Review: "FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES" is a Deathly Frightener

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 37 of 2025 (No. 2043) by Leroy Douresseaux

Final Destination Bloodlines (2025)

Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)

Rating: MPA – R for strong violent/grisly accidents, and language

DIRECTORS:  Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein

WRITERS:  Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor; from a story by Jon Watts and Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor (based on characters created by Jeffrey Reddick)

PRODUCERS:  Craig Perry, Toby Emmerich, Dianne McGunigle, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, and Jon Watts

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Christian Sebaldt

EDITOR:  Sabrina Pitre

COMPOSER:  Tim Wynn

HORROR/THRILLER/MYSTERY

Starring:  Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Alex Zahara, April Amber Telek, Tinpo Lee, Gabriel Rose, Brec Bassinger, Max Lloyd-Jones, and Tony Todd

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

-- “Final Destination Bloodlines” is the best “Final Destination” film in over 20 years. It has a great opening, a 19-minute prologue, and the rest of film takes on a race against time as Death stalks a bloodline.

-- The film gets two solid scream queen performances from Kaitlyn Santa Juana and Brec Bassinger, good enough to make us feel sad about their ultimate fates...

Final Destination Bloodlines is a 2025 supernatural horror film from directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B Stein.  It is the sixth entry in the Final Destination film series.  Bloodlines follows a young woman whose recurring nightmares are warnings of the horrific fate that awaits her family.

Final Destination Bloodline introduces college student Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana).  Recently, she has been plagued by recurring nightmares about a disaster from some time in the past.  It involves her maternal grandmother, Iris Campbell (Brec Bassinger), and her then-boyfriend and later husband, Paul (Max Lloyd-Jones).  Almost six decades ago, Iris and Paul attended the grand opening of the Sky View Tower (which is similar to the real-life “Space Needle” in Seattle Washington).

Stefani's nightmares usually end in tragedy with Iris, Paul, and the others at the opening dying horrible deaths.  However, Iris and Paul did attend the grand opening of the Sky View Tower and lived.  Now, Stefani wants to find Iris, her grandmother, whom she has never met, but her father, Marty Reyes (Tinpo Lee), is resistant to the idea.  He barely even wants to speak about Stefani and her brother, Charlie's (Teo Briones), estranged mother, Darlene Campbell (Rya Kihlstedt), who is both Iris' daughter and Marty's wife; Darlene abandoned the family long ago.  Dysfunctional family aside, Stefani knows that she must find the now elderly Iris (Gabrielle Rose) if she is going to discover the cause of her nightmares.  Stefani will have to hurry, as Death is already stalking her family.

Final Destination Bloodlines is set about a decade and a half after the events depicted in the series' fourth film, The Final Destination (2009).  The fifth film, Final Destination 5 (2011), actually takes place around the same time as the events depicted in the original film, Final Destination (2000).

I did not realize how long it had been between the fifth film and the arrival of Final Destination Bloodlines.  The Final Destination franchise is one of the few horror film franchises that have been consistently good, with only 2006's Final Destination 3 being a slight misstep.  The first 19 minutes of Final Destination Bloodlines had me mesmerized, and I can call this prologue (of sorts) heart-pounding because it certainly had my aging ticker pounding in my chest.

The rest of the film does not have the same edge-of-your-seat thrills, but its focus on death stalking one particular family and bloodline makes the entire film seem crazy, surreal, and creepy.  The entire film is braced by two pitch perfect horror film performances.  Brec Bassinger as young Iris Campbell in the first 19 minutes and Kaitlyn Santa Juana as the heroine in the film's present day turn in tight and riveting “scream queen” performances.

As a side note, Final Destination Bloodlines is dedicated to the late actor, Tony Todd (1954-2024).  Although best known for playing the lead role the 1992 horror film, Candyman, and its two sequels, Todd is also known for playing the recurring role of “William Bludworth” in the Final Destination franchise.  Todd died of stomach cancer in 2024, but he was able to film all his scenes for Bloodlines before his passing.  He appears gaunt in this film, likely due to the ravages of his cancer, but I was happy to see him.  Todd got a good send off for his character.  Also, as movie fans, we have been gifted one of the series' best entries in Final Destination Bloodlines.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, August 24, 2025

There is a six-film Blu-ray and DVD collection of the six "FINAL DESTINATION" films available at Amazon.

The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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