When thinking about great slashers, most people point to either big, burly, sharp weapon wielding psychos like Jason or Michael Myers or someone with a little more comedic flair like Freddy Krueger or Chucky. However, there’s one film, and franchise, whose supernatural slasher never gets the recognition it deserves because, after all, what’s a more terrifying foe than death itself? Offering viewers a foe that its victims couldn’t see or fight against and the viewers themselves can’t escape, the Final Destination franchise gave horror fans a new kind of slasher. Frankly, whenever anyone talks about this series, it’s generally regarded as supernatural horror or even just a suspense thriller. However, with the first entry in the franchise having it’s 20th Anniversary this year, it’s the perfect time to look back at the horror classic and consider recognizing it as a slasher.
For those that have somehow escaped seeing any of the films, the premise remains the same in all of them: the films basically follow a group of survivors after a tragic accident, as they’re picked off one by one through strange and elaborate deaths. While every film in the franchise follows the same idea, there’s something special about the first Final Destination that’s always made it stick out from the rest. To me, the best franchise to compare Final Destination to is Saw. While their sequels focused more on upping the gore factor of the gruesome gimmicks that made them notable, the first entries succeed in big part because of the talent both in front of and behind the camera.
It blew my mind that Final Destination is actually based off a spec-script written by Jeffrey Reddick for an episode of The X-Files. The story he came up with was rooted in reality, as he based it on a story he had heard of a woman switching from a plane that eventually crashed because her daughter told her not to get on it. From this small seed of an idea, Reddick eventually make it into a feature film with fellow X-Files alums, Glen Morgan and James Wong coming on to write and produce. Having only directed one episode of X-Files, Wong would also make his feature directorial debut with Final Destination and, in my opinion, it’s a very strong debut.
The intention with Final Destination wasn’t to make just another slasher flick, but to focus on one creepy entity stalking their prey. So, Wong and company wanted to create a world that leaves viewers afraid of everything around them. Utilizing small, seemingly meaningless coincidences, it’s never necessarily important who dies, but instead how they die and maybe if they can escape it. Things like Wong making note of the water slowly creeping up on Tod (Chad Donella) through the camera movement are great puzzle pieces that keep them on the edge of their seats as they wonder what’s going to happen when all the pieces come together. Honestly, the entire sequence of Tod’s death is perfectly horrifying as it has enough realism and creepy imagery to tense up anyone.
From how all of the pieces come together through Tod just going about his usual business in the bathroom to Alex (Devon Sawa) receiving a vague clue that Tod could be next, the scene perfectly shows what this series is all about and builds great suspense. Even as elaborate and complex as Tod’s death is, SPOILER with him slipping into a clothesline hanging over the bathtub to basically suffocate as he keeps slipping on all the spilled soap with scissors just out of reach, there’s still something so real about it. Maybe it’s Donella’s committed performance or that he’s completely alone and the scene isn’t made out to be a spectacle, but either way it’s creepy as hell and shows the genuine seriousness that’s become lost in later sequels.
Wong keeps this sense of paranoia going throughout the film and uses different characters reactions to evading the opening plane explosion to elevate them past the genre tropes they represent. The scenes of characters being interviewed by the FBI after the crash and everyone talking to Alex at the funeral are great because they develop the characters through their own unique views of death. I really love the choice that rather than everyone see Alex as someone who saved them, most of the group is either scared or terrified of him because it plays up how everyone fears death.
Even the scene with Alex death-proofing his cabin as a last ditch effort really shows the psychological grip that fearing death can have. There’s also an interesting philosophical element after the group first arrives on the plane, when Tod’s brother George (Brenden Fehr) says that it would take a “fucked-up God to take down this plane.” With the plane eventually going down and Tod’s speech at the funeral, the film not only presents the idea of there being a fucked-up God at play, but also the theme about death being inescapable and unable to be controlled.
However, none of the interesting themes or development would mean anything without good performances and Final Destination isn’t short on them. After voicing the titular friendly ghost in Casper and kicking some Cowboy butt in Little Giants, Sawa was definitely looking to do some more mature roles with films like Idle Hands and SLC Punk! However, I think he landed his best with Final Destination, as he makes all of the coincidences and paranoia that Alex feels very believable. Whether he’s hearing John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” before going on a plane or suddenly seeing a clue that could save someone, there’s a relatability to his paranoia that viewers can feel. Everyone’s had a moment where maybe they hear a song or have a strange dream that makes them question if they’re trying to be told something and Sawa delivers this in truly thrilling fashion. Sawa thrives so much in this role that he earned a Saturn award for his performance—alongside the film itself for Best Horror Film.
Outside of Sawa, the rest of the cast is made up of some pretty interesting and solid supporting players. While her character’s name, Clear River, is really dumb, Ali Larter gives a complementary performance to Sawa as someone who relates to his feelings about what’s happening. Even while she doesn’t do too much in this film, she’s given a much more sizeable and interesting role in the sequel, where Larter really comes into her own as the character. In the midst of his time on Dawson’s Creek, Kerr Smith plays a relatively intriguing villain as Carter and the whole sequence where he recklessly drives through the town without any fear really shows how much Carter actually fears death.
Even Sean William Scott–fresh off his career-defining role as Stifler in American Pie–puts in a slightly different performance. It’s a welcome change to see the usual cockiness of his characters toned down a bit for the not-so-cool Billy Hitchcock—especially in the same year that both Road Trip and Dude, Where’s My Car? came out, which are great in their own regards.
However, there’s no way that I could talk about Final Destination without bringing up the superb but short performance from, in my opinion, a true icon of the horror genre: Tony Todd. As a mortician, Todd delivers a great monologue about no one being able to escape death and that death being the “Mack Daddy you don’t want to fuck with.” It’s just so perfectly creepy and, really, all the performances are stronger than they’re generally given credit for—even if the tropes they represent are still clear.
Look, as much love as I have for Final Destination, there are some things that just don’t hold up as well. There are some moments of hyper-masculinity that are just unnecessary and an unfortunate product of the time like Alex looking at Penthouse and Tod calling him a “fag” for not letting him sit next to two early-2000s hot girls. Certain moments don’t exactly line up like Terry (Amanda Detmer) being hit by a fast-moving bus even though the road it comes down is shown to be blocked by a crane. Even the use of a shadowy thing showing up behind characters like Tod and Lewton really don’t look good and are totally unnecessary. It’s also, honestly, almost too easy to pick out the character tropes, with Carter clearly being the class asshole, Tod being a total horndog, Clear being the weird loner, and even Todd’s mortician character being a clear harbinger meant to warn Alex and Clear of what’s coming. I will say, though, that these tropes actually play into why I love Final Destination as a slasher so much.
The tropes aren’t necessarily too toxic or dull and through Wong’s direction, the performances, and everyone’s views of death, they begin to rise out of their stereotypical skins. Even the formula that’s clearly in place with characters being picked off one by one remains fresh because of how death is truly an unpredictable force that can’t be beat. It’s an invisible foe that the protagonists can’t have a big fight with at the end. Instead, they are just forced to survive against it and that’s what makes Final Destination such a unique slasher. Not to mention, if you think Freddy or Jason is the king of creative kills, Death puts them to shame here. From a simple house explosion to metal shrapnel getting launched by a train and severing someone’s head off, nothing is off the table. Hell, Death even SPOILER covers up Tod’s death as a suicide and if that’s not incredible creativity at work I don’t know what is.
It’s actually strange to me that Wong and company didn’t want Final Destination to be recognized as a slasher, because it’s a pretty damn great one. It’s unique in the horrifying slasher it showcases and mixes in enough realism and genre fun to create an all-around great experience that’s even more fun revisiting. Seeing all of the hidden clues that Wong has stuck into scenery, the new thoughts about the characters and what Final Destination really means, and even some of the flaws have really revitalized my already strong love for this film and I especially appreciate them more considering what the rest of the franchise brings.
With its 20th Anniversary finally here, there’s no better time to see this true horror classic and the start to one of the best-known franchises in the genre—especially with it on Netflix. Who knows, perhaps Wong and the rest of the crew might even embrace the slasher elements that make it so unique.
