The Final Destination 4: In Stunning 3D

Words by: Sara Ratcliffe

When you want to give a standing ovation to the opening credits of a film, you know it’s going to be one hell of a cinematic experience! Final Destination 4 does not disappoint, despite my high expectations and love of the trilogy.
It is the 2nd film I have seen in 3D and the first horror/thriller. Wow! What an experience. The fourth in the series of films revolving around that old saying ‘you can’t cheat death’ sets a new bar for thrillers. In the films, someone sees a premonition of a terrible accident which kills many people, including them and their friends, they manage to get out, saving their lives. But after the accident, the people who would have died start dying in strange, suspicious ways, always in a certain order. The 4th in the series is no different, staying true to the theories we know and love, it pays tribute to the previous films while still having a strong plot and excellent cast. Although its nice to have a familiar face, like Sean William Scott in the first, I do think it is better to embrace a new cast in the long run, the cast are amazing and the audience instantly warms to them. They each have their own traits and personalities and aren’t just victims, they are people. In previous instalment we have seen a plane crash, a traffic pile up and a roller-coaster mishap.
This film revolves around a rally car race that goes wrong, the stadium falls and hundreds die, except Nick O‘Bannon (played by Bobby Campo) and a few others who had followed him out after he claimed he saw a premonition. Almost straight away the deaths begin. Death is used to these cheaters after 3 films, and knows how to deal with them. In the third film we saw death change its plan by working backwards, trying to tie up all the loose ends and finish what Alex Browning from the first plane crash began all those years ago. I may have imagined it, or it may be a plot for the fifth film, but the names of some of previous victims were spread throughout the film, in the first scenes we see ‘McKinley’ (from the school, and Ian from the third film) and later we see the ‘Clear Rivers’ sign, many people wont realise but Claire River’s name in the first and second instalments was spelt ‘Clear’. there may have been more, the film was too thrilling, I didn’t notice! The opening credits are really cool digital shots of some of the best ‘kills’ throughout the series of films.
3D horror is truly amazing, and after seeing this, I can’t wait to get the DVD of My Bloody Valentine, just in time for Halloween! And unlike films like Coroline which only had a few things coming out of the screen, the film makers have really thought about the 3D concepts in The Final Destination 4, Almost every death makes you fall back in your chair (or if your scared like me, close your eyes!, which is why I’m going to watch it again in case I missed anything), all of Nicks visions as to how people may die are in 3D.
In Conclusion, I know the ticket price is an arm and leg (wow arms and legs are going cheap at just under £10!) but the experience you get is well worth it, and I can’t imagine it would be the same on some little TV in your dorm room! Especially if it’s a black and white TV, there’s a lot of blood in this one!!

Rating: 10/10...I can’t fault it, its amazing (if you like horror/gore/mystery/thrills and a bit of comedy)