(intro plays) there's no crueller villain than the hands of fate myself. (woman screaming) welcome to watchmojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 final destination deaths. for this list we've excluded the premonition death scenes and selected each stomach-churning goodbye based on a combination of it's gore and the strength of the chills, thrills, humour and irony it gives us as well as it's overall execution. pun intended. also, obviously, spoiler alert.
(people scream over each other) "have you all lost your (bleep) minds?" (blood and guts splattering) (people gasp in shock) (music playkumumjy) (fire roars) ah, the kitchen. where anything can kill you. exploding microwave, hand hungry garbage disposal, cooking fire accident? all of the possibilies are a tease. (music continues)
(he blasphemes) (towel slaps against flaming pan) in a clever moment, death's invisible forces clue you in by dropping the "h"magnet of the "hey e" from the fridge to spell "eye". tossing that spaghetti out the window was a slip-up, evan, and death doesn't take kindly to litter-bugs. (spaghetti slithers) (glass tinkles) "aagh!" "agh!" (ladder clattering)
"heh!" (ladder squeals) (blood splatters) "who's that?" "relax. you know, it looks a lot worse than it really is." "ok, i'm gently going to position you're head..." surgery is always scary, but throw in some lasers and restricted head movement and the fright factor is multiplied by tenfold. "i can't move my head." doctor: "perfect."
having your eye in a vice can be disconcerting so the scene plays with this uncomfortable knowledge through it's dark lighting and slow pace. "do you know what? my assistant's given me an incomplete file. i'll be right back." olivia: "hold on, you're leaving?" in a twist it's not the botched surgery that kills her but the very eye prongs that sent us squirming in the beginning. "help me!" (chink!)
(assistants scream) (glass shatters) (she screams) (bump!) (glass shards clattering) (pop!) (ping!) (lift doors open) (distorted whooshing)
a box of hooked prosthetic limbs is rendered as creepy as possible when a man with a hair sniffing fetish gets one caught in nora's ponytail. "a man with hooks is gonna kill you." eugene: wh-wh-what is it, nora? (phone thumps on floor) (assorted commotion) while most deaths in the franchise happen to generally unlikable characters we don't really want wholesome good-natured nora to die. and her last words while her head is stuck between two floors exploit that in full measure.
(people screaming) "i don't wanna die!" (whoosh!) (blood squirting) (girls yelp) (unintelligible) instructor: "come on, candice. you're up." this scene takes advantage of an excellent principle in suspense. it's not what happens, it's what doesn't. (suspenseful chords)
(bare feet slamming on balance beam) (balance beam wobbles and squeaks) distant male instructor: "that's good." (peter sighs in relief) for over three minutes, the audience's own imagination actively participates in wondering what form death will take when it comes for candice. peter: "come on, candice!" (clapping)
peter: "you got this!" in a brilliant bit of foreshadowing, notice that the chills she gets when she powders up are well warranted because it's the powder that does her in. (screw piercing skin) (porter yelps repeatedly) (powder hissing) candice: "ah! auugh!" candice: "uuurgh!"
(bones snapping) (girl screams) (peter gasps) female instructor: "candice?" two females in unison: "candice?" student: "what happened?" (female characters talking) male instructor: "don't touch her." female instructor: "someone call 911!"
"you're next, carter!" "i'm staying the (bleep) away from you!" "shut up, billy!" when billy's fear and paranoia get a little too intense death wastes no time in using a piece of shrapnel to chop his head off with the grace and precision of a ginsu blade. "what are you doing? get away from him, he's dead!" "(beep) you, billy! i'm not dead!" "oh, you will be! you're dead! you're dead!"
(he hyperventilates) "and you're not taking me with you!" what makes this kill-off special is the fact that a few lives were saved mere moments before it "geddout!" (screaming) (explosion) (train horn blares) so our collective relief for the characters dies just as suddenly.
death just toys with everyone. (slicing) (they exclaim and swear) "uh! it's way too warm in here now, huh? the best part of final destination's deaths is often the rube goldberg factor i.e. the twisted machinations of how accidents happen based off one simple misstep. (phone ringing) (assorted items clattering) the tanning beds could have easily locked by jamming. but only death would've come up with something as convaluted
as the machine overheating because of an errant slushie then a small breeze from the exhaust causing a coat rack to tumble knocking down a bookshelf that ultimately traps the girls. (girls screaming) (girls continue to scream) (screaming fades out) girl: "you didn't even believe me!" "yeah, well seeing is believing." (bang!)
this one is simply extroadinary because it's spiced up with character and plot point reveals and is during a dramatic showdown of confrontational dialogue. "you must tell me how to start it off! let's get this over with!" (firework explosions) as if that's not enough of an adrenaline rush, it's all set over the backdrop of an exploding fireworks fest waiting to flair into a finale. (breathlessly) "what do i care? it skipped me! for me, it is over! i am not dying! i'm not dying!"
(banging) (cannons fire) (fireworks squeal) we don't even know if ian will die or not because his very presence is based on a plot twist. of course, if he's on this list, theeeen... "you see? i'm not gonna die! it's you wendy! you're dead!" (crane sparking) (sign creaking)
(zap!) (crashing) hunt over phone: "this is hunt. you know what to do." (quickly) "hunt, listen to me buddy, listen. no water. stay away from water." swimming pool drains are one of those simple devices that look harmless. they aren't sharp, electric or inherently dangerous in nature, but they induce fear over the what-if factor alone. (water splashing) (drain sucking)
(pool filter clattering) like, what if your butt got stuck in one leaving you to wonder if you'll die by drowning or disembowelment. in hunt's case, though, it's pretty much a coin toss. (pool filter hissing) (geyser roars) (organs splatter) (patrons screaming) (coin tinkles)
(suspensful violin chords) "oh my god, guys, what's going on?" "what's going on, that's crazy!" "that's crazy!" here, we have a spectacular combination of all the factors that make for a good death scene. "(sighs) death is (beep) complicated" with half a dozen characters, who will the victim be? there are over four minutes of suspense and witty dialogue discussing the films logic and character scepticism while a series of dangerous accidents waiting to happen builds around them all
(skidding) (he gasps) (air con roars) (he chuckles) but there's a safety hazard in there that really hits the nail on the head. "there!" "those!" (apparatus clattering) (nail gun fires repeatedly)
before we deliver us from evil with our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions: "i've got my eye on you two." (engine roars) (clang!) "uh!" (line whistles through air) (he gasps for air) (computer explodes) (she hyperventilates)
(blood pouring) "that's all i know how to do, kevin! baby, i just win! (clang!) (he roars) (splattering) (they scream) (quiet choking) (heavy breathing) the red-hairing is tim's trip to the dentist where pigeons of death torture him by repeatedly flying into the window.
dentist: "gah! gaaaah!" a fish tank leaks water into an electrical outlet that threatens the oxygen and nitrous oxide canisters. (outlets buzzing) when a plastic fish falls into tim's open mouth to choke him as he's getting gassed through his nose, you don't expect him to get out of the office alive. but he does. kimberly: "pigeons!" nora: what? they're pigeons." almost. construction worker: "hey, whoa, whoa! kid!"
construction worker: "hey, whoa, whoa!" (kimberly screams) construction worker: "look out!" (smashing) construction worker: "stay back!" nora: "no!" do you agree with our list? (knives scrape against each other) which final destination deaths made you squeal, scream and squirm?
(motor blade buzzes) for more to-die-for top 10's published every day be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com! "i told you, you were next!" (breathless): "death's just skipped me!" "so who's next?" (outro plays)
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