PERHAPS THE BEST TEEN HORROR FLICK SINCE "SCREAM"...

Written by Thomas Chau
Edited by Andrew Marcus

Cast: Devon Sawa (Alex), Ali Larter (Clear), Kristen Cloke (Ms. Valerie Lewton), Kerr Smith (Carter), Amanda Detmer (Terry), Chad Donella (Tod), Seann William Scott (Billy)

Premise: Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), is embarking on a trip to Paris with his high school French class when he experiences a powerful premonition. He sees the plane explode in a fiery blaze moments after leaving the ground. Alex panics and insists that everyone get off the plane. In the melee than ensues, seven people including Alex, are forced to disembark the ill-fated aircraft. But after escaping their doom, they soon realize that death has a design...and when you cheat it, it fights back.

Overall Rating:

Rated R for language, violence

With seemingly all the teenage horror films that have erupted since the success of Scream, it's amazing how some studios seem to continue to capitalize on the resurgence of the genre. We've seen the arrivals of successes and failures alike, but one thing is definite: We've seen too many. Fortunately, Final Destination comes as one of the better teen horror films in the recent two years.

In a rather slow opening sequence, high school Alex Browning is preparing for his senior trip to Paris, France. A superstitious young man, he can't help but see signs everywhere that someway, somehow...father death is arriving on his doorstep soon. Trying to ignore the little hints that keep appearing, he decides to relax and relieve himself of the stress.

While on the airplane, Alex experiences a powerful dream in this gut-wrenching sequence in which he "sees" the explosion of Flight 180, the plane in which he and his classmates are traveling. He awakens in a cold sweat, knowing that the dream was more real than he thought. Alex screams and shouts for everyone to leave the plane and in the chaos that ensues, a total of six teenagers and one teacher end up leaving the plane...only to find that Alex's premonition was, indeed, a true sign. They find themselves watching the explosion from the ground.

From here on out, the rest of the movie is actually somewhat scary. Death, according to the film, has a pattern and if that pattern is broken, a new design is set. As each character comes face to face with a new death, some of the scenes are almost gut-wrenching, surprising, and intense - especially the death scene for the second teenager to die (you'll find out what I'm talking about soon enough.)

The script is on an average scale. It lacks the humor and wit of most teenage horror films but definitely has the twists and turns which are needed in order to be successful. The main criticism for the script, however, is the placement of the numerous coincidences which are conveniently set to trap the characters of the film. On a down note, the movie's ending caused many in the audience to yell "Ugh!".

Still, it ranks high compared to some of the other teen films that have been released recently. It may not be one to remember for another generation to come, but Final Destination can satisfy today's teenagers' need for a film to be simply scary.