The best horror movies evoke real fears in us and leave us thinking about them long after the credits roll. And there’s one 23-year-old sequel that perfectly demonstrates this, as it plays on a scenario drivers are likely to encounter in their day-to-day lives. It makes it so one scene will always be lingering in the back of their minds, though it’s not a situation most considered prior to seeing the 2003 film.
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And the iconic scene isn’t the only example of this happening in the series it stems from (though it’s certainly the most memorable). Many examples like it came together to form one of the best horror franchises of the 21st century. It’s one thing to take distant concepts like ghosts and serial killers and make them chilling on-screen. However, getting viewers to think twice about seemingly small occurrences in their everyday lives is a whole other talent — and it’s one that the Final Destination movies excel at.
Final Destination 2 Debuted 23 Years Ago & Gave Us a Real-Life Fear
One of the most unforgettable moments from the entire Final Destination franchise opens the second movie, which debuted 23 years ago today. Final Destination 2 has plenty of grim deaths, but the most horrifying sequence involves a logging truck. (And if you’ve seen the movie, you’re now probably nodding along.) The inciting incident of the film sees Kimberly Corman driving on the highway with her friends — just before she foresees a massive pile-up. And the thing that causes it is a malfunction so minor and believable, it’s more horrifying because of it: the chains holding the logs together on a logging truck break, causing the wooden trunks to fly out and hit other drivers.
Seeing the perspective of police officer Thomas Burke, who dies via a log smashing through his windshield in Kimberly’s vision, makes it all the more frightening. Watching the crash will almost certainly make viewers give logging trucks a wide berth in real life after. It’s impossible not to think of this scene when passing one, making this the best example of Final Destination‘s franchise-wide strength. Most people had never given thought to this happening, but now it’s impossible not to.
Final Destination 2’s Log Scene Is the Best Example of a Franchise-Wide Strength
Final Destination‘s logging truck scene is an iconic moment from the franchise, and it’s the strongest example of how it weaves fear into aspects of our everyday lives. Whether you’re still traumatized from the first movie’s plane explosion or afraid of tanning beds after Final Destination 3, the series forces us to see the possibility of death in nearly everything. This continues into Final Destination Bloodlines, which kills its characters with piercings in an MRI machine, vending machines, and lawnmowers. These are objects many of us interact with in real life, and that’s part of what makes the horror franchise so effective.
Which Final Destination deaths have left you the most shaken? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Image courtesy of Tor Books/Macmillan -
Official art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme
