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Susan Granger's review of "FINAL DESTINATION" (New Line Cinema)
There's a difference between spooky and scary. Spooky refers to things that are ghostly, weird and/or eerie, while scary involves fright, panic and/or terror. Precognition can be both. The story begins as a jittery teenager (Devon Sawa) prepares to fly to Paris with members of his Long Island high-school French class. Suddenly, inexplicably, before the plane takes off, he has a premonition of doom. Screaming that there will be a crash, he freaks out and is escorted off the aircraft, along with six of his friends. When the plane does take off it, there is, indeed, an explosion. Why were these seven survivors spared? That's a question that gnaws not only at Sawa and his cohorts but also at FBI agents who have been alerted to the bizarre coincidence. So there are deep philosophical questions to be answered, like: How does one escape from Death? Can you ever cheat fate? Won't it catch up with you - one way or another? Without doubt, the first few minutes of the film are the best - after that, well, this heavy-handed Death-as-a-slasher tale was made for a teenage audience by James Wong and Glen Morgan, two TV veterans who wrote for The X-Files, The Others and Millennium, along with Jeffrey Reddick. They know how to eliminate characters in shocking, not to mention unusual, circumstances. So prepare yourself for graphic gore, black humor and some of the dumbest dialogue ever spoken. Trivia note: several characters are named for horror favorites of the past, like Chaney, Hitchcock, Todd Browning (Dracula), and Val Lewton (I Walked With A Zombie). On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Final Destination is a grim, supernatural 4, packaged with a warning that hearing John Denver sing "Rocky Mountain High" can be mysteriously ominous.
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