The Firelight Shocks DVD Review Section

Final Destination Distributor: Entertainment in Video Region: 2 Ratio: 1:85:1 (Enhanced, and incorrectly labelled as 16.9 on the box) Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 (Stereo)

More post-modern horror thrills, this time featuring a handful of high school students who survive a plane crash when one of them (Devon Sawa) has a horrible premonition about the aircraft coming back down to earth with a bang! However, instead of kissing Sawa's blessed butt, the majority of the surviving pupils instead choose to avoid him as they view him as a 'warlock'. Alas, this is not true and it becomes evident that the pupils have in fact 'cheated death' and, as a result, death is forced to hunt them down and pick them off one by one. What we have here is essentially a supernatural slasher flick, and I loved it in the cinema (save for two middle aged women bantering away to one another throughout). Suffice to say though that this is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. For those of you who felt that the 'ironic' late nineties horror revival was a kick in the nuts for any self respecting video nasty collector, you'll probably want to keep the curtains closed and settle back down on your settee for an umpteenth viewing of SS Experiment Camp. For anyone out there who welcomed the chance to see genre films on the big screen for the first time in ages, you'll probably have a fondness for the big budget popcorn thrills that Final Destination supplies in abundance. There are some really classic moments in this: from the now infamous 'bus' scene to the final 'whošs next', Final Destination is one horror film that is likely to be remembered, and talked about, for some time to come. As you can tell, I really liked this film and I was happy to add it to my DVD collection. My only big complaint is that the bit with Tony Todd is shit and almost embarrassing to watch ­ but this is a minor complaint when, for the most part, this movie plays as the best stalker film since Scream. In closing, it is probably worth noting that this movie is not advisable viewing for anyone planning on taking a flight. Yet... if you coupled Final Destination with Cast Away on an in flight movie double bill I'm sure it would cause at least a couple of heart attacks.

The Disc: It's a jam-packed release for this film, however at least one of the features didn't interest me too much. The documentary on a woman who can foresee real life murders (and who has helped the police in such matters) is all a bit Channel 5 for my liking, and one is always tempted to leap into denial at such far fetched 'facts'. Still, she seems very convincing and it will probably be of interest to those who have a genuine interest in real life psychics. It just doesn't add anything to the film. There is also the original theatrical trailer, information on the cast and crew and a commentary track from the director, producer and one of the screenwriters. They don't tend to say much (or anything) about their influences, and instead stick to describing the action on screen and how things came to be shot and how long they took to be shot. Relatively humdrum stuff in other words... You also get a host of deleted scenes that would have changed the movie entirely! Are they any good? Well let's just say that the 'alternative ending' finishes the film on a sour note and features really sloppy moralising and some of the heaviest handed sentimentality this side of an episode of Neighbours. The best feature on the disc is definitely a ten minute feature about test screenings, where Bob Shaye and company at New Line Cinema go over why they decided to film a new ending to Final Destination (they did right). This had me in stitches because it is so unexpectedly funny! The audience writes answers like: Question: What would make the movie better? Answer: More pussy. Question: How would you describe this movie? Answer: Gay. Question: What scene did you like best? Answer: The porno scene (Note ­ there isnšt even any mild nudity!) All of these are read out by a pissed off looking studio executive (one audience member even writes something like titgorebloodtitsgoretit on his test form). Hilarious stuff folks! As for your other extras ­ you can entertain yourself by trying to guess cards to see if you too are a psychic, and if you feel morbid you can answer questions about your general health and see how long you're going to live. This doesn't really work though because if it's true I'll be dead in about five years (is there something I don't know?). The norm with blockbuster movies is that they look and sound fantastic. No exception here then ­ the anamorphic widescreen transfer is sharp and clean, whilst the sound (and especially the plane explosion) should fill up your living room without any problem.