination Bloodlines

© Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

Final Destination Bloodlines is the sixth movie in the franchise, and it successfully revived the saga with an interesting twist right at the beginning and shocking yet very creative deaths. Final Destination Bloodlines starts with a horrific, deadly event at a high-ride restaurant tower in 1969, with the person having the vision being the granddaughter of the only survivor left.

While she tries to figure out why she had the vision and what is going to happen to her family now, Bloodlines has intense deaths like the very graphic impaling of her grandmother, deaths by a lawnmower and a garbage truck compactor, being destroyed by a malfunctioning MRI machine, and a wild final sequence.

Final Destination Bloodlines knew the bar was high in terms of creative, intense, and unexpected deaths, and it understood its assignment perfectly. Surely, Final Destination Bloodlines left some questions that might never be answered at this point, but when it comes to the deaths of its characters, it stands out for its creativity, intensity, and brutality.

1

Final Destination 2

Final Destination 2 had a tough challenge ahead as the first sequel in the saga, especially after the success of the first movie. Luckily, it knew exactly what it had to do to not only live up to the original but also expand its lore and pave the way for all the movies that followed.

Final Destination 2 begins with an accident that marked generations: the pile-up on U.S. Route 23 caused by a logging truck. This sequence alone is intense and chaotic, and it sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

Final Destination 2 has an impaling after a chaotic house fire, a boy being crushed by a glass pane, decapitation by an elevator door, other types of impaling, and someone being dismembered by barbed wire. Final Destination 2 also introduces an intense way to cheat Death: a clinical death and being resuscitated.

It’s not surprising that Final Destination 2 is widely regarded as the best Final Destination movie, as it has more intense and creative deaths, a more layered story, characters with different types of personalities, and an impactful story that influenced the path of the movies that followed. All Final Destination movies are intense, but some went above and beyond.

Created by

Jeffrey Reddick

Cast

Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Tony Todd, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, A.J. Cook, Michael Landes, Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher

Movie(s)

Final Destination, Final Destination 2, Final Destination 3, The Final Destination, Final Destination 5, Final Destination Bloodlines

Character(s)

Alex Browning, Clear Rivers, Kimberly Corman, Wendy Christensen, Nick O’Bannon, Sam Lawton, William Bludworth, Molly Harper