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Peter Neal's Blogged-Up Reviews Thread

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Posted 12th April 2009 at 06:30 AM by Peter Neal

I'll continue my review ramblings in the blog section, kicked off (due to the usual easter-time family obligations) with an "oldie" from the good, old ABUK days:


"Final Destination"

Arguably the best, but certainly the smartest of the "Post Scream" wave of teen horrors, "Final Destination" takes the underlying fear-motor of all juvenile scarefests - premature death - to the next and only consequent level:
A group of schoolmates, who "cheated" death, are now stalked and killed in all sorts of inventive ways by the "Grim Reaper" himself. "Nobody can escape Death's design." , now that's probably the most mindblowing concept for a genre film since the original "Nightmare on Elm Street" opened up new horizons of horror for the teen audience.
Fast paced, cleverly written, with a TENSE plane crash opening that wouldn't stand a chance to be ever filmed after 9/11, "better than average" characterized teenage protagonists you can actually symphathize with (even though their appearance doesn't contradict the current trend of prettyfication ).
Modern Horror doesn't get much better these days.

*****


"Final Destination 2"

Unlike "Scream 2" (which lists the rules for a succesful horror sequel only to abandom them in a desperate attempt to be "original" ), "Final Destination 2" is allowed to deliver: Bigger, bloodier....not neccesarily better, but as close in spirit to good sequels like "Damien: Omen 2" as you can get today.
Like the "Omen" trilogy, the FD series relies heavily on the build up and execution of the "creative deaths" and as far as THAT is concerned we're in for a treat right from the rollercoaster highway carnage opening.
Lacking a bit the stylistic finesse of the first film, FD 2 is - as mainstream genre outings go - still great entertainment value, particularly if you want to take a short, slick break from the independent- and cult goodies once in a while.

It happens every now and then: a worthy sequel: ****


"Final Destination 3"

One good thing about the first sequel I forgot to mention the last time around was its well balanced cast of characters of varying age groups.
Now, the makers of the original return and with them we're back with a more juvenile crowd of protagonists. This being a New Line release, the teens are up to the level of their Nightmare movies, which - for the most part - managed never to look down on their teenage audience as far as the portrayal of the young heroes and their flock of soon-to-be-offed-in-creative-ways bunch of friends are concerned. (If you want a lesson on how a movie obviously has no connection to the behaviour of its supposed "target audience", check out "Dr. Giggles". An entertaining, but PAINFUL experience!).
The third entry would make for a solid conclusion of a modern classic horror trilogy, the legitimate heir to the original "Omen" trilogy. Let's hope that IF they attempt to continue the series that they'll have a whole shipload of fresh ideas to justify another "Final Destination". As far as I'm concerned, the concept as it stands carried just the right amount of movies, a fourth FD would have to be TRULY original if it doesn't want to scratch the series' integrity.
The creative deaths are gorier, the DVD certainly is an exercise on how to serve the fans of the series and the genre well.
I found the conclusion....well....This was the first time that the finale didn't completely do it for me...a bit sudden and somewhat not fully satisfying as an ending...BUT I got the feeling that this might change on repeated viewings.

To cut it short: The first one is the best film, the second one is the most fun, the third one rounds things up nicely. Let's hope it stays that way.

***(*)
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  1. Old Comment
    Almar@Cult Labs's Avatar
    Final Destination rocked - I thought it was a great slick thrill ride with the plane opening and the shock bus fine highlights. Yet I'd never risked the sequels - on your advice I'm going to change that.

    Welcome to your blog sir!

    If you're wondering why your avatar isn't showing up in the blog column on the front page it's because you'll need to reload it - members who joined in a certain period of time will find this.
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    Posted 12th April 2009 at 10:11 AM by Almar@Cult Labs Almar@Cult Labs is offline
  2. Old Comment
    Peter Neal's Avatar
    Thanks , Almar!

    I'm right now in search for a suitable avatar, which I'll add after finally stumbling over it.
    Comment with Quote permalink
    Posted 12th April 2009 at 11:03 AM by Peter Neal Peter Neal is offline
  3. Old Comment
    Almar@Cult Labs's Avatar
    Love the avatar! And yes we've noticed the uber-low contrast in the replies (light grey text on a white background) and will get that sorted. Hopefully in time for your German radio play blog!
    Comment with Quote permalink
    Posted 12th April 2009 at 07:21 PM by Almar@Cult Labs Almar@Cult Labs is offline
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