Watch this the other day for the first time. The film rocks and might be my favorite of the entire series.
Bloodlines has everything I could've asked for from a sequel to a franchise that ended perfectly nearly 14yrs ago. Clearly made with passion for the franchise.
It’s also probably the first in the franchise to actually treat pretty much all of its characters like actual people instead of just walking stereotypes to be, fodder for all of the kills and I didn’t want to see any of them die. (
Except for that a***hole kid. F*** that kid. Wished that piano death wasn’t just part of the premonition )
I thought one character in particular was going to go that direction, but my mind was changed pretty much by the time he joins the rest of the remaining survivors and then the infamous MRI kill happens. There’s sort of this whole tragic undertone, and instead of cheering on a lot of the kills, you kind of feel sorry for them for being unwitting victims in Death’s grand design. In any other director’s hands, it probably would’ve come off as mean spirited and not very fun to watch, but they definitely find a way to make the kills still feel inventive and shocking without being exploitative.
Would definitely like to see this directing/writing team continue tackling this franchise.
Here’s my updated ranking:
1) FD: Bloodlines (yeah, I know, it hasn’t been out for too long, but after one watch of each of these films, I’ve had a pretty good idea of where I landed with them, and this one’s no different)
2) FD 3 (if it wasn’t for Bloodlines, this would be my number one)
3) FD 2 (surprisingly, revisiting this changed my feelings towards it, and I definitely feel much more positively. Great follow up to the first one that further expands the world and the lore. Also, the entire opening. I mean, come on, that’s an all-timer.)
4) FD1 (started it all and laid the foundation for future installments in the series to build upon)
5) FD5 (it’s not that this film is bad, it’s that the others are just so good. Even with some not so memorable characters and performances, this has some of the best kills in the franchise and
the ending twist pretty much makes the movie.)
And way, way, way, way down at the bottom…
6) FD4 (big pile of doggy doodoo. Terrible characters, nonsense kills, subpar acting, terrible script, the most obvious and worst CGI. Not even worth a gander or revisit. Best left ignored and forgotten.)
