Final Destination Bloodlines, the sixth installment in the beloved supernatural horror series, opens Friday in theaters. Fans loved the first five Final Destination movies, but they’ve all been met with a log to the face at the Academy Awards. After this week’s glowing critics’ reviews, Bloodlines could find itself competitive in four Oscar categories next year … if voters aren’t too afraid.
Kaitlyn Santa Juana stars as Stefani Reyes, a present-day college student inexplicably haunted by a tower collapse from 1968. Teo Briones plays Charlie Reyes, Stefani’s younger brother, while Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, and Anna Lore play their cousins. Rya Kihlstedt portrays Stefani and Charlie’s estranged mother, Darlene Campbell, and the dual role of Grandma Iris was given to Gabrielle Rose (the older version) and Brec Bassinger (the younger version). Horror icon Tony Todd, who died in 2024, returns one last time as fan-fave character William Bludworth, a mortician who has an expert knowledge of death.
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The Warner Bros./New Line Cinema film is directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, with Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor penning the screenplay. Despite its campy horror nature, Final Destination Bloodlines surprisingly enjoys a 92 percent at Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its “emotional layers” and “grisly set pieces.”
Genre movies rarely do well at the Oscars, though there are some notable exceptions. Earlier this year, body horror film The Substance scared up five nominations, including three for breakout filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. It won Best Makeup & Hairstyling, and Demi Moore was a strong Best Actress contender after claiming the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Then there’s Poor Things (2023), a modern-day Frankenstein story that took home four trophies — Best Actress for Emma Stone, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup & Hairstyling — from a whopping 11 nominations.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) remains the only horror flick to win Best Picture at the Oscars. In addition, it claimed Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins, Best Actress for Jodie Foster, Best Director for Jonathan Demme, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Ted Tally.
Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures – Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures
Here are the four Oscar categories where Final Destination Bloodlines might be the strongest:
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
This category is often kind to these types of productions, as gory prosthetics always seem to impress Oscar voters. “Every time a head explodes, which is a lot, you’ll want to stand up and cheer,” raves William Bibbiani (The Wrap) about Final Destination Bloodlines. Besides The Substance and Poor Things, other spooky movies to contend in Best Makeup & Hairstyling in recent years include Nosferatu (2024), The Batman (2022), Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), Joker (2019), and winner The Wolfman (2010).
Best Production Design
The fact that critics are singling out the production design in Final Destination Bloodlines is definitely a good sign. “The gory set pieces, involving such things as a lawnmower, a garbage truck, and, most spectacularly, an MRI machine, are so cleverly orchestrated that the audience at the preview screening applauded each one,” remarks Frank Scheck (The Hollywood Reporter). Poor Things, Dune (2021), and The Shape of Water (2017) recently won this Oscar race, while other genre nominees include Nosferatu, Nightmare Alley (2021), Parasite (2019), and Arrival (2016).
Best Sound
The blood-curdling screams, the squelching blood, the collapsing tower … it’s the stuff that the Best Sound category was made for. Some of the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films that reaped sound bids or wins at the Academy Awards this decade include Dune: Part Two (2024), The Creator (2023), The Batman (2022), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), Dune (2021), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Joker (2019), and Black Panther (2018).
Best Visual Effects
Final Destination Bloodlines is being singled out for its VFX work by several critics, including Tom Jorgensen (IGN), who declares, “Special mention has to go to the effects here, which blend practical and VFX elements extremely well as bodies are slashed, smashed, smushed, and stuffed.” A nomination in Best Visual Effects would follow in the footsteps of many of the films listed above, plus faves like Alien: Romulus (2024), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Godzilla Minus One (2023), and Kong: Skull Island (2017).
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