Every Final Destination Movie Ranked

For the most part, horror franchises tend to center around a singular entity like a masked slasher, recognizable monster, defiant survivor, or a specific location. And then there's the "Final Destination" franchise, a series of films that has continued to thrive without easily merchandised iconography or the same stable of characters returning each time that are instead connected by the premise that no matter who we are, where we're from, or what we do ... death is going to get us one way or another.

It's a morbid thought, sure, but one that has more basis in reality than men who just won't die, serial killer-possessed dolls, dream predators, BDSM hell demons, rural cannibal families, torturous masterminds with a legion of acolytes, or supernatural entities. Death is coming for us all, and the only difference is when and how it's going to happen. As the mortician Bludworth (Tony Todd) explains in the first film:

"What you have to realize is that we're just a mouse that a cat has by the tail, every single move we make from the mundane to the monumental, the red light that we stop at or run, the people we have sex with or won't with us, the airplanes that we ride or walk out of, it's all part of Death's sadistic design. Leading to the grave."

And yet the "Final Destination" films are bold enough to have fun with the concept, crafting some wild-as-hell kills and producing one of the most consistently entertaining horror franchises in existence. With "Final Destination 6" in the works with Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein at the helm, it's high time we at /Film came up with a definitive (aka, based on my opinion) ranking of the existing five films.

For the record, the only reason "Final Destination 3" is this low on the list is because I couldn't do a two-way tie for third, and hardcore "FD3" fans are already used to people writing off this film as "bad." Meaning, there's a lower possibility of people whining at me on Twitter about its placement. Anyway, the third entry is without question the most underrated film in the series, with vocal fans having to fight tooth and nail to make haters see what we've always known — "Final Destination 3" absolutely rips. With Mary Elizabeth Winstead taking over as the protagonist, the third film gets back to killing teens in increasingly ridiculous ways, including the now infamous tanning bed scene that I'd wager had a direct influence on the decline in tanning bed usage in America.

Of all the "Final Destination" films, the third installment is the one that lives and breathes 2000s-era horror, with campy editing, sardonic dialogue, borderline cartoonish characters, and a mean streak that could only exist in a decade that saw cruelty used as a form of currency. This makes the film a fun time capsule, and the ultimate "f***-off" movie in the series. Do you need to pay attention to the complex story of death's design? No. Can you sit back and just watch someone's head get smashed between falling gym weights or take a nail gun to the face? Sure can!

"Final Destination 3" is a rip-roaring good time with great kills and is the first film unafraid to embrace the absolute absurdity of the idea that Death has a personal vendetta against those who cheat the plan. Death is inevitable, and the film doesn't waste time musing about why it's happening to these characters, specifically. In my opinion, it only works to the film's benefit.

It seems blasphemous not to name the first film as the best, but I've never been a reverent horror fan. Without this film, we wouldn't have the franchise as we know it today, and I am grateful every day that screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick's "X-Files" spec script was instead used to make this film. Arriving in 2000, "Final Destination" came as the "Scream"-led slasher resurgence was starting to slow down, and audiences were looking for something different out of a teen horror film. The voice of the film sounds like it's trying to capture the trademark Kevin Williamson snark but with the seriousness of a sci-fi episodic starring adults. Despite the character names all reflecting horror icons of years gone by, "Final Destination" is instead a story about looking Death directly in the eyes, and navigating the guilt that often accompanies surviving.

That said, the first "Final Destination" film hadn't dialed into the formula that the films are now known for. This isn't a bad thing by any means, but it's lacking the elaborate chain-event chaos that would become a staple. It does, however, have some truly great kills. There's the shocking bus hit that takes out Amanda Detmer's Terry Chaney that later horror movies would shamelessly rip off for decades, Valerie Lewton's (Kristen Cloke) elaborate knife-in-a-house-fire demise, and the decapitation of Billy Hitchcock (Seann William Scott).

But most importantly, it's the film that gave us Alex Browning and Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), the bleeding, beating heart of the franchise and whose spilled blood continues on throughout all of these films. Yes, part of the enjoyment of "Final Destination" films is watching the unique and ridiculous ways people meet their maker, but they'd be nothing without characters we want nothing more than to see survive. Alex and Clear set the bar, and they've yet to be topped.