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It has been 25 years since the first and last time I watched Final Destination at my best friend’s house, but the anxiety I had while watching it has stuck with me ever since. With the long-awaited Final Destination: Bloodlines being one of the biggest upcoming horror films on the 2025 movie schedule, I recently decided to go back and watch the franchise, with my first stop being the one that started it all. And though I thought I wouldn’t be an anxious mess, I was wrong after watching this with my Max subscription.
So, so wrong.
Watching Final Destination as an adult was no less intense, terrifying, or anxiety-inducing than it was as a 12-year-old. In fact, some of the iconic death scenes from this legendary horror movie hit me a lot harder in 2025 than they did back in 2000.
The Build-up To The Plane Crash Had My Heart Racing
Though I haven’t watched Final Destination in a quarter-century, I have never forgotten the intensity, brutality, and carnage of the opening plane crash scene – or at least the version Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) envisioned before getting off the flight to Paris. This scene, which was pretty much the selling point of the film’s first trailer way back when, has stuck with me for years, and it’s pretty much the reason I hate flying.
Let me tell you, as soon as Alex and his classmates got to the airport, my heart started racing and my stomach dropped because I knew what was coming. The part when all the flights start changing while Alex is checking in, the strange coincidences with his birthday and departure date, and the sheer size of the plane just had me going. By the time the plane actually exploded and the survivors were left full of grief and confusion, the worst was behind me. Or so I thought…
Then I Remembered The Bathroom Scene Was Coming
Final Destination takes its time getting to the next kill on the list, a little more than 39 days after the tragic accident, to be exact. But I wasn’t spending these minutes in peace watching as Alex tried to figure out why he saw a premonition or why he and the others were spared because I remembered that the bathroom scene was coming. Instead, I was waiting for what was coming next…
As soon as I saw Tod Waggner (Chad Donella) enter the bathroom and start shaving for some reason, my anxiety reached new heights. I’m talking about “involuntarily covering my face and biting my nails” levels of stress as the water from the toilet spilled onto the bathroom tile. Then again when he unplugged the radio. And then yet again when I saw the clothesline in the shower. All I could do was shake my head, take a deep breath, and try to get through the next two minutes. Now I’m pretty much scared of everything because of this scene, including going to the bathroom.
The Slow Build To Valerie’s Violent Death Had Me Screaming ‘Come On With It’ At The TV
I’m getting somewhat out of order with the deaths here (don’t come for me, Death), but I have to point out that Valerie Lewton’s (Kristen Cloke) death around halfway through Final Destination had me both incredibly anxious and frustrated. No joke, I screamed “Come on with it” at the TV as I waited for this long, drawn-out, and excruciating as the scene kept teasing all those instruments and manners of death. The finicky stove, the broken mug, the knives, John Denver on the record player, the computer screen, all of it had me trying to figure out what was going to do her in.
I was so anxious during this nearly five-minute scene that I picked up the remote and thought about skipping to the next chapter before realizing this was streaming and not on DVD. However, the way director James Wong crafted this scene, with the heightened drama and tension of Valerie spending her final moments before being hit by a shard of computer screen and then stabbed and presumably burned, was masterful.
The Other Deaths Happened So Fast, But That Honestly Made Me Even More Anxious
The three other major deaths happen more quickly than the others in Final Destination, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less anxiety-inducing. In fact, the instant nature of these three gruesome kills made me even more of an anxious mess.
First, there’s Terry Chaney (Amanda Detmer) getting turned to a pulp by a speeding train. I completely forgot about this scene until she started backing up into the street, but then it felt like time came to a standstill as I realized what was about to happen. Then, there was Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott in a very non-Stiffler role) getting decapitated by a piece of shrapnel after the whole “car breaks down on the train track” scenario. And then there was Carter Horton (Kerr Smith) getting crushed by a falling sign in Paris right before the credits rolled.
Though all of these death scenes were pretty much over as quickly as they started, they reminded me that death isn’t always drawn out. One second, you’re talking about getting on with life. The next, you’re dead.
I watched Final Destination night when my wife and kids went to bed early, meaning I could have totally continued on with the second movie to see what happened to Alex Browning and Clear Rivers (Ali Larter). But I’m going to be honest, I needed a break before jumping into Final Destination 2. This doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch this 2003 sequel, because I really want to go back and revisit it after 20-plus years to see if the big pile-up in the opening scene is still as intense as I remember it back in the day (I still don’t like being behind log trucks, by the way).
When that time comes, I’ll make sure to jot down my thoughts and let the world know how I think. But until then, I’m going to take it easy, watch my back, and make sure there are no hazards anywhere in my house.
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