Resurrections aren’t really a thing in the world of the Final Destination franchise – once you’re dead (usually as a result of some gory freak accident), you stay dead. Very dead. That same ethos seemed to apply to the franchise itself, long dormant since 2011’s Final Destination 5, but now it’s back from beyond the grave in Final Destination: Bloodlines.

Bloodlines initially kicks things off in typical Final Destination fashion (the inciting carnage this time the result of a collapsing luxury observation tower), but it doesn’t take long for directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein to subvert audience expectations with a series of small but important deviations from the established formula that was set up five films prior. Almost immediately blindsiding viewers with little tricks and surprise conceits that the franchise has never attempted before, the filmmakers display a talent and perverse glee at messing with our heads throughout, and the result is a movie laden with pure, adrenaline charged tension.

It’s when this tension reaches boiling point and explodes in the form of imaginative blood-soaked fatalities that things really come alive. This is a Final Destination film after all – we’re here for the death and splatter, and boy, does this one deliver! A sick sense of humour pervades throughout, oft-times nihilistic and almost bordering on perverse, but never short of entertaining. The inventive death sequences are gnarly in the best possible way, with a particular incident involving an MRI machine setting out its stall as a new franchise best, whilst similar instances of Rube Goldberg engineered doom featuring fire extinguishers, footballs and ceiling fans prove just as twisted and hilarious.

All of these sequences live or die (!) on their execution though. Here, the confident direction from Lipovsky and Stein, combined with masterful editing by Sabrina Pitre and brilliant musical choices from composer Tim Wynn and music supervