10 Best Deaths Of The Final Destination Franchise, Ranked

Life can seem like a never-ending series of interlocking catastrophes. It's increasingly clear that society and our lives are in the hands of some complex thing we can barely comprehend, let alone influence. We can see all the dominoes lined up in a row, but it's unclear which will fall first; we're not sure which calamity will ultimately take us out.

That's what makes the "Final Destination" franchise so resonant, more than 25 years after the first film hit theaters. These are movies about people who try to cheat Death, who eventually figure out a pattern and try to get one step ahead of the game, but who nevertheless find themselves at the mercy of horrific things that seem coincidental but are actually sinister and connected. Across six movies, fans have fallen in love with the morbid sense of humor on display in the series. It's the perfect example of gallows humor, in fact; we're all going to die somehow, the series seems to say, so we may as well have fun with it.

Usually, the deaths in a "Final Destination" movie come in the form of a sort of Rube Goldberg machine. Fate sets up an intricate dance of danger, and then fans hoot and holler as the pieces click into place. Sometimes, though, they're short and sweet, shocking in their simplicity. These are the ten best deaths in the "Final Destination" franchise, ranked.

By the time the "Final Destination" series was successfully resurrected in 2025, fans knew what to expect. Before "Final Destination Bloodlines," there hadn't been a new movie since 2011's "Final Destination 5"; that's a long time for fans to re-watch the franchise, learning not only Death's tricks but the filmmaking tricks at play. "Final Destination Bloodlines" is easily the funniest movie in the franchise, and that's on display in several of its best kills. There are more complex ones later in this list, but one of the funniest in the whole series is the death of poor Julia (Anna Lore).

Main characters Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) and Charlie (Teo Briones) are still trying to figure out why Death is stalking their family. One morning, concerned about their cousin Erik (Richard Harmon), they walk through their suburban neighborhood, and we can see the familiar elements of a "Final Destination" kill sequence laying themselves out. A garbage truck, a man with a lawnmower, kids playing ball; we know someone's in danger, but we don't know how they're going to die until it happens.

We're so concerned about these characters that we barely notice their cousin Julia head out for a jog. Suddenly, in the background, she's knocked sideways into a trash can and lifted into the back of a garbage truck that's just about to crush its freight. It's a perfect misdirect, and funnier with each re-watch.

Many of the best "Final Destination" death scenes are complex sequences that take a long time to play out. The disasters that open each film are a succession of such kills, massive catastrophes that lead to people dying in a number of gruesome ways; before the film reveals that it's all been a premonition, kick-starting the race to escape Death's designs.

In 2003's "Final Destination 2," we meet a number of characters on a busy highway in one of the best horror movie kills ever filmed. Thomas (Michael Landes) is a cop, driving behind a truck hauling logs. Unfortunately for Thomas, he spills his coffee; the momentary distraction is enough for him to miss the fact that the strap holding those logs together has come undone, and there's one bouncing right for his windshield. In a particularly brutal special effect, we see the cop car from the side as the log passes through, spraying blood out the back of the vehicle.

This is one small part of an elaborate sequence, and Thomas eventually survives the film thanks to Kimberly (A.J. Cook) and her premonition of his death. Still, the logging truck from "Final Destination 2" deserves a spot on the list because of how iconic it is. This image was seared into many a millennial brain, it's still the subject of endless memes, was referenced in "Final Destination Bloodlines," and has come to symbolize the franchise's approach to tension-based horror.

In the first "Final Destination" film, Alex (Devon Sawa) has a premonition that his class field trip's plane will explode shortly after takeoff. He's able to convince several students to get off Flight 180, but after the plane indeed blows up, they start to die anyway in the order they would have died on the plane. The first two deaths are impactful, but not particularly elaborate; it's clear something weird is going on as we watch Tod (Chad Donella) slip on a puddle of water and be strangled by a clothesline in his shower, but then Terry (Amanda Detmer) gets hit by a bus.

The death of their teacher, Ms. Lewton (Kristen Cloke), is the first time in the franchise that we realize just how elaborate — just how over-the-top — these death scenes are going to be. Ms. Lewton's death involves a gas-powered stove, a cracked mug that leaks vodka, and a short-circuiting computer monitor.

Ms. Lewton winds up sprawled out on the kitchen floor, desperately grasping for a towel to stem the bleeding in her throat, but she pulls down the knife block, and knives rain down, stabbing her in the chest. And then an ember from a nearby campfire sets off the gas, and the whole house explodes. Sure, the "Final Destination" franchise would later top Ms. Lewton's death, but there's no denying how well it lands so early in the series.

When most people think of "Final Destination," they likely picture the log truck. That one struck a chord with an entire generation, many of whom were starting to drive when the second movie was released in 2003. Plenty of the best "Final Destination" kills, in fact, tapped into generational fears related to growing up. "The Final Destination" even had multiple deaths that take place at a mall, an iconic cinematic location for teenage independence.

But perhaps no "Final Destination" kill taps into deeply 2000s-centric fears the way the deaths of Ashley (Chelan Simmons) and Ashlyn (Crystal Lowe) did. "Final Destination 3" was released in 2006, at the height of a decade obsessed with celebrity culture. "The Simple Life" was on the air — which landed on our list of the best reality TV shows of all time — and we were obsessed with image, with blonde-ness, with what felt like a cultural vapidity — and with tanning beds.

As Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) realizes that Ashley and Ashlyn would have died in the theme park disaster that opens the film, the girls strip down at the tanning salon. Mix a poorly-placed tube of sunscreen, a Slurpee that drips condensation, and a falling shelf, and you've got that indelible image of a UV-lit Ashley, roasting alive, her mouth open in agony, tongue piercing on full display. If someone asks what the 2000s were like, you can show them that shot. 

By the time "Final Destination 3" was released, fans had caught on to the way the series worked. If the camera suddenly starts to show us a number of important-seeming small details — things that might lead to other things that might lead to a killing — then it's time to pay attention. "Final Destination 3" benefited from its assumption that fans would try to solve the kill scene ahead of the actual death, leaning into potential humor from misdirecting the audience's focus.

By the time Wendy and Kevin (Ryan Merriman) visit Lewis (Texas Battle) at the gym, they're desperate to save someone from Death's awful plan. Ever since surviving the rollercoaster disaster, Lewis has been working out, fighting his fear of his own mortality by getting stronger. As they beg Lewis to believe them, Wendy sees signs everywhere that Death is about to make a move — including a bitterly ironic sign reading "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" above Lewis' head, complete with crossed swords. They dangle above him like the proverbial Sword of Damocles: a reminder that Death is ever-present.

Those swords swing down after a series of coincidences, but Lewis is fine. Mary Elizabeth Winstead looks relieved — she's the reason "Final Destination 3" placed so high on our ranking of the "Final Destination" franchise — but then the weights are cut free and slam together, crushing Lewis's head and splattering Wendy and Kevin with blood. Ouch.

In the movie "Sabotage," there was one tense scene Alfred Hitchcock regretted filming. The sequence involved a bomb, which Hitchcock had shown the audience; he later said he'd mishandled the timing of the sequence, so the tension wasn't relieved at the right time. In fact, Hitchcock used the example of a bomb to describe the difference between surprise and suspense in one of his legendary conversations with Francois Truffaut (via NoFilmSchool). He said a bomb going off without warning is a surprise, but a bomb you've seen planted is more fun. "The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed," he said.

The "Final Destination" films thrive on exactly this tension. In 2011's "Final Destination 5," Peter (Miles Fisher) thinks his girlfriend Candice (Ellen Wroe) might be in danger. He goes to watch her gymnastics practice, and a tense sequence unfurls where we're shown all the pieces that will surely lead to her demise. Namely: we see a screw on the balance beam, pointed upward. It's clear Candice is probably going to impale her foot, and the film has fun teasing the awful moment.

That's Hitchcockian suspense, but this sequence doesn't end how you'd expect. A fan falls into the chalk bin, and the resulting cloud throws off Candice's timing. She lands wrong, snapping her back; it's one of the most unexpected, gruesome visuals in the franchise, and a perfect surprise to top off a scene full of suspense.

There are plenty of disturbing scenes in "Fight Club," which was based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk. None of them hold a candle to his short story "Guts," however, an utterly gruesome account of someone who goes swimming and finds themselves suctioned to a pool drain deep underwater. Suffice to say that the narrator of the story is essentially turned inside out by the horrific incident.

There's a scene in 2009's "The Final Destination" — the terribly-named fourth film in the franchise — that seems to pay homage to "Guts." Thankfully, and surprisingly for this series, it's a far more restrained sequence. In fact, it's barely the focus of the sequence at all. While Janet (Haley Webb) visits a car wash and is nearly decapitated, the film keeps cutting back to Hunt (Nick Zano) hanging out at the pool. While an elaborate series of events almost claims Janet's life, what happens to Hunt is pretty basic.

He swims down and is suctioned to the bottom of the pool. Screaming, releasing all of his air in huge bubbles, it seems like Hunt might drown down there, until we're shown skin turning inside out, and then a fountain of blood shoots out of the pool filter. It's brilliantly disgusting because it's so subtle, which is not a word people often use for this series.

As noted above, "Final Destination Bloodlines" is easily the funniest "Final Destination" movie, and for proof, look no further than the film's MRI sequence. By the time Erik winds up in the hospital with Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner), he seems to have already cheated death several times. There's a whole complicated tattoo shop sequence early in the film that seems like it's going to kill him, but then it just ... doesn't. As in many of the best "Final Destination" films, we let our guard down at precisely the right moment.

Bobby and Erik battle with a vending machine that seems like it's going to tip over, potentially going to crush them to death. There are broken glass shards, metal springs, a peanut allergy, and a wheelchair at play, and everyone's so concerned with dodging those obstacles that they miss the fact that the MRI machine's been turned on full power.

Erik's a fan of piercings, unfortunately, which means that the powerful magnet drags him across the room. One by one, his piercings are torn out of his skin, including one that pulls him forward crotch-first. When the wheelchair finally stuffs itself into the machine, it stuffs Erik in, too, breaking his back backwards in a disgusting visual not unlike Candice's unfortunate dismount in "Final Destination 5." Finally, as metal poles shove themselves through his midsection, the giant skull tattoo on his abdomen tears itself apart. It's beautifully absurd.

In 1929, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali collaborated on a surrealist short film called "Un Chien Andalou." It got a lackluster reception, which encouraged the two to work together again on "L'Age d'Or," a film that sparked chaos in cinemas because it was so disturbing. "Un Chien Andalou," has since become a landmark in abstract filmmaking, thanks in no small part to its infamously upsetting sequence that involves someone slicing into a woman's eyeball with a razor.

By 2011, when "Final Destination 5" was released, we weren't using razors anymore; we were using lasers. The film features a sequence where Olivia (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) undergoes LASIK-style eye surgery, and Death comes knocking. Strapped into a medical chair, tiny metal arms holding her eyelids open like Alex in "A Clockwork Orange," Olivia has no way to escape when the laser goes rogue and slices up her face.

It's a demented sequence that likely made many millennials swear off corrective eye surgery. Eye-based horror never gets any easier to stomach, and "Final Destination 5" seems to delight in forcing us to watch this woman witness her own demise. It's utterly brutal, an especially cruel scene in a franchise known for cruel scenes. But then there's a fake-out; Olivia finally escapes from the chair, and for the briefest moment we think she's survived, until, blinded and panic-stricken, she crashes through the window and falls to her death. As you do.

After watching "Final Destination 5," you might need the entire "Final Destination" timeline explained. That's because, in the final moments of the fifth installment, Sam (Nicolas D'Agosto) and Molly (Emma Bell) board a plane, thinking they've survived Death's dastardly revenge. They've decided to take a trip to Paris together, but while settling into their seats, Sam notices a certain someone causing a commotion. It's Alex from the first film, screaming that people need to get off the plane because it's going to explode.

That's right: "Final Destination 5" isn't a sequel after all, but a prequel in disguise. Throughout the movie, characters barely use cell phones at all, which wasn't yet the kind of thing you'd necessarily notice in 2011. In retrospect, though, it makes a lot of sense; this movie takes place immediately before the 2000-set original.

Sam and Molly graphically burning up in the explosion of Flight 180 would be a worthwhile entry on this list, but the movie's not quite done with us. The last scene of the film takes place in a bar, as Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta) realizes they might have misunderstood the order Death was trying to kill them in. Seconds after a man tells him, "Life's a b****," Nathan's crushed by the wreckage of Flight 180, and his severed hand flies toward the camera. It's a beautifully executed gag that took five movies to set up, earning the top spot on this list.