Over the course of six movies, the Final Destination franchise has logged a fair number of kills. With the Grim Reaper as the unseen star of the show, the deaths in the Final Destination movies are deviously clever in their orchestration, usually surprising the audience with one unfortunate “accident” at a time.
This formula for creative casualties makes the franchise stand out, and had fans packing theaters for the newest entry, Final Destination Bloodlines. The following deaths are not only iconic for Final Destination movies, but in the genre of horror itself. From the quick and unexpected to the slow and excruciating, these are the deaths that fans of Final Destination associate with the series.
10
“Pool Filter Farewell”
‘The Final Destination’ (2009)
Hunt (Nick Zano) is lounging poolside in The Final Destination when a golf ball knocks his lucky coin into the pool. Hunt dives in after it, but quickly finds the suction of the pool filter stronger than his ability to swim away, leaving him stuck with no way to move. Before Hunt drowns with no one noticing, the drain powerfully sucks the organs out of his body, sending a bloody geyser from the filter for everyone to see.
The Final Destination series has never struggled with taking things people enjoy and turning them into life-ending hazards, so it’s somewhat surprising it took them four movies to turn their attention to pools. The age-old horror staple of saving the most painful deaths for the worst characters doesn’t always apply in the franchise, but the arrogant Hunt is arguably on the receiving end of one of the most painful-looking deaths. At the end of the day, most people would probably choose to get hit by car parts over having their insides vacuumed out.
9
“Nail Gun Goodbye”
‘Final Destination 3’ (2006)
Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Kevin (Ryan Merriman) show up at Ian’s (Kris Lemche) and Erin’s (Alexz Johnson) job to warn them they’re in danger, but both blow off the gesture as hysterics. Ian is too busy mocking Wendy and Kevin to notice a forklift moving on its own before it sends wooden stakes hurtling at him from above. Although Ian is saved from his death, his girlfriend Erin is pushed into a nail gun that fatally fires off multiple nails into her head.
The moment the nail gun was introduced in Final Destination 3, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that it would be instrumental in someone’s death. The third Final Destination leans heavily into misdirects for its death scenes, so while the audience is focused on all the chaos from the falling debris, no one is expecting the suddenness of Erin’s demise. The combination of the sound and the visual of her hand nailed to her face is a death hard to forget.
8
“Glass Pains”
‘Final Destination 2’ (2003)
After Tim (James Kirk) and his mother, Nora (Lynda Boyd), avoid the deadly crash in Final Destination 2, they use their borrowed time to go to the Dentist. After a few close calls in the dentist’s chair that almost claimed Tim’s life, the mother and son leave the office unschathed. However, when Tim runs through pigeons on the walkway, they fly in the air, causing a heavy pane of glass to fall on the teen, killing him instantly.
The audience is given so many dangers to look at while Tim sits in the dentist’s chair that their senses are overloaded while taking in the possibilities of how death will strike. The tension is built to an excruciatingly uncomfortable level, and when Tim and his mother leave the dentist’s office safely, there’s just enough time to feel the crisis was averted before the rug is pulled out from under them.
7
“Elevator Execution”
‘Final Destination 2’ (2003)
The remaining survivors of the highway accident attempt to stick together, but Nora, grief-stricken from losing her son, decides to leave with Eugene (T.C. Carson) following. As they ride the elevator down with a man holding a box of prosthetic limbs, Nora receives a call with a warning to be on the lookout for a man with hooks. Nora’s ponytail becomes caught on one of the prosthetic’s hooks, causing her to panic and try to escape the elevator, but she unfortunately gets caught within the doors and decapitated as the car rises.
None of the deaths in the Final Destination series are gentle, but the sheer brutality of the elevator ripping Nora apart looks to be one of the most painful ways to go, especially this early in the series. Boyd’s panicked performance when her hair becomes caught in the hooks feels disturbingly authentic, and as we see her trapped body lift and her nails dig into the door, seconds feel like hours as her head is torn from her body.
6
“Automated Eye Surgery”
‘Final Destination 5’ (2011)
One of the most uncomfortable death scenes to watch in Final Destination 5 involves Olivia’s (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) fatal visit for eye surgery. The normally brash Olivia clutches a stuffed animal in a death grip as her head is securely locked into place, but an incomplete file sends the doctor out of the room. A dreaded cup of water causes a short in the equipment, burning Olivia’s eye in the process and sending her through a window onto a car below.
The eye is such a vulnerable spot on the human body that there’s an immediate visceral reaction to seeing one in harm’s way, so the scene is tense the moment the audience learns what Olivia is doing. Later, when the laser begins to cut into her exposed eye, anyone expecting (or hoping for) a cutaway is not granted mercy, as the camera stays directly on her face for the painful incision. One thing is clear from her death: the eye doctor needs better equipment and stronger windows.
5
“Tanning Bed Overacheivers”
‘Final Destination 3’ (2006)
Ashley (Chelan Simmons) and Ashlyn (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe) were best friends until the very end, dying doing what they loved, which appeared to be tanning. The two young women are the first survivors of the rollercoaster accident to be claimed by death after they didn’t heed the warning not to bring their drinks into the room for their tanning session. When the condensation from a large drink causes their beds to malfunction, Ashley and Ashlyn become trapped as the machines malfunction and burn them alive.
It will be hard to ever even look at a tanning bed and not think about the unfortunate deaths of Ashley and Ashlyn. The Final Destination series knows exactly the right shared fears to tap into when orchestrating their deaths, no matter how irrational they may be, to make the audience squirm at seeing an unspoken concern play out in the worst way possible. As gruesome as the fiery deaths were, it was a stroke of genius to cut from the tanning beds to the best friends’ coffins side by side.
4
“Catching One Final Bus”
‘Final Destination’ (2000)
The original Final Destination throws out one of the most iconic deaths and traffic safety lessons with the death of Terry (Amanda Detmer). After Carter (Kerr Smith) drives by Alex (Devon Sawa) at a cafe, he angrily U-turns to, for some reason, confront the person who saved his life. Carter’s girlfriend, Terry, has had enough of Carter’s antics, who tells him off before being hit and killed by a speeding bus.
As a series known for its elaborate death scenes, the Final Destination franchise can also make a statement with an abrupt twist, shattering expectations in the process. The swift and unexpected exit of Terry hits the audience as hard as a… well, a bus, with no one seeing the death coming. The moment has been referenced many times in the series, most recently in Final Destination Bloodlines, with Erik (Richard Harmon) narrowly avoiding a similar end in the streets.
3
“Balance Beam Bloopers”
‘Final Destination 5’ (2011)
Candice (Ellen Wroe) nervously goes to gymnastics practice, but does so with hesitation after the events that saw her narrowly survive a collapsing bridge. A busted AC causes uncomfortable heat during practice, which also creates a multitude of hazards around the gymnast. While Candice manages to avoid a screw on the balance beam and being electrocuted by a frayed wire, a cloud of chalk dust distracts her while on the bars, leading to a gruesome and fatal fall.
By Final Destination 5, the art of misdirection to build tension had become one of the franchise’s most powerful tools, and it was expertly on display during Candice’s death scene. Interestingly enough, the source of the tension isn’t if Candice survives, but rather how she will die. Even though she didn’t die from the screw on the balance beam, her feet narrowly missing it again and again was almost as tough to watch as her broken body after the ultimate failed landing.
2
“MRI Mayhem”
‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ (2025)
A highlight of Final Destination: Bloodlines was the charismatic performance of Richard Harmon as Erik, so it’s fitting that his death would be equally memorable. In an effort to save his brother, Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner) comes up with the idea of killing him via his allergy and then wheeling him to a doctor so they can revive him. A hitch in their plan comes in the form of an MRI machine that has been powered up to a dangerous level. The magnet in the MRI machine rips the piercings from Erik’s body before impaling him with a wheelchair in a gory death.
Without a doubt, Erik’s painful kill was the number one death in Final Destination Bloodlines and will likely end up as a favorite kill of the series for many. It’s an ingeniously staged scene that has an unpredictable aspect to it, considering audiences were informed Erik would be safe from death’s plan due to who his father was. Rest in peace, Erik; a sad playlist will be played in your honor.
1
“Logging a Few Miles On the Road”
‘Final Destination 2’ (2003)
Easily the deaths most closely associated with the franchise, the falling logs are the unofficial mascots of Final Destination. In the opening of Final Destination 2, state trooper Thomas Burke (Michael Landes) is the first to go when a loose log drops from a truck and hurtles toward the squad car. Thomas barely has time to react before the log crashes through the windshield and flies out of the back of the car, removing his head in the process.
No matter what brilliant series of events the creative team brainstorm, they’ll probably never top a simple log beheading. The Final Destination movies typically handle their death scenes with well-crafted special effects that don’t cut away from the gore, but in the case of Thomas, less proved to be more. The log exiting through the back of the car, now covered in his blood, effectively made everyone in the theater wince as they thought about their own times behind similarly stacked trucks.