We all have been in scenarios where we get a bad feeling about something. Usually, it’s a feeling we shake or end up wrong about, but what happens when that gut feeling turns out to be right, and it’s the worst possible outcome? That is what encapsulates the Final Destination movies.

Each movie follows the same general premise: the protagonist has a premonition of a horrific tragedy that claims many lives, including their own. With this foresight, they are able to pull themselves and those nearby out of harm’s way. However, those they saved start to perish in their own freak accidents one by one, and there’s a method to this madness. By avoiding their fate, the characters have angered Death itself, who wants to correct the errors and put the cast six feet under. To have a chance at a new life, they’ll need to look for clues and follow the rules, or else they’ll wish they never survived to begin with.

This premise gives a lot to process at once, so some of the movies’ general elements will be broken down, starting with the clues. When an accident is about to occur, there are always a few hints given as to what awaits the nearly departed. It can come in many forms, whether it be the last photo they were in, an intense dream the main character has, or even the presence of some music. All of this sounds innocuous by itself, but that’s the point–you wouldn’t expect something so random to be the deciding factor! By combining these hints with a heap of blood and guts, Final Destination is able to capitalize on a lot of people’s common fears: from plane rides, to roller coasters! 

The movies not only prey on common fears, but they also make their own as the movies go by. It is not a stretch to say that anybody who watched Final Destination 2 gained a crippling fear of log trucks, and those who watched Final Destination 3 would probably believe that the movie specifically is why tanning beds went out of style! It is not hard to instill fear through the supernatural, but these movies really land with making everyday objects into deadly weapons.

Of course, the wielder of such refined weaponry is Death, the series’s antagonist. Being terrifying both conceptually and in execution, Death is ironically defined by a lack of definition, because it has no form, personality, or origin. Even though it stalks the survivors and causes a myriad of insane accidents, Death’s presence can only be felt by a cold breeze or the manipulation of the environment, and seems to only be motivated to make the characters meet their intended destinies. This unstoppable force can beat any “immovable” object, that’s for sure!

To put it simply, the real horror of Final Destination comes from the paranoia and anxiety it instills into the viewer. All of these seemingly nothing clues, all of these accidents ranging from the rational to the absurd, it forces the viewer to fear everyday items and occurrences, making them question everything and rule out nothing, because no matter how ridiculous it may seem, it’s not… impossible, right?

…Well no, but despite this attempt at an analysis, these movies are popcorn flicks at the end of the day. A lot of characters are paper thin, the effects can look very cartoony, and the movies refuse to explain core concepts like the premonitions. While it is easy to poke holes in the movies from a variety of angles, Final Destination’s brand of horror is unlike anything seen before or after, and it is a must watch to those wanting a scary experience!