Final Destination

Death has a design.

If only we all knew that design and could plan our lives around it. Heck, I'd go sky-diving tomorrow if I knew it wasn't going to be the end of me, maybe a little swimming in shark infested Australian waters, then again, maybe not.

How do you make a teen horror movie without an actual killer other than death itself. Using a premise that they thought up for an episode of X-files, Director James Wong and writer Glen Morgan took their talents to the big screen and created a very interesting movie.

Students of a French class have just boarded a plane France. When Alex (Devon Sawa, Idle Hands) has a premonition that the plane is going to explode. When he starts to actually live that experience, as the small details become reailty, he freaks out and rushes to get off the plane. In the ensuing hysteria, a group of students and a teacher are also escorted off.

In a matter of minutes, the students are witness to the plane explosion that Alex warned them about. They've all cheated death and they soon realise that death can't be cheated as they are popped off one by one. It's time for Alex and his friends Clear (Ali Larter), Carter (Kerr Smith, Dawsons Creek), Tod (Chad Donella) and Billy (Seann William Scott) to work out how to stay alive for as long as they can.

The fact that there is no actual killer is what gives the film it's edge. Anything from a shower clothes wire to a bus all take part in the killing spree as death uses anything and everything at its disposal to complete its task.

Whilst we've been accustomed to a barrage of excellent transfers from Village Roadshow, this one falls only marginally short of excellent. The minor fault is in the slight lack of deep blacks in favor of dark, dark blues with slight noise present.

On the plus side, this is another stellar image in terms of sharpness and color that provides an picture with excellent detail and an abundance of information for the interested observer. There are many scenes that 'splatter' the screen with reds that only DVD can produce

The audio also seems to have it's problems that mainly stem from the sound mix itself rather than the encoding. At times I had to crank up the volume (mains and center channel) to hear some of the dialogue which seemed to be recorded on the low side during many whisper quiet scenes. Not a very well balanced front stage at times here folks.

As for when the full 5.1 specturm is called upon, we receive a very lively soundtrack that enhances the chill and fright factor considerably. Most notable is the opening plane explosion that knocks the windows out in both the movie and your lounge room with some thundering bass. This initial boom is a precursor to the style and execution we can expect in the rest of the moments within the movie.

A good handful of extras are included here to cater for those of you who have more time on your hands than others.

• The Animated Menus used here are spooky to say the least and probably some of the coolest I've seen in a long time. Static these animations are not as there are a few different styles used making for a non-stale navigation interface. Great Stuff.
• An Audio Commentary is provided by Director James Wong, Producer Glen Morgan, Editor James Colbentz and Writer James Reddick. Whilst not all in the same room at the same time, they all provide a very interesting commentary that reveals many a hidden message, image or tid-bit in almost every major scene setup. This is exactly the kind of commentary that is needed for a movie like this.
• An Interview with Executives is a look at the process of performing test screenings and how they affect the final cut of the movie. Also included are snippets from some deleted scenes that audiences didn't quite click with.
• The afformentioned Deleted Scenes are 3 altogether based around Clears character as she falls pregnant and cheats death herself.
• A Feature on premonitions looks at the life of Pam Coronado who from an early age learnt that she had psychic ability as we learn of her skills being used in helping to solve murder cases.
• 2 Interactive Games are included: Psychic Eye provides the usual flash card guessing game as seen performed by Bill Murray in Ghostbusters. Death Clock is based around a series of questions about yourself that in the end determine your Date of Death. Many of you may have seen something similar on the Internet so it may be nothing new to most of you.
• Rounding out the extras are the usual Theatrical Trailer, Cast & Crew Biographies, the now standard Dolby Intro Trailer and a collection of DVD credits with no mention of Village Roadshow at all. Hmmph.

With the amount of teen Horror flicks coming out of late due to the resurgence that Scream brought to the genre, it's nice to see a fresh angle being taken rather than basing it around some supposed "Who dunnit" killer.

I liked this movie and it's premise but it seemed to get a little out of hand toward the end going a bit over the top in some of its situations. That aside, I recommend it for a rainy night in with friends.