For 25 years, the Final Destination franchise has shown audiences some of their worst fears realized. What most folks probably don’t notice is that in every movie, including the newest entry, Final Destination Bloodlines, there is some form of gastro-related death.
You’re probably wondering what I’m even talking about and why it’s relevant. Let’s start with the basics: gastro horror is horror that’s based around food, kitchens, restaurants, etc. You might think it’s all killer food like tomatoes or donuts, but it goes beyond that. Food in horror plays with the idea that not only is the boogeyman out to get us, but also our own kitchen. Eating is a necessity for survival, so what do you do when most means of food preparation can kill you when you’re trying to sustain yourself?
I asked the series creator Jeffrey Reddick how he felt about the copious amount of gastro-themed deaths in the series and he said, “whether it was kitchens, restaurants, or barbecues, the thing about Final Destination is one of the key rules that was set up, especially after the first one, is we wanted to make sure that every movie took place in locations or had death scenes that took place in locations that people could relate to. So obviously, we always eat. Everybody always goes to restaurants, or they have barbecues, or family dinners. So I think it's really cool that they keep that motif alive.”
Spoiler Warning: Below is a list of all the gastro-related deaths in the franchise. Movies 1-5 will contain spoilers, but given how new Final Destination Bloodlines is, I’ll only be discussing the 2 we see in the trailer. However, there is one more in the film that I won’t describe. Just know, it wasn’t omitted for any other reason.
Final Destination
- Terry is run over and killed by a bus outside of a café. This is the first gastro-related death, and it really does set the tone.
- Ms. Lewton is stabbed by a fallen kitchen knife. While he did not write the scene and gave super credit to James Wong and Glen Morgan (who is actually Kristen Cloke’s husband), Jeffrey Reddick did admit to having his own fears about falling knives: “I do have a fear of knives. I have a knife block in our house, and I am always worried that somehow I'm going to knock it over and it's going to fall onto my foot, that my cats are going to get on it and knock it over and get impaled. So that scene did definitely stick with me.”
- While celebrating their survival at an outdoor café/bar (it is unclear, but they are drinking what appears to be beers) in Paris, Alex, Clear, and Carter are discussing how Death’s design can be interrupted when someone is saved, causing it to skip to the next person. Carter ends up saving Alex, only to be crushed by the sign himself. This was the first (and not the last) time we learn that survivors in a Final Destination movie rarely survive through the credits.
Final Destination 2
- The events leading up to Evan’s death take place in the kitchen with a lot of questionable cooking behavior. There are several close calls, including a magnet falling into food that gets microwaved, he drops his ring into the garbage disposal, which causes his hand to get stuck, and the mozzarella sticks he’s frying catch on fire. Somehow, none of that kills him, but once escaping the fire, he slips on some spaghetti he’d previously thrown out the window and is impaled by his fire escape. The whole scene is one of the most intense yet ridiculous Rube Goldberg moments of the franchise.
- At the end of the film, Brian is killed by a malfunctioning barbecue. I’d say this is one of the better shock moments.
Final Destination 3
- Ashley and Ashlyn are killed by a tanning bed, which in and of itself is not gastro-related, but part of the kill is caused by the condensation of the sodas they were told to throw out before tanning.
- Wendy and Kevin get trapped by a beer truck while in a fast food drive-thru line when a moving van loses control and comes toward them. They narrowly escape, but Frankie, who unbeknownst to them was in front of them, is killed by Kevin’s truck’s engine when it comes flying out of the engine bay after being hit by the moving van from behind. It may come off as a hot take, but I actually like this scene more than the tanning bed death. For whatever reason, the tension is better. Maybe it just feels more real to me because I’d never go in a tanning bed.
The Final Destination
- Shannon’s death when leaving the salon isn’t specifically gastro, but much like Ashley and Ashlyn, the condensation from the glass of water she drinks is part of the tension build-up in the scene.
- Nick, Lori, and Janet are killed at a café when a truck comes careening into the window. This is a nice tribute to the first film by combining the first and last deaths in an otherwise kind of bland entry.
Final Destination 5
- Olivia’s laser eye surgery death is another drinking water-related death. This time, instead of condensation, the air bubbles shake the water cooler, which causes a cup of water to fall onto an outlet. I thought water was supposed to keep us healthy?!
- Peter attacks Sam and Molly at the restaurant where Sam is working during a private and romantic moment. A chase ensues to the kitchen, where Agent Block shows up and is subsequently killed by Peter. Peter now has Block’s lifespan, but this, however, gets cut short when Peter is pursuing Molly and is stabbed by Sam with a meat spit. Sam then takes Block’s lifespan, which we see when the gun that landed on the burner during the fight goes off, but misses. This is the first time that the gastro deaths are character caused versus Death’s design.
- While at Roy’s memorial wake at a bar, Nathan learns that Roy was going to die at any time due to a brain aneurysm and is killed by debris from the Flight 180 crash. I will admit I love the fact that 5 was a stealth prequel, and a gastro-adjacent death got to be a part of that reveal.
Final Destination Bloodlines
As mentioned before, to avoid spoilers, this list will mention 2 of the 3 gastro-related deaths from the film. Of the ones mentioned, I will also be keeping the details scant to allow readers to enjoy the film without hearing about anything not shown in the trailer.
- The first and most obvious is that the big premonition of this film takes place in a restaurant called The Skyview. This scene is easily my favorite of the franchise’s main premonitions. Side note: This is the second horror/thriller film this year, after Drop, to feature a restaurant like this. I hope we get more of this trend.
- The second is a family barbeque that feels like an extended cut of the barbeque in Final Destination 2. This callback is fun and even grittier. In continuing to discuss the franchise’s gastro horror elements with Jeffrey Reddick, barbeques came up specifically, and he had this to say, “It's fun because if we can freak people out about barbecues, I think they're doing their job right.” A final word to the wise (not to mention basic bar etiquette): if a glass breaks near your ice, you dump the whole thing and fill it with new ice. Just saying.
I’m sure to many folks this is a weird deep dive into the Final Destination franchise, but gastro horror shouldn’t be overlooked. Sure, we were all traumatized by the log truck in 2003, but I would wager that after reading this, you might just want to use a coaster on your water glass or avoid barbeques for a while. In any case, it’s a great time to revisit these films and go see Final Destination Bloodlines, which is in theaters now!
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