Movies
‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ Review – Death’s New Cycle Favors Fun Over Suspense
Death begins a new cycle in Final Destination Bloodlines, the sixth entry of the film series that’s known for its elaborate Rube Goldberg machine-style deaths. The catch here is that Death may be more ambitious than ever, aiming to snuff out an entire family’s bloodline after its matriarch evaded its grasp decades prior.
That presents clear shifts in the Final Destination formula, including an emphasis on its family theme and a dedication to lighthearted fun over palpable, drawn-out suspense. Death’s daunting ambition is more impressive in scope than in execution, though.
Bloodlines kicks off with the requisite inciting catastrophe that sees one woman, Iris (Brec Bassinger), embarking on an exciting new chapter of her life at the opening of the Skyview Restaurant Tower. What should be the happiest day of her life instead turns into a brutal nightmare when a chain of events, beginning with a small, humble penny, leads to the tower’s eventual collapse and a mass casualty event.
Bloodlines breaks from tradition by switching perspectives, just as Iris should be snapping back to her present to act on her premonition, saving countless lives and igniting Death’s fury. Instead, it’s revealed to be a recurring nightmare that’s tormenting Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), a college student so plagued by these vivid dreams that she’s failing her classes. So she decides to confront the grandmother she’s never met in her bid for answers, unwittingly opening the door for Death’s design on her entire family.
Brec Bassinger as “Iris” in New Line Cinema’s “Final Destination Bloodlines,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
That perspective shift is the first noticeable departure from the Final Destination blueprint. The inciting disaster itself is a fittingly complex chain of events that spells doom in a variety of ways and yields the appropriate level of carnage, but don’t expect any subsequent deaths to reach the same level of intricacy or tension. Though that’s not to say they’re devoid of creativity or macabre humor and blood splatter.
Directors Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein (Freaks), working from a script by Guy Busick (Abigail, Scream VI, Ready or Not) and Lori Evans Taylor (Cellar Door), know that the kills are the franchise’s biggest source of fun and embrace them with playful spirit. The directing duo employ clever misdirection and tongue-in-cheek plot reveals to keep the audience on their toes, and find new ways to dispatch characters in the most outlandish ways. As entertaining as the mayhem can be, the practical effects are frequently overshadowed by more noticeable CGI.
Overcrowding Death’s design is the dense family history at the center of it all. There’s a lot of ground to cover to establish family dynamics, especially in one so fraught with residual generational trauma and estrangements, which does bog down the pacing. That’s compounded by a fairly predictable trajectory, even beyond Death’s order. Stefani makes for an affable lead, though she’s often saddled with trying to convince her family of their lethal plight over noticing Death’s signs; that eerie deja vu feeling that signals Death’s impending strike feels much more subdued than usual.
Not helping is the convenience of Iris’s handy guide to unfurl the entire rules and history of Death’s machinations, which is great for exposition but diminishes Stefani’s agency in the process when she’s trapped in a more passive, reactive state. The handy guide to Death winds up more of an expositional crutch that feels tailor-made for shorter attention spans.
Tony Todd as “William Bludworth” in New Line Cinema’s “Final Destination Bloodlines,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo credit: Eric Milner
Bloodlines operates as an accessible entry point into the Final Destination films, one laden with referential nods and easter eggs to past films, but it does bring closure for the series’ recurring character Bludworth (Tony Todd). Or rather, it brings closure to the horror icon who’s portrayed the mysterious mortician over the past 25 years. The aura of supernatural mystery behind Bludworth gets unceremoniously but tenderly dispelled, but it’s Tony Todd himself who brings affecting poignancy to his brief appearance. Todd’s monologue, mostly improvised and from the heart, serves as a heartfelt goodbye, the first genuine tearjerker moment of the entire film series.
It’s a momentous scene that also captures the film’s unevenness. The highs of creative kills and Tony Todd’s poignant final bow are offset by an underdeveloped story that struggles beyond its solid concept. The family at the center of the zany carnage is never as interesting as the idea of Death seeking to wipe out an entire bloodline, and the lack of suspense is noticeable. While it occasionally feels like a more watered-down version than its predecessors, at least in terms of lore, Final Destination Bloodlines does succeed in delivering enough summer horror fun with its outrageous deaths to appease movie goers seeking some blood-soaked escapism.
Final Destination Bloodlines opens in theaters on May 16, 2025.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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