Final Destination Deaths Ranked
It’s been almost 14 years since the last Final Destination. If the last installment had been the last, which looked likely for quite a while, it would’ve been a worthy send-off. Hopefully Final Destination: Bloodlines is closer to 5 and not 4…*shudders*.
With the release of a new Final Destination, I thought it’d be fun to look back at the franchise and rank every death. This won’t include any premonitions, as those aren’t real deaths and that’s a separate list altogether.
The creativity, spontaneity, build-up, and false flags surrounding every death are why fans keep returning to this franchise. It’s a formula that can be reused but also made to feel fresh. It’s a wonder how we don’t have 15 of these.
I totaled 36 deaths over the five films. More people die, but if an instance includes multiple people, I count it as one entry, so as not to repeat. Without further ado, here are the 35 deaths ranked. Also obviously…SPOILERS:
36. Nick, Lori, and Janet – The Final Destination (2009) – Hit by Truck
Our two main protagonists and their friend Janet, previously saved from a watery death at a carwash, are having coffee, thinking the worst is behind them. However, BLAM, a dump truck, comes careening through the store window and mows the three down.
This ranks dead last because just 10 minutes prior, we get better deaths for Lori and Janet that we learn was just a lazy premonition. Adding fake deaths to draw out your 77-minute runtime and add fake stakes to your movie never works. Especially when you undermine it with less interesting deaths.
Yeah…I don’t know.
35. Johnathan – The Final Destination (2009) – Crushed by overflowing bathtub
The seemingly forgotten man, our “hero,” learns is still alive in a hospital because he wasn’t asked to move by our protagonists. This would be more fun had we known who Johnathan was. Instead, this feels like another way to stretch the meager runtime while giving us another death.
As stated above, this death of a person we don’t know or care about feels like the filmmakers attempting to get stakes where there are none. It all feels very cheap.
34. Eugene and Clear Rivers – Final Destination 2 – Killed by an explosion at the Hospital
Some more hospital deaths. Not surprisingly, this franchise would keep finding itself at hospitals. Maybe this is harsh, because the second film is my favorite, but I hate the way Clear is dispatched here.
Realizing Eugene is in danger, she runs to him only for his oxygen tank to explode, killing them both. The scene has a good build-up with Eugene, who has a collapsed lung from a car accident. But killing Clear, who has survived until this moment through the events of the first movie and now most of the second, in this way felt anti-climactic.
Killing Clear this way and killing Alex off-screen between one and two are the two things this sequel does wrong, in my opinion.
33. Federal Agent Jim Block – Final Destination 5 – Shot to Death by Peter
The fifth film introduces the notion that if you kill someone not involved in the original premonition, you get their life. Peter is distraught by his girlfriend’s dying and decides to take action by killing Sam’s girlfriend.
However, Federal Agent Jim Block, who’s been following Sam, comes to save the day and is killed by Peter. This ranks low because the death isn’t interesting or creative. Plus, don’t get me started on the character of Jim Block.
32. Peter – Final Destination 5 – Stabbed by Sam with a Meat Spit
After Jim is killed by Peter, Sam and Peter have a struggle, and it ends with Peter getting stabbed with a meat spit by Sam. Sam works in a high-class restaurant, which is why there is a meat spit; he doesn’t just carry that around. Sam is at his work cooking dinner for Molly, his girlfriend, when Peter interrupts, trying to kill them.
It’s necessary to the plot, but the kill itself is not that interesting. Just a little more interesting than being shot by a gun.
31. Perry – Final Destination 3 – Impaled by Broken Flagpole
Who’s Perry? Exactly, I had to look the cast up to see what this girl’s name was. The friend of Wendy’s younger sister, Julie. Near the end of the film, all the characters are at the town’s Tricentennial celebrations.
Wendy realizes her sister was on the rollercoaster. Screaming, “Who was sitting next to you?” We found out from a soft-spoken Perry, “I was.” She is immediately impaled by a broken flagpole from a runaway horse.
It’s sudden, which works for others in this franchise, but here, we didn’t know Perry existed. We don’t even know her name, but it does have some good shock value.
