159. Final Destination

Laci and Matt are broadcasting to you from a cabin in the woods, where they're eating canned cat food with oven mitts, trying to dodge that pesky Grim Reaper. But the rats need their cheese, so here’s a new episode about Final Destination (2000). (You’re the rat, I guess.)

It’s the movie that launched one of the great horror franchises. A franchise that Matt posits is Friday the 13th for the decade of the 2000s. This series has it all: Primitive cell phones! Internet research on big ole computers! And nu-metal, nu-metal, nu-metal.

And it all started here, with this movie that began life as an X-Files spec script and, even in its final form, has forgotten to take the X-Files out. That’s not a bad thing.

Next week: Wayne’s World (1992)

Bonus Video: We suggest scenarios we’d like to see in future FInal Destination sequels. Check it out on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! patreon.com/loadbearingbeams 

Time stamps:

00:01:28 — Our personal histories with the FInal Destination franchise

00:13:00 — History segment: How Final Destination began as an X-Files spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, and instead was turned into a feature film helmed by X-Files writers James Wong and Glen Morgan 

00:28:52 — In-depth movie discussion

01:28:25 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Sources:

“Final Destination: the definitive oral history by the people who made it” by Ian Sandwell | Digital Spy (2022) - https://bit.ly/43cBq4w 

“How Final Destination Went From Real-Life Premonition to Horror Phenomenon” by Jack Beresford | Den of Geek (2021) - https://bit.ly/4jPo0T4 

Final Destination press kit (2000) - https://bit.ly/4kfcTmg 

“Devon Sawa: ‘I had to smoke pot in movies and be in a hip-hop video to get away from Casper’” by Rachel Brodsky | The Independent (2022) - https://bit.ly/3GQ3sLU 

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM

“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

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