Final Destination 2

Wayne’s World proudly boasted the tagline “You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll hurl”. By the same token Final Destination 2 could easily be tagged “You’ll laugh. Or you’ll hurl. Or possibly both at the same time”. Either way, those who enjoyed the first instalment of Final Destination won’t be disappointed by the follow-ups portrayal of a series of freak accidents with bloody endings.

For those new to the series, Final Destination 2 patiently explains the concept that death has a fixed plan for all our grizzly ends; however, sometimes people have a premonition of their own walk into the afterlife and end up cheating death. In fact the film explains this not once, not twice but three times, seemingly thinking that the simple concept will be too much for a teenage audience to grasp first time round. Whereas most all powerful spectres would strike someone dead on the spot for such arrogance, our reaping friends apparently prefers to try and get revenge using easily escapable and highly improbable domestic disasters. Who knew that death was in fact Dr Evil?

So after a girl prevents the death of a group of motorists in a horrifically bloody car accident it’s not long before they are being speared through the eyes by falling ladders, squashed by objects falling from a great height and numerous other bloody ends which I wouldn’t want to spoil for you. Between the flying entrails there is some talk of how to stop death, but the actors are clearly as disinterested as the audience as to the details of this.

The way the film teases out the set pieces is reminiscent of Hitchcock at his tackiest, only with tongue firmly lacerated through cheek. Clever editing keeps the on screen gore low whilst depicting some of the most wince inducingly painful deaths imaginable. If you like your horror distasteful, you’ll like this.

David Goody