What do you do when death comes knocking? It has already been 25 years since the first Final Destination movie landed on our screens, with the thrill-o-meter only going up with each bloody sequel. With a new chapter joining the franchise this week, we rank the most brutal Final Destination deaths that left us questioning reality.
All Final Destination films follow the same premise. A group of young folks narrowly escape death when one gets a premonition of a disaster. Just when they think they’ve defeated death, it comes knocking at their doors in unexpected ways, only to turn into gory and brutal freak accidents.
In the Final Destination franchise, every character who breaks the rules of death must face dire consequences. Plus, the psychological agony these characters endure is even worse. From the excruciatingly long and painful tanning beds disaster in the third instalment to Candice’s horrific death in the fifth movie, it’s one barbaric end after the other.
Missing the madness and carnage of the early 2000s horror/slasher films? If yes, the sixth instalment in the series, Final Destination Bloodlines, lands in cinemas on 16 May 2025. As we get ready to witness how a premonition from the 1960s trickles into the 21st century, and a college student’s mission to break the morbid cycle, we revisit the most brutal deaths in the Final Destination franchise that still haunt us.
The most brutal deaths in the Final Destination movies, ranked
1 /10
Movie: Final Destination 5
Release year: 2011
Character played by: Ellen Wroe
Just when we thought the Final Destination films couldn’t have more gruesome sequences, the fifth instalment had us gut-wrenched with Candice Hooper’s death during her gymnastics training. The Presage Paper employee was supposed to die first in the bridge collapse at the start of the movie. This practice session straight from hell starts with a faulty AC unit placed above the balance beam, and after a blood-curdling domino effect, we see Candice’s body twisted in half.
2 /10
Movie: Final Destination 3
Release year: 2006
Characters played by: Chelan Simmons, Crystal Lowe
Who knew tanning beds could be your gateway to death? Ashley and Ashlyn clearly didn’t.
Trying to move past the deadly rollercoaster accident, the duo decides to cut loose by heading to a tanning salon. As they slide into adjacent tan beds, Ashley puts her melting slushie cup on the table above the machine controlling the beds. The tanning equipment malfunctions, locking the two in where they burn alive, slowly, piece by piece, with their chilling screams heard by none.
3 /10
Movie: Final Destination 5
Release year: 2011
Character played by: Jacqueline MacInnes Wood
If you’re planning to get an eye laser procedure anytime soon, it’s probably best to skip this clip.
The third person in the series of fatalities in this Final Destination movie, Olivia’s accident, hits hard. After burning her eye and hand during a laser procedure gone awry, Olivia screams for help. Little does she know what’s coming next. Amid her yelping and screaming, she trips over a teddy bear’s eye, falling through a window straight on top of a car.
But the brutality doesn’t end here. As she dies a chilling death, we see her remaining eyeball rolling down the road, only to be crushed by another car.
Also read: Highest-rated werewolf movies for a howling feast of horror
4 /10
Movie: Final Destination 4
Release year: 2009
Character played by: Nick Zano
Okay, we know this scene has attracted quite polarising opinions from audiences for being over-the-top, unrealistic and bizarre. Needless to say, it’s quite high on the brutality meter in this thriller franchise.
When Hunt dove into the pool to find his lucky coin, little did he know he was plunging to his own death. As fate would have it, the pool’s ventilation system malfunctions and Hunt’s insides get sucked into the drain, blasting through the pool’s pump in a bright bloody concoction.
5 /10
Movie: Final Destination 2
Release year: 2003
Character played by: Lynda Boyd
For anyone dreading elevators, this brutal death sequence in Final Destination will amplify your fears. After surviving the Route 23 pileup and even her son Tim’s shocking death (who gets turned into a bloody pulp), Nora doesn’t care about being on death’s victim list. And well, she eventually walks into her gut-wrenching end.
Leaving Officer Burke’s apartment, Nora gets on an elevator next to a man with a basket full of hooks and mannequin parts. In an unbelievably woven sequence, her hair gets stuck to the box of hooks, and she trips in panic. Nora tries to free herself and flee from the elevator, however, the doors close, leaving her head inside the lift while her body remains outside. The elevator starts moving, ruthlessly beheading Nora.
6 /10
Movie: Final Destination 3
Release year: 2006
Character played by: Sam Easton
Did death really loathe Frankie? That’s what I kept asking myself after witnessing his demise. Waiting at a drive-thru in his car ahead of Wendy and Kevin, Wendy’s premonition comes true when a deadly runaway truck comes rolling down towards them.
While Kevin and Wendy barely make it out of the deadly trap, Frankie suffers the brunt (despite being given multiple warnings). As the truck strikes Wendy’s car, its engine flies straight into Frankie’s skull, slicing it gruesomely.
7 /10
Movie: Final Destination 2
Release year: 2003
Character played by: Noel Fisher
Poor Brian Gibbons was accidentally pushed onto death’s list despite not being a survivor of the big disaster. While his death isn’t painfully slow, it induces grimness and terror before the movie concludes with a bang.
We’re taken to a barbecue at the Gibbons family backyard, attended by the remaining survivors, Kimberly Corman and Officer Burke. Just as the group is discussing their encounters with death, Brian walks to the grill to fetch something. The next second, we hear an explosion that blows his body into pieces. In a morbidly humorous twist, his burnt arm lands straight into his mother’s plate.
Also read: AI horror movies that deliver a different type of scare
8 /10
Movie: Final Destination 2
Release year: 2003
Character played by: James Kirk
Just when we thought Tim would choke to death at the dentist’s, the plot takes a sinister turn. He survives his near-fatal encounter with a rubber fish, only to be crushed to death moments later.
On his way out of the dentist’s office, an excited Tim runs towards a flock of pigeons at a construction site, causing the crane handler to lose control. Subsequently, a gigantic pane of glass hanging from the crane falls right on Tim, crushing his body from head to toe, in a spine-chilling fashion.
9 /10
Movie: Final Destination 2
Release year: 2003
Character played by: Keegan Connor Tracy
In another build-up from hell, Kat meets her end as she drives the remaining survivors to a hospital. Her SUV encounters a blow and she loses control of the vehicle, leading a PVC pipe to pierce through the car’s headrest, nearly missing her skull. Kat is trapped inside the car, waiting for the emergency crew to arrive and release her. However, as the workers start their operations, an airbag is accidentally triggered, pushing Kat’s head into the pipe and smashing it into pieces.
10 /10
Movie: Final Destination 1
Release year: 2000
Character played by: Kristen Cloke
Circling back to where it all started, Final Destination 1 set the stage for all the chilling deaths. After escaping the explosion of Flight 180 to Paris, Valerie is seen packing her belongings to start her life afresh. However, she wouldn’t live another day to embark on this new journey.
It all starts with Valeria drinking alcohol in her house, some of which spills onto the wires of her computer, leading to a short circuit. Wondering how her computer screen is in fumes, she leans in to investigate, but the monitor blows. A huge piece of glass from the shattered screen strikes her neck. While she’s quick to pull that out, the alcohol trail catches fire, and the fumes spread across her house. In the midst of this, she falls, trying to reach out for a piece of cloth to stop her bleeding. However, what she also pulls towards her are huge kitchen knives, one of which lands on her chest.
Finally, the entire house explodes.