After sitting out the sequel Final Destination 2, original Final Destination director/co-writer James Wong and co-writer Glen Morgan returned for the series’ roller coaster of a third installment, Final Destination 3. This time, the sequel would operate as a standalone set six years after the first film.
Final Destination 3 may feel smaller in scale based on the catastrophe that sets Death’s design in motion, but Wong and Morgan inject new ideas and slight twists to the well-established formula. That includes how high school student Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) picks up on Death’s clues and the kill order through photographs she took on the ill-fated day.
Final Destination 3 also escalates the stakes in the grand finale with a second full-blown mass casualty event, one that hits closer to home for many compared to the memorable amusement park opening. The third installment is also the first to introduce a survivor with murderous intent; the psychopathic turn by Ian McKinley (Kris Lemche) is foreshadowed in an unsettling act of animal violence well ahead of his grief-fueled bid to snuff out those he deems responsible for Death’s latest freak accident. These new updates to the blueprint, along with a likable cast, ensured a solid entry for the franchise.
In anticipation of the sixth installment, Final Destination Bloodlines, we’re retracing Death’s steps to examine the established lore, formula, and, of course, the standout kills from the series, with Final Destination 3 getting the solo spotlight today.
The Inciting Disaster
Compared to the high death toll from Flight 180’s mid-air explosion in the original film and Final Destination 2‘s intricate multi-vehicle highway pile-up, Final Destination 3‘s inciting disaster sequence seems smaller in scale. Yet the inspired setting and its engaging production design, along with Wong’s nerve-fraying direction, ensure that the roller coaster derailment in a Pennsylvania amusement park exploits a common worry to its fullest.
The coaster in question, fittingly named Devil’s Flight, transforms into a steel death trap that sees its unlucky passengers ejected from their seats and sent careening toward the pavement thanks to a dropped camcorder. An even unluckier few get battered and spliced on their way down. Wong focuses on the mechanics of the ride’s malfunction, which is a smart move considering the limited variety this scenario provides. It’s not quite as bloody or flashy as the previous opening disaster sequences, but it’s just as effective because Wong keenly understands why roller coasters can be so intimidating in the first place.
A quick 60-second ride on a fast-moving coaster gets protracted to an excruciating degree thanks to Death’s mordant sense of humor.
The Standout Kills
1) Fast Food Headache
Sam Easton‘s Frankie Cheeks is the camcorder-wielding character responsible for setting the initial coaster crash in motion, and the smarmy high schooler gets his comeuppance when picking up fast food in a drive-thru. Frankie is none the wiser as the dominoes line up then slowly topple, culminating in a semi-truck plowing into Frankie’s car.
What sets this death apart is the way the truck’s engine flies out of its carriage and into Frankie’s skull; its fan slices through bone in an instant. It’s a swift death, but it’s gruesome.
2) Tanning Bed Meltdown
Best friends Ashley Freund (Chelan Simmons) and Ashlyn Halperin (Crystal Lowe) are the first to fall post-premonition, signaling to Wendy that Death really is returning to claim them all. As such, Final Destination 3 gives them a particularly nasty demise as they begin a routine trip to the tanning salon.
A rise in temperature and an increase in condensation set in motion a series of events that’ll leave the girls locked inside their tanning beds as it slowly cooks them alive. It’s a grisly punchline and a brutal way to relieve the built-up anticipation, thanks to Death’s foreboding signs that it’s coming.
For more on Death’s designs in this sequel and beyond, read our franchise kills ranking here.
Death’s Expert
“You may NEVER return… from Devil’s Flight! Try not to scream!”
This is the first entry of the Final Destination saga to not feature an appearance by William Bludworth, likely due to the intent to make Final Destination 3 a standalone with a fresh setting and characters. That doesn’t mean this sequel doesn’t feature franchise stalwart Tony Todd, though.
Tony Todd lends his distinct voice, first for the giant Devil statue beckoning riders onto the Devil’s Flight roller coaster in the opening sequence, then as the subway announcer in the film’s closing bloodbath. It’s up to Wendy and her photographs to piece together Death’s plan without Bludworth’s crucial advice.