Peep the terrible premonitions this film uses.
30. Carter – The Final Destination (2009) – Dragged by Tow Truck and Caught on Fire
The racist hillbilly who blames the security guard George (Mykelti Williamson) for his wife’s death at the race track goes to George’s house to plant a burning cross. However, this goes wrong as his truck begins to move, Carter runs to stop it, and gets his leg caught in a chain.
He’s dragged behind as a can of gas tips over and is ignited by the sparks from the chain. Carter burns, and then his truck explodes. It’s easy to make a satisfying death when you make a character a neo-Nazi.
However, setting to the song “Why Can’t We Be Friends” felt like putting a hat on a hat. Add that to the lazy visions Nick has of Carter’s death, and you get a lazy movie and an eye-rolling death.
29. Brian – Final Destination 2 – Killed by grill exploding
I know, I know, a sudden death of a character we don’t know, shouldn’t this rank lower? Well, no. This is a great exclamation point to the second film. Brian is saved earlier in the film. Kimbley and Burke go to a BBQ hosted by the family that helped them in the car accident.
While there, the family mentions that their son Brian was almost hit by the news van arriving on the scene, but was saved by Rory. Kimblery and Burke realize what that means too late. The grill explodes, and his arm lands on the table. Perfect!
28. Shaina, Dano, & Frankie – Final Destination 2 – Hit by Semi-Truck
After our heroine Kimberly pulled her car over to block the onramp to prevent everyone from being killed in the pileup. She is questioned by Officer Burke, while being questioned, he pulls her away at the last minute as a car carrier crashes through her SUV, killing all three friends.
I almost didn’t put this on the list, but its shock value kept it on. Fans of the first film would believe that her friends are safe because they didn’t get on the freeway, but it’s that false safety that keeps you on your toes for this franchise. Sometimes it’s when you least expect it.
27. Andy – The Final Destination (2009) – Launched Through a Fence by a Carbon Dioxide Tank
Nick, Lori, & George go to warn Andy, the mechanic he is next. After a close call when a van almost runs him over, there’s a beat when everyone thinks he is safe. Until, like always, a series of events causes a carbon dioxide tank to shoot off.
Like a heat-seeking missile, it slams Andy not only into a chain-link fence but through it like an onion slicer. I love the originality, yet the horrid CGI takes you out of it completely. Plus, the obvious, this was made for 3D, and watching it not in 3D looks stupid.
26. Samantha – The Final Destination (2009) – Hit by a Flying Rock from a Lawnmower
A major issue with four, among the myriad of problems, is that it constantly puts a hat on a hat. After a pretty great build-up in the beauty salon, as Samantha gets her hair done, we get a good capper. However, it could’ve been a great capper.
Her kids come in and cause a commotion, and inadvertently save her from a falling ceiling fan. When she goes to talk out the door, she turns to her kids and says, “I’ve got my eye on you.” Then turns and a rock shot out from a mower across the parking lot and shot through her eye.
If you remove that line, we have a pretty great surprise death that was foreshadowed. However, her line and delivery are so on the nose that it again takes you out of the movie, just as much as the poor CGI.
25. Roy – Final Destination 5 – Hung by Hook
Roy is angry that a young college grad punk is running the warehouse, constantly provoking his boss, Nathan. Nathan and Roy have an argument, but Nathan feels something is wrong. He sees a massive construction crane hook begin to fall and tries to push Roy out of the way.
Instead, he pushes him in the way, and Roy’s jaw is caught by the hook. Roy is hung by his penetrated jaw. The punctuation on the scene is the hook popping out of Roy’s skull. Very quick, very effective.
24. Ian McKinley – Final Destination 3 – Crushed by Cherry Picker
Also, at the climactic Tricentennial, McKinley is coming after our protagonists, blaming them for the death of his girlfriend, while also thinking that taking their lives will save his. Instead, he inadvertently saves Wendy.
After a beat, when Ian thinks he is invincible, a cherry picker falls and obliterates Ian. Brutal yet satisfying.
23. George – The Final Destination (2009) – Hit by Ambulance
Not much about the fourth entry in this franchise works, but this death is effective. As Nick and George leave the hospital, failing to save Johnathan, while crossing the street and talking, George is struck by an ambulance.
It’s sudden and does catch you off guard. I don’t like the fake-out premonition, but I do like how they do George’s death again. As Nick snaps out of the premonition, it’s too late for George, and he is immediately hit by the ambulance. Two good jump scares for the price of one.
22. Wendy, Kevin, and Julie – Final Destination 3 – Killed in Subway Crash
Five months after the events of the film, Wendy, now in college, is riding the subway with two friends. She begins to get that feeling again, and as she goes to get off, she runs into her sister Julie getting on the subway.
Then they notice Kevin is also on the train, and Wendy then realizes it is too late, and death has caught them. A massive subway crash in which they all die. A good ending because we really want Wendy to live. However, nothing spectacular from a visual standpoint.
21. Carter – Final Destination – Hit by Falling Sign
Alex, Clear, and Carter go to Paris after the events of the film to celebrate their newfound freedom. While eating outside at a café, Alex realizes death is still coming for them and they in fact never changed its design.
Just then, an accident happens, and Carter pushes Alex out of the way. While standing over Alex, Carter asks: “So who’s next?” As a falling neon sign is seen descending towards Carter from behind. We don’t see Carter die, but we don’t have to. Brilliant cut to black as we see the sign careening towards the back of him.
20. Dennis – Final Destination 5 – Hit by Flying Wrench
After Roy’s death, everyone comes down to see what happened and check on Nathan. Their boss, Dennis, comes down to check the commotion, and without warning, a wrench, carelessly placed next to a belt sander, is launched by the belt sander square into Dennis’ face.
It’s quick and unsuspecting. But what ranks this over George’s ambulance death is the brief shot of Dennis, lying on the floor, with the wrench embedded lengthwise where his eyes were. Gruesome, and why fans keep returning to these movies.
19. Billy Hitchcock – Final Destination – Decapitated by Shrapnel
Carter decides to take it upon himself to kill the remaining survivors, himself, Alex, Clear, and Billy, by parking on the train tracks while a train barrels down on them. Everyone gets out, but Carter is stuck, and Alex saves him.
While shouting ensues as the train wizzes past, Billy, yelling at Carter, is intercut with a piece of shrapnel under the train. It gets kicked up and slices through Billy’s head. Not as shocking as Dennis’ wrench. But it is still effective with the cutting back and forth, building the anticipation for what is to come.
18. Lewis – Final Destination 3 – Head Crushed by Weights
Athlete and bro dude Lewis is off to training camp for the school he will be playing at in the fall. Wendy and Kevin go to warn him that he is next on Death’s “Honey Do” list. Of course, Lewis doesn’t believe in what Kevin and Wendy are on about.
Like other kills in this franchise, we see multiple things that could end Lewis’ career early. After another Rube Goldberg moment that ends as Lewis believes he is still invincible, and does one last pump on his weight machine. Except that those weights come down together and crush his head.
It’s a fun scene, but it annoys me how the CGI gore covers up a more practical, effects-driven death.
17. Nathan – Final Destination 5 – Crushed by Airplane Tire
Nathan, who is at a bar for a memorial for Roy, the man he may or may not but definitely was responsible for killing. While there, thinking he is safe because he is responsible for Roy’s death. However, one of Roy’s co-workers mentioned he was going to die any minute.
After an autopsy revealed Roy had an undiagnosed brain aneurysm and was going to die any day now. Just then, debris from the plane crash at the end of the film falls through the roof, crushing Nathan.
The topper of a great ending.
16. Erin – Final Destination 3 – Nail Gun to Back of Head
Wendy and Kevin go to Erin and Ian’s work, a Home Depot-type store. Ian and Erin are doing rounds, getting ready to close up the store, as Wendy and Kevin fill them in on Death’s design. Of course, Ian and Erin both laugh their crackpot theory off.
This is another build-up scene, not knowing where this is going. Things getting knocked off shelves, a runaway forklift, and anything else death has up its sleeve. Wendy actually saves Ian, skipping him but putting the crosshairs on Erin.
She falls back and slams her head against the nail gun set down by Ian. It fires off multiple times, sending nails penetrating outside the front of her skull. It’s visceral, and the sound makes it extra hard.
15. Evan – Final Destination 2 – Impaled by Fire Escape
Evan, the lottery winner and firebird driver, arrives home from a long day of shopping, blowing his minor lottery winnings. As he begins to cook himself dinner and look at his latest purchases, death starts to do its thing.
It’s one of the best things this franchise does, sending multiple red herrings only to kill off a character in a completely different way. Will it be the garbage disposal that Evan gets his hand stuck in while getting his ring? Will it be the fire from his fish sticks?
It’s none of the above! Evan frees himself and gets down the fire escape, only to slip on the spaghetti he threw out the window at the beginning of the scene. After he falls, the fire escape ladder slams through his eyeball.
I love these misdirection kills; they generally have great setups, and the audience can never predict how or if the person will die.
14. Isaac – Final Destination 5 – Head Crushed by Buddha Statue
After the first film, the importance of likability in characters went out the window. They’re not all unlikable, but most are, presumably to make their deaths more fun, instant gratification. Isaac is one of the most unlikable characters, played perfectly by P.J. Byrne.
Isaac steals a coupon to a massage parlor from a deceased co-worker. Of course, while there, he makes several implications of a happy ending. Well, Isaac gets a nasty comeuppance when he gets an unwanted acupuncture treatment.
A fire starts, as Isaac tries to escape, the table breaks, and he falls face first, and all of the acupuncture needles get pushed into him. A close-up of one being pulled out will curl your toes. Just as he thinks he’s going to escape the fire, a Buddha statue falls from a floating shelf right onto his head. Karma.
13. Kat – Final Destination 2 – Impaled by PVC Pipe
In another laborious setup, in writing about it, not watching it, wise, Kat’s car blows a tire as the remaining survivors are headed to the hospital. Eugene’s lung is punctured, and Kat is trapped under a log while PVC pipes penetrated the SUV, one poking through the back of her seat head.
While the firemen attempt to rescue her with the jaws of life, the airbags deploy, slamming Kat’s head onto the PVC pipe coming through her headrest. We don’t get to see the initial impact, blocked by the airbag, but we see the aftermath. A great shot of practical effects as the large pipe is sticking out of KAT’s forehead. Brief and gruesome, perfect.
12. Olivia – Final Destination 5 – Laser Eye Surgery Mishap
Olivia doesn’t want to wear glasses anymore and goes to have Lasik done. A terrifying scene for anyone who cannot handle things being close to their eye. It’s incredibly uncomfortable, and things go from uncomfortable to horrifying.
The doctor steps out, and the machine goes berserk. The laser gets turned up to 11, in a sense, and is so powerful it starts to burn her eye. The close-up shot is upsetting. The second time it goes off, Olivia intervenes with her hand, and it burns lines into her palm.
Just then, Sam and Molly come in to save Olivia, but she stumbles and falls through a window. I like the misdirection, but the previous mode of death would’ve been even more memorable, though maybe people wouldn’t have been able to stomach that.
11. Nora – Final Destination 2 – Decapitated by Elevator
Poor Nora, her husband passed before the events of the film. She watches her son die in a horrible accident, more on that later, she is unhappy and ready to go. The remaining survivors meet to go over how to look for signs and how to help each other survive.
Nora explains she doesn’t wish to remain on this mortal coil and leaves. Drug addict Rory sees a sign, and Kimberly tries to call Nora to warn her about a man with hooks. She and Eugene are leaving and sharing an elevator with a man who has prosthetic limbs in a box.
He grossly tries to smell her, as he leans in, her braid gets caught on a hook, while attempting to run from the man after Kimblery’s warning to avoid a man with hooks.
With her head caught and the elevator doors close on her neck. The elevator lifts, and her head rips off, head in the elevator and body on the floor outside. Poor Nora didn’t deserve such an elongated death.
