Delayed Reaction: The Final Destination

The Pitch: If we make it sound like this is the last movie, more people might show up.

How I Came Into It: The Final Destination series is the ultimate 2nd-tier horror franchise. It's simple. It's easily repeatable. The villain is easy. The cast doesn't matter. It never struck a cultural nerve the way Halloween or Scream or Paranormal Activity did, but they are cheap and moderately successful. I think this is the fourth movie in the franchise. I'm not sure. I've seen a couple of them and I don't really know why. They were always on at the right time, I guess.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) It's a creepy idea, death chasing you. We are all trying to escape fate, so it's universal. It starts with a bang, some tragedy where you see how badly things could've gone, followed by a series of close calls and deaths, until the hero thinks he's safe (but he's not). The way they hint at every possible way a person can die in an accident before they do is darkly comedic. I called this Horror Foreplay: the Movie as I was watching it.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The movie lives and dies on two things: the cast and the inventiveness of how they die. Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten and company aren't even Devon Sawa and Ali Larter (oh yeah, and Sean William Scott, apparently). The demises were fine. The NASCAR wreck looked a little cheap. The car wash mishap required a few too many machinations. I don't believe the physics of the pool thing. For a fourth installment* in a horror franchise, this is about as hard as I'd expect them to be trying, having made the standard horror franchise transition from scares to thrills.

*I looked it up.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend