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"THE FINAL DESTINATION" (2009) (Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Extreme Extreme Extreme Minor Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Heavy Extreme None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Minor Heavy Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: A young man tries to warn his friends and others of their pending fates while being haunted by premonitory visions of their deaths following their unlikely survival of a race track disaster. PLOT: While taking in a stock car race at an aging stadium, Nick (BOBBY CAMPO) has a troubling vision regarding him, his girlfriend, Lori (SHANTEL VANSANTEN), and their friends Hunt (NICK ZANO) and Janet (HALEY WEBB). In it, a series of events combine to create a horrendous car crash on the track that then shifts into the stands, killing many spectators, including all of them. Realizing that can't be good, Nick freaks out and creates enough of a scene that he and his friends are escorted out of the stadium by security guard, George (MYKELTI WILLIAMSON). Just then, the exact crash and growing disaster that Nick foresaw actually happens, meaning all of them -- along with racist redneck Carter (JUSTIN WELLBORN), mechanic Adam (ANDREW FISCELLA), local cowboy Jonathan (JACKSON WALKER), and mom Samantha (KRISTA ALLEN), her husband, and their two boys -- barely avoided being killed in the catastrophe. But Death doesn't appreciate being cheated, and one by one, the various survivors start dying in sudden and often grisly ways. Once they realize that, Nick, Lori and George try to convince the others that they've been marked for death and do what they can to protect themselves. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of any of the first three "Final Destination" films, it's a good bet they will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: BOBBY CAMPO plays a young man who ends up haunted by premonitions of horribly deadly things that are going to occur. Accordingly, he tries to warn others of what they may face. He uses profanity. SHANTEL VANSANTEN plays Nick's girlfriend who's worried about their and others' safety, and tries to help in warning the rest. She uses some profanity. NICK ZANO plays one of their friends, a callous and self-absorbed fellow who doesn't heed those warnings until it's too late. Before then, he uses profanity, drinks some, and has a sexual fling with a stranger, thus cheating on his girlfriend. HALEY WEBB plays his girlfriend who's freaked out by what's occurring, but drops her guard too quickly once she thinks the danger has passed. She uses profanity. MYKELTI WILLIAMSON plays a security guard who lucks out in not losing his life at the race track disaster, but must then contend with being on Death's list. He must also contend with his alcoholic past that resulted in the deaths of his wife and child. KRISTA ALLEN plays a mother who survives the disaster. ANDREW FISCELLA plays a mechanic who does the same and uses strong profanity. JUSTIN WELLBORN plays a racist redneck who survives the disaster, but is mad at George, blaming him for his wife's death at the same (since George wouldn't let him go back into the chaos). He uses strong profanity and is intoxicated in one scene. JACKSON WALKER plays a cowboy spectator at the race who's injured but survives, but must similarly contend with Death's plans for him. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror film. Profanity consists of at least 15 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Some sexually related dialogue is present, as is a sexual encounter (woman on top, with movement, sounds and bare breasts), while various women are seen in small bikinis. Violence consists of various people being killed in all sorts of gruesome, bloody and gory ways (exacerbated when viewed in 3D where available). Those scenes and the prolonged supernatural moments leading up to them might be suspenseful or scary to viewers. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes (including racism), while various actions and other behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Tense family material is present, as is some drinking (and related intoxication) and brief smoking. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, the 3D visual effects might have an effect on them. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Hunt has a fake pair of binoculars that contains liquor inside it. He drinks from one eyepiece and offers the holder to Nick who declines, but another woman grabs it and takes a swig. Others at the race also drink. Carter does some drunk driving in his tow truck, sideswiping a parked car. He drinks more, we see other cans in his truck, and he then stumbles out. After Andy says he lost his wife, George states that due to his own past drunk driving, his wife and their child died. Hunt has a beer. Various people have drinks by a pool. George has a glass of what appears to be brandy or perhaps wine in front of him, tempted to have it, but he doesn't. George appears to open champagne for Nick, Lori and himself, but then identifies that as cider. BLOOD/GORE The effect of the following may be exacerbated when viewed in 3D (where available). The friends are shocked and/or disgusted by Samantha giving her boys new tampons to use in their ears as ear plugs at the race. Hunt sarcastically states that's a lot of tampons for one woman. There are very bloody and gory results during a stock car race disaster, where spectators are smashed, crushed and even cut in half by car and stadium pieces. Two of them are cut in half, another has blood from her mouth before being smashed by a flying engine (with greater bloody results), and a man falls backwards onto a broken piece of wood that goes through his head and out his mouth (with bloody results). Two more are then killed with bloody results, while Nick ends up impaled (also with bloody results). A woman is obliterated by a flying race car tire that smashes into her, with extremely bloody/gory results (including beheading her). During the opening credits, we see various x-ray images of people's bodies being impaled, sliced and crushed by various means (all internal x-ray type views, with some non-realistic looking blood). That also includes a head being sliced in half horizontally. We see a burning severed head. A riding lawn mower goes over a rock that's then shot out and hits a woman in the head, going through her eye and out the other side, with very bloody/gory results. We see quick flashback views to the various grisly deaths at the race disaster. A chain reaction causes a large gas canister to zip through the air, smashing a man back hard enough to a chain link fence that clothing-covered pieces of his back are cut out and fall off in bloody pieces. We see bird excrement on Janet's windshield that then smears when she runs the wipers. Unaware that the pool drain has been activated, a man dives into a pool to retrieve a coin and ends up stuck there, sucked butt down, on the drain. He struggles to free himself, but can't, and no one else is aware of that. As the drain pump keeps struggling to continue sucking, we suddenly see blood and what's presumably part of his rectum or intestines spurt out from that onto the pool deck. George states he tried to kill himself via a bottle of pills, but threw up (not seen). Some blood splatters onto a wall in one of Nick's premonitions. A hospital patient has various bloody cuts on his face and neck. An ambulance suddenly smashes into a person, killing him (with bloody results on the vehicle and street in front of it). We see a person who's been impaled from an explosion, with bloody results. A couple is on an escalator when that breaks, with some of the "steps" shearing away, thus exposing the moving parts below that. The man tries to hold onto the woman, but her feet skip along one of the large gear/rollers that then catches and pulls them in, shredding her and sending blood all over the man (while we see some meat spinning around on one such part). A nail gun falls off a table and fires nails at Nick, impaling his arm to a wall, with bloody results. A large truck suddenly smashes into a cafe. We then see x-ray type views of the devastating internal damage down to the bodies of three victims (bones broken, crushed, torn apart, etc.). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE About a person standing up at a stock car race, someone behind him yells, "Down in front, asshole!" Carter starts whistling "Dixie" when he sees George, who's black, approaching. Later, Carter blames George for the death of the former's wife (since George wouldn't allow Carter to reenter the stadium during the disaster). He then shows his racist colors, telling George, "Nobody lives forever, n*gger" and "Your time's coming, chocolate." He later shows up at George's house, intoxicated, and starts to dig a hole for a large cross he apparently plans on burning in George's front yard. A salon worker, unhappy that Samantha has arrived just before closing, gives her "the finger" behind her back, while the stylist isn't happy with Samantha either. About a woman who's just died, Hunt sarcastically laments that they just lost a "hot MILF" ("Mom I'd Like to F*ck"). A kid uses a water gun to spray Hunt who's standing by a pool. An older white man tells an Asian physical therapist, "You know how many of your kind I killed in Korea?" The therapist points out that he's Chinese, with the older man saying that makes no difference. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. And that might be exacerbated when viewed in 3D (where available). A race car nearly crashes into others upon sliding on some spilled fuel while exiting pit row. Nick starts having weird feelings and visions about the race and the stadium in which they're spectators. That includes the bench they're seated on breaking; the stadium concrete crumbling & cracking; a flier blowing up memorializing race drivers who haven't died yet; fuel spilling; a screwdriver left in a race car as it heads off onto the track; and bolts in a restraining fence starting to give away. That's followed by all sorts of deadly accidental mayhem in which many people are killed, but Nick then snaps out of that and realizes it was a premonition. When things start coming true, he panics and finally gets the others to leave just in the nick of time. From time to time, Nick has brief premonitions of bad things to come, but the imagery is haphazard and out of context, so beyond what they signify in general, they're not particularly unsettling. As Samantha gets a haircut, pedicure and such, the film shows all sorts of things that could turn deadly. That includes a lose barber's chair in which Samantha sits; a sharp tool being used to scrape out under her big toe; a wobbly ceiling fan above her (that eventually rocks lose and falls, but doesn't hit anyone); a rock outside that's in the path of a riding lawn mower; and some gel or lotion that spills onto the floor where people are walking. A chain reaction causes a chain to start unwinding, allowing a large vehicle to roll quite quickly toward a man. It ends up stopping just before crushing him against a fence. Just then, another chain reaction causes a large gas canister to zip through the air, smashing that man back hard enough to the chain link fence that clothing-covered pieces of his back are cut out and fall off in bloody pieces. Janet ends up stuck inside a car wash when the later short circuits. Her sunroof then partially opens and a pipe above her bursts, thus filling her car with water. She panics as it fills up, and barely gets her head out of the top, but then gets stuck in that position as the car wash starts running again, sending her head toward one of those large bristle rollers. Just then, George and Lori show up and use their vehicle to push Janet's out of harm's way, and Lori struggles to push the sunroof open. Another pipe then breaks and smashes into the vehicle near them, but neither is hit. Unaware that the pool drain has been activated, a man dives into a pool to retrieve a coin and ends up stuck there, sucked butt down, on the drain. He struggles to free himself, but can't, and no one else is aware of that. As the drain pump keeps struggling to continue sucking, we suddenly see blood and what's presumably part of his rectum or intestines spurt out from that onto the pool deck. Nick and Lori arrive at George's place only to find him hanging from the ceiling, having hung himself. But he's still alive and his struggle then causes the rope (or similar item) to break free and he falls to the floor. For those afraid of snakes, one of Nick's premonitions features one uncoiling out toward the camera (looking fake). A large physical therapy tub starts overflowing, sending water spilling onto the floor and then down through the ceiling below that, onto a badly wounded hospital patient. He tries to get out of the way, but the floor/ceiling then gives way, with the large tub falling and crushing him as he crawls on the floor. Lori's tennis shoe lace gets stuck in a moving escalator, and she panics as Janet tries to help free her. They can't, but the lace snaps and she's okay. We see the chain of events setting up the next event, this time starting in a construction zone where a fire ignites and then starts spreading toward large barrels of flammable liquid, all as those in the adjacent movie theater are unaware of the danger. That is, except for Lori who becomes increasingly nervous about bad feelings she's experiencing. A couple is on an escalator when that breaks, with some of the "steps" shearing away, thus exposing the moving parts below that. The man tries to hold onto the woman, but her feet skip along one of the large gear/rollers that then catches and pulls them in, shredding her and sending blood all over the man (while we see some meat spinning around on one such part). Nick tries to put out a fire in a construction zone before it spreads to some large barrels containing flammable liquids. While doing so, however, a nail gun falls off a table and fires nails at him, impaling his arm to a wall. He then tries to use a piece of wood with a burning end to set off a sprinkler before the pending explosion. GUNS/WEAPONS A kid uses a water gun to spray Hunt who's standing by a pool. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Get the f*ck out of here," "That f*cking crash," "Back off, you f*cking freak," "Who's the f*cking moron?" "Are you f*cking kidding me?" "Give me the f*cking gun," "F*cked up my phone," "What the f*ck are you trying to do?" "You're sh*tting me," "Will you give the lucky coin sh*t a rest?" "That is some spooky psycho babble sh*t," "That's some bullsh*t," "You little p*ssy," "Why do you have to be a pr*ck all the time?" "You're sick," "Down in front, asshole," "Life's a bitch and then you die" (seen on a t-shirt), "What the hell /is that?" "You snake," "Kick your ass," "Are you kidding?" "We're all a little freaked out," "Screw that," "Nobody lives forever, n*gger," "Your time's coming, chocolate," "My ass is on fire," "Wanna hear something freaky?" "What, are you kids stupid?" "If I'm dying, I'm trying," "You better have a damn good reason," "Oh damn it," "Shut up," "Bye-bye, suckers," "You're both nuts" and "Hey space cadet, do you want to come back down to Earth?" Some kids may be enticed to try to imitate the various scares to frighten others. A miscellaneous woman wears a midriff-revealing top. Hunt has a fake pair of binoculars that contains liquor inside it. Hunt flips a coin, asking Janet "heads or tails," adding, "You know I like head." Samantha's kids throw rocks at a street sign. A salon worker, unhappy that Samantha has arrived just before closing, gives her "the finger" behind her back. A hair stylist has tattoos and a piercing stud in her nostril. We see that Hunt has a tattoo on his arm. A kid uses a water gun to spray Hunt who's standing by a pool. George tries to kill himself via hanging after saying that downing a bottle of pills and inhaling car fumes didn't do any good. JUMP SCENES The various sudden deaths might startle some viewers (although they're heavily foreshadowed). The barber's chair that Samantha is seated in suddenly drops down to its lowest setting (in a tense scene). A riding lawn mower goes over a rock that's then shot out and hits a woman in the head, going through her eye and out the other side, with very bloody/gory results. George suddenly puts his hand on Nick's shoulder. Lori accidentally bumps into a lever, causing the lift on which a vehicle is situated to drop to the floor. An ambulance suddenly smashes into a person, killing him (with bloody results on the vehicle and street in front of it). A person is suddenly hit by an ambulance again (the first time was a premonition). A large truck suddenly smashes into a cafe. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music occurs in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None that we heard, but some songs had lyrics that we couldn't fully hear and/or understand, thus presenting the possibility of them potentially containing something objectionable. PROFANITY At least 15 "f" words, 12 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("laid"), 2 slang terms using male genitals ("d*ck" and "pr*ck"), 1 using female ones ("p*ssy"), 10 asses (6 used with "hole"), 3 damns, 2 hells, 8 uses of "Oh my God," 2 of "G-damn" and 1 use each of "Jesus," "My God" and "Oh God." SEX/NUDITY Lori shows cleavage in various outfits throughout the film. About Nick and Lori doing some brief, playful kissing, Janet sarcastically tells them to get a room. Hunt flips a coin, asking Janet "heads or tails," adding, "You know I like head." Nick wakes up from a nightmarish premonition, shirtless in bed with Lori who's in a shirt and panties (the latter only partially/briefly seen), and comforts him by rubbing his bare chest. The next morning, we see Lori dressed the same way, but we have a full rear view of her small panties as she stands. About a woman who's just died, Hunt sarcastically laments that they just lost a "hot MILF" ("Mom I'd Like to F*ck"). Hunt states that if he's going to die early, he's going to do what he does best, adding "get laid" and then "If I'm dying, I'm trying." We see various young women in bikinis by a pool, followed by sexual sounds coming from some indoor space, including Hunt telling the woman to go faster. We then see an angled aerial view looking down on a nude woman vigorously moving on top of Hunt who's lying down. She says to keep going as she's not done yet, but he stops, saying he finished four minutes ago. She then gets up, disgusted, and we see her bare breasts as she puts her bikini top back on. We later see Hunt in just his bathing suit as he sunbathes. SMOKING A lawn guy on a riding mower is seen smoking, while one of Nick's visions shows a lit cigarette. A person spits (what may be chew) into a can. TENSE FAMILY SCENES There may be some grieving family members at a memorial service for those killed in the car race disaster, but none are identified as such. Carter blames George for the death of the former's wife (since George wouldn't allow Carter to reenter the stadium during the disaster). A riding lawn mower goes over a rock that's then shot out and hits a woman in the head, going through her eye and out the other side, with very bloody/gory results. Her boys are there and see that, but the scene ends there. After Andy says he lost his wife, George states that due to his own past drunk driving, his wife and their child died. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Whether people's deaths are predetermined or completely open to chance and circumstance. After Andy says he lost his wife, George states that due to his own past drunk driving, his wife and their child died. The comment that you only live once and shouldn't put off doing things (since you never know when you might die). VIOLENCE The effect of the following may be exacerbated when viewed in 3D (where available). There's a bad car crash during a stock car race, resulting in cars flips, exploding, burning and plowing through security fences into the stands. People are smashed by that last bit, while others panic and stampede over others. Two are sliced in half by something, another has blood coming from her mouth after being injured and right before an engine smashes into her, crushing her with bloody results. One person falls backwards onto a broken piece of wood that goes through his head and out his mouth (with bloody results). Another burning piece of something slams into more people, while the stadium starts collapsing, with a large concrete chunk crushing two people, while others are hit by more of the same. Two more are then killed, while Nick ends up impaled (with bloody results). All of that, however, turns out to be a premonition, with Nick freaking out and accidentally falling back onto someone who's then mad at him. That person has to be held back as Nick flees and throws something at him. Outside, he and others then hear the bad crash and mayhem beginning, followed by a tire flying over the stadium and smashing into a woman standing with them, obliterating her (with very blood/gory results including beheading her). During the opening credits, we see various x-ray images of people's bodies being impaled, sliced and crushed by various means (all internal x-ray type views, with some non-realistic looking blood). That also includes a head being sliced in half horizontally. Carter does some drunk driving in his tow truck, sideswiping a parked car. A man's tow truck ends up taking off by itself, dragging its large ball and chain behind it. He drunkenly chases after it, but gets his feet tangled in the ball and/or chain and is dragged down the road. That results in sparks that eventually result in a fire that engulfs him and his truck. The latter explodes, beheading him. One of Samantha's boys slips on some gel or lotion that's on the floor. A riding lawn mower goes over a rock that's then shot out and hits a woman in the head, going through her eye and out the other side, with very bloody/gory results. We see quick flashback views to the various grisly deaths at the race disaster. A chain reaction causes a chain to start unwinding, allowing a large vehicle to roll quite quickly toward a man. It ends up stopping just before crushing him against a fence. Just then, another chain reaction causes a large gas canister to zip through the air, smashing that man back hard enough to the chain link fence that clothing-covered pieces of his back are cut out and fall off in bloody pieces. Unaware that the pool drain has been activated, a man dives into a pool to retrieve a coin and ends up stuck there, sucked butt down, on the drain. He struggles to free himself, but can't, and no one else is aware of that. As the drain pump keeps struggling to continue sucking, we suddenly see blood and what's presumably part of his rectum or intestines spurt out from that onto the pool deck. Nick and Lori arrive at George's place only to find him hanging from the ceiling, having hung himself. But he's still alive and his struggle then causes the rope (or similar item) to break free and he falls to the floor. A large physical therapy tub starts overflowing, sending water spilling onto the floor and then down through the ceiling below that, onto a badly wounded hospital patient. He tries to get out of the way, but the floor/ceiling then gives way, with the large tub falling and crushing him as he crawls on the floor. An ambulance suddenly smashes into a person, killing him (with bloody results on the vehicle and street in front of it). An explosion blasts through a theater screen and into the audience, killing and wounding many. One of them is seen having been impaled, with bloody results. That's followed by additional explosions in the theater and then the mall, with people being hit by that, while one man falls a long distance. A couple is on an escalator when that breaks, with some of the "steps" shearing away, thus exposing the moving parts below that. The man tries to hold onto the woman, but her feet skip along one of the large gear/rollers that then catches and pulls them in, shredding her and sending blood all over the man (while we see some meat spinning around on one such part). A person is suddenly hit by an ambulance again (the first time was a premonition). A nail gun falls off a table and fires nails at Nick, impaling his arm to a wall, with bloody results. A large truck suddenly smashes into a cafe. We then see x-ray type views of the devastating internal damage down to the bodies of three victims (bones broken, crushed, torn apart, etc.). Reviewed August 28, 2009 / Posted August 28, 2009

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