In any dialogue surroundingFinal Destination, the conversation will usually involve the intricate death sequences. It is the universal selling point of the franchise and moviegoers have an expectation when it comes to these set pieces. That was the big challenge forFinal Destination: Bloodlines, to create a series of impressivedeath scenes that simultaneously raised the stakesbut still captured the essence ofFinal Destination.
An iconicFinal Destinationdeath doesn’t just have the chance to etch itself in franchise history but also unlock new fears for the audience. Fans of the franchise willalways cringe when watching gymnasticsor tend to avoid tanning beds. And now,Final Destination: Bloodlineshas added a new item to the ‘avoid if possible’ list: MRI machines. In the movie, the scanner claims two unexpected victims,shocking both in the ways they meet their demise and the false sense of securitythe audience feels regarding the characters.
‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ Creates New Rules to Trick The Audience
MRI machines are the latest everyday objects to get theFinal Destinationtreatment, claiming not just one but two victims. With this being the sixth movie in the franchise, the characters have more knowledge andpast events to work with compared to their predecessors.After learning that Kimberly Corman (A J Cook) managed to cheat death by stopping her heart and being resuscitated, Erik (Richard Harmon) convinces his brother Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) that this method will ensure his survival as well. Earlier, the movie revealed Bobby has a serious nut allergy, so if he consumes them and doesn’t use his epi-pen, Erik can wheel him to the doctors in the hospital, and he will be saved.Bobby is overtly nervous about the prospect of dying, but Erik oozes confidence,in part due to the earlier revelation that he is not on death’s list because he is not a blood relative of Iris.
The knowledge that Erik’s real father is not Howard’s (Iris’ son) is purposefully withheld from the audience for half of the runtime. He is initially believed to be next on death’s list after Iris and Howard, sowhen death appears to be after him at the tattoo parlor, the audience is indulging in the classicFinal Destinationset-up. However, his initial survival is shocking, but his subsequentimmunity lures the audience into a false sense of securitythat he is likely to survive the movie. The scene within the hospital is centered on Bobby, who is next on the list and the one in real danger. Therefore, the sequence still sets up all the usualFinal Destinationsigns, such as close-up shots of mishaps and potentially deadly objects. Yet, there is still this sense that the focus is on survival regardless of the external events.
The MRI Death in ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ is the Most Gruesome
As Bobby’s throat seizes up from consuming the nuts, the MRI machine in the room with the brothers begins to boot up, gaining magnetism rapidly. In an anaphylactic state, Bobby is helplessly slumped against the wall, reaching out for the epi-pen in Erik’s hand. Then, the increased magnetic force attracts Erik’s piercings, ripping them from his ears, nose and nipples. It then begins attracting a piercing in his crotch area, but unable to fully remove it, the machine begins sucking Erik towards it. His body begins to squeeze into the small opening of the MRI machine and painfully slowly snaps in half backwards. The moment isparticularly shocking because of Erik’s assumed safety, as the movie hasled the audience to believe that because he wasn’t on death’s list, he wasn’t going to die. The scene is so centered on Bobby, that Erik’s fate comes out of nowhere and is particularly gruesome.
Bobby is thankfully able to crawl over to Erik and grab his epi-pen, saving himself from death. The moment passes andit seems that the danger has been neutralized. However, a nurse notices the extreme magnetism, and opens the door, causing a vending machine spring mechanism to fly into Bobby’s head and start turning. It is such agraphic death for arguably the most placid and inoffensive characterof the movie.
‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ Will Make Hospitals Your New Fear
The MRI sequence is easily the most memorable death sequence of the movie. It is gory and stomach-churning in the way it shows the malleability of the human body. However, the reason it lands itself in the franchise hall of fame lies in the context.The set-up indicates that someone will die in the hospital, but the quick succession of Erik and Bobby’s deaths is so jolting it gives you whiplash.For a franchise that indulges in drawn-out build-up, having two deaths happen so quickly feels unusual and shocking.
The setting of a hospital is acknowledged as a dangerous environment. Iris’ notebook details a vast array of ways an individual can meet death in a hospital, with Clear Rivers, Eugene and Jonathan allmeeting their deaths there in previous movies in the franchise.However, the visceral image of the sheer power of the MRI machine, something used regularly, creates a new fear for the audience and will cause them to look twice every time they encounter one. This scene takes the ordinary, and makes it deadly, which is whatFinal Destinationdoes so well.
