Tuesday 11 September 2012

Final Destination 3 (2006) - Horror Film Review


Goodness gracious great balls of fire, despite not thinking Final Destination 3 was fantastic it still had me legitimately crying with fear at the end, one thing these films always get right is the really obvious, yet really sinister twist endings. Many people moan about the Final Destination films saying they are nothing more than torture porn, but I have always enjoyed them, they are different (from other films, not from each other!).

Wendy (played greatly by the pretty Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has a premonition that the roller coaster ride her and her friends are about to get on crashes and kills all the passengers, in her panic an altercation occurs and many of the passengers end up getting kicked off by security. The coaster does crash killing the remaining teens, including Wendy's boyfriend, and best friend. Along with the assistance of her friend of a friend Kevin she comes to realise that something like this has happened before (the events of Final Destination specifically talked about). She discovers that all the survivors are going to die in the order they were supposed to if they had been on the ride. She has clues in the many photos she had taken before the ride as each of the survivors is shown in a picture in a situation which has clues to their death, including herself and Kevin. Soon the survivors are being killed in accidents one by one and Wendy must find a way to cheat deaths revenge.


The deaths are again the big draw and they don't disappoint. The initial roller coaster disaster is muted in that you don't really see how anyone is killed but the revenge deaths makeup for this, sunbeds roasting people alive, weights crushing someones skull, and a nail gun doing nasty stuff to someones face; all are nasty to see, and darn entertaining. The plot even for a Final Destination seems a bit weak, really a rehash of ones which has gone before. I would love it if one day there is a satisfying resolution rather than death truly being inescapable. Winstead is very good as the slowly going insane Wendy and is forever crying but not in an annoying way. Other characters are the usual teen idiots, jocks, losers, and nobodies so you never really care about them making their deaths more enjoyable.

As I said, I did cry with fear at the end, just knowing what is likely to happen, as well as the creepy as hell photos that hide clues until they are re seen. The Final Destination films are fun. The DVD includes an alternate version of the film where you get to choose key choices which influence how the film plays out. There is even an option you can choose that ends the film fifteen minutes in with a humorous epilogue telling you what happened to the survivors. An awesome idea, and one planned well in advance.


You know what to expect coming into Final Destination 3, if you like these films then is worth watching, if you don't then  this is really not going to change your mind.

SCORE:

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