Horrorthon 2018 Day 10 - Final Destination 2 (2003)

  I haven't seen the original Final Destination in probably 20 years and I didn't find it interesting enough to ever look for sequels.  Apparently other people did not feel the same because there are four of these suckers running around which means some of y'all are perpetuating this mess.

Kimberley (A.J. Cook) is looking forward to a road trip with her best pals when she has a premonition of a horrible accident on the road.  Desperately, she blocks the on-ramp and prevents a handful of people from grisly deaths.  Then, one-by-one, the survivors start dying in freak accidents.  Kimberley reaches out to Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), the last of the Flight 180 survivors for advice on how to stop Death's grand design.

I have to say, this wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Part of the fun of the first one was seeing the sheer number of bizarre, Rube-Goldberg-esque accidents and the sequel recognizes that by continuing to have them and also to present situations where the characters in danger realize they could happen.  Watching an otherwise useless character like Rory (Jonathan Cherry) nervously eye the sports equipment in another character's apartment, calculating the path of a bowling ball rolling off a shelf and propelling a pair of hockey skates like guillotine blades, before triggering a completely unrelated flood of harmless equipment makes for a humorous wink at the film's definitive trope. 

Visually, the movie is complete garbage.  The fashion trends of the early 00s are unfortunately extremely distinct, and date this film terribly.  The characters are annoyingly one-note, being defined more by labels than personality.  We are given no reason to root for or bemoan their violent deaths or to hope they survive the curse.  Where the first film ended on an appropriately nihilistic note, the second strives for a cutesy Hollywood finale for its romantic leads.  Fortunately, nearly all of the actors have transcended this early stepping stone, with A. J. Cook having a starring role in Criminal Minds for over a decade now.

Horror-wise, this is better.  There are some solid set pieces with decent gore and a nice cameo from Tony Todd, a horror icon in his own right.  I definitely wouldn't keep this around for casual viewing but for a Horrorthon, it's a decent addition.

Pumpkin rating:  3.4/5