10. Hunt – Final Destination (2009) – Disemboweled by Pool Drain
One of the more fun and creative deaths actually comes in the worst film of the franchise. Hunt, top tier franchise douchebag, goes to the country club swimming pool. He’s there to cool off and does what he does best: “get laid”.
After he disappoints a woman in a cabana, as he goes to relax, the pool drain turns on. Hunt’s lucky coin slips out of his hand and goes into the pool. Who knew his lucky coin would be his undoing?
Hunt dives down to get his coin, but he gets stuck in the drain. Hunt cannot get free, and all his insides are sucked out through his rectum and shot through the pool filter. It’s horrific and inventive, also scary to think you’re surrounded by people, but no one sees to help. Yeesh.
9. Tod – Final Destination – Hung in Shower
The first kill post-premonition in the franchise is Tod. It’s also the only time that death goes to cover its tracks, getting the water to retreat back that Tod slips on in the bathroom. Has the feeling of the first season of a show where they haven’t worked out their ideas yet.
Overall, the kill isn’t that impressive or creative, but its honesty is brutal. Tod slips on some water and gets caught in a drying line in the shower. It wraps around his neck, and he can’t get his footing cause of the liquid in the tub. Seeing Tod’s eyes go red is a terrifying shot.
8. Frankie – Final Destination 3 – Head Sliced by Engine Fan
In another confluence of events, Wendy and Kevin get trapped in a drive-thru while an unmanned truck comes careening down the hill behind them. Unable to move, they bust out the windshield and climb out at the last second.
The truck smashes into Kevin’s truck, his engine is thrown into the driver in front of them, and the fan makes mincemeat of Frankie’s head.
The douchebag winner of the franchise must go to Frankie. Grade A pervert. I’m mixed on his death because we don’t know it’s Frankie till after the fact, so why make him so unlikable if we’re not going to get to revel in the death?
However, we do get some satisfaction from seeing his face with the engine fan sticking out of the back of his head. Plus, the blend of practical and CGI effects makes for a visceral kill.
7. Ms. Lewton – Final Destination – Stabbed in the Chest
Poor Ms. Lewton. As she packs up her house to get a new start, death decides to give her the most Rube Goldberg death of them all. I’m linking a video of it above, because it would take so long to talk about how her death begins and the journey it goes on to kill her.
A computer blows up in her face, a fire breaks out, she slips on liquid, a knife falls in her chest, a chair falls and pushes the knife in deep. It’s insane and keeps piling on, as if Ms. Lewton personally offended death.
Some may think it’s dumb, but the authenticity of the effects makes it quite upsetting.
If you’ve been reading this and haven’t seen the movies, beware major spoilers ahead.
Double dose of Nathan’s death.
6. Sam and Molly – Final Destination 5 – Die in Flight 180 Explosion
There are a handful of times when a film truly pulls the rug out from under me. This was one of them. My jaw dropped in theaters when this was revealed to be a prequel, and on rewatches, it still holds up.
There are subtle hints that this film is in 2000, but it’s never overt, nor does the film not give any clues, so you don’t feel cheated in the end. I got goosebumps when Sam looks up to the commotion, and we see Carter and Alex being removed from the plane.
I need to watch the making of because the effects look good. Sam is taking a job at a restaurant in Paris, and Molly is going with them. After the commotion and before takeoff, Sam overhears a conversation about the kid thinking the plane was going to crash.
Sam realizes they’re dead before the engine catches fire. An amazing twist that still works on the tenth rewatch.
5. Rory – Final Destination 2 – Sliced in Pieces by Barbed Wire Fence
Back to the blowout that puts Eugene in the hospital and is the eventual demise of Kat. Once Kat is impaled by the PVC pipe, she drops her cigarette, which falls into an irrigation system that is filling with gas from another vehicle after it punctured its tank.
The fire goes all the way to the news van, which is parked next to a barbed wire fence. The van explodes, sending a portion of the fence through the air, before Rory even has time to react. It slices through him like a block of cheese.
The best thing about this kill, aside from the creativity, is the practically with which it was done. They built a dummy Rory and sliced it while only using CGI to add some blood and guts. It’s a big reason why the second film still holds up so well.
4. Terry – Final Destination – Hit by a Bus
No special fuss about this one, simply slammed by a bus. Carter and Terry are driving and see Alex and Clear eating outside. Carter u-turns to be a dick to Alex. It turned into a reunion as Billy and Ms. Lewton also happened to be nearby.
As Carter and Alex start to yell at each other, Terry (Carter’s Girlfriend) Exclaims, “Enough!” She walks backwards explaining how she’s not letting this dictate her life, then BLAM! She is pulverized by a bus.
It’s so surprising that test audiences needed a “cool down” time. So, the filmmakers inserted almost a minute of Alka-Seltzer being drunk by Clear and Alex. This should tell you that it is the best surprise death in the franchise.
3. Ashley & Ashlyn – Final Destination 3 – Burned in Tanning Salon
I think…Or maybe it’s an assumption that this is a fan favorite kill in the franchise. Ashley and Ashlyn are human time capsules for 2006. The Paris Hilton cadence, the whale tails, and the obsessive tanning which is their ultimate demise.
This kill is an encapsulation of what this franchise is all about: creative kills that are fun to watch. This also features the most gratuitous nudity of the franchise, a direction I’m glad they left in five.
Ashley and Ashlyn go tanning to get tan for the memorial service, however, things go awry, shocking. The girls get trapped in their tanning beds as they steadily get hotter and burn them alive.
The whole sequence is set to “Rollercoaster of Love” by The O’Jays. It’s a wink by the film while it viciously kills two characters. You’ll simultaneously tap your toes as you wince in pain.
2. Tim – Final Destination 2 – Crushed by Windowpane
Final Destination 2 was the first in this franchise that I watched. Then I went back and watched the first one. So, the second one will always be my favorite. Some may think this kill is too high on this list, but this has always been a personal favorite.
We think Tim is going to die at the dentist’s. Kimberly has a vision of pigeons and knows Tim is next. They head to his dentist’s appointment, which keeps getting interrupted by pigeons slamming into the window.
After a long build-up in which Tim is saved, we think his time is not now. However, Kimblery and Burke yell at Tim and Nora to watch for the pigeons. Tim runs at the pigeons to mess with them, causing a construction mishap.
A massive windowpane falls and crushes Tim into blood soup. It’s brutal because it was completely done with practical effects, actually dropping a windowpane on a dummy set to fold down and burst blood and guts everywhere.
The minimal CGI was used to add pigeons, but they even had some real pigeons for actor James Kirk to run at. It’s a great buildup to mislead the audience into a creative kill done with practical effects. What more do you want?
1. Candice – Final Destination 5 – Dies in Gymnastics Accident
I know this entire list, I have been gushing over the use of practical effects and how they’re better than CGI. Overall, I do believe that. But if you can use them both for maximum effect, then you get this spectacular kill.
The new team behind the fifth film in the franchise said: “Ya’ll ain’t seen nothing yet.” Ushering in a new era of Final Destination, or at least we thought, while keeping the traditions that have been established.
Candice, an intern at the paper company and Peter's girlfriend, the underboss, attends practice for her college gymnastics team. Peter convinces her this is her last year, and she’ll regret quitting.
A screw falls onto the balance beam as she is practicing and begins a long tense sequence culminating in the gnarliest death of the entire franchise.
It’s the perfect FD scene, a long, slow build, showing many different avenues death could go down to take Candice’s life. Of course, it’s never the avenue you’d expect. As everything falls apart, while Candice is doing the uneven bars, powder is blown into her face, and she loses concentration and falls from the uneven bars.
Her body lands like a folding chair, breaking her entire spine, legs, hips, everything. Her spine is coming through her back, legs have compound fractures. It is a nasty shot of her body when the dust clears.
CGI is used for her fall, but the final shot is a practical effect used with her and a body double standing in for her legs. Incredible build-up to an even more incredibly gnarly kill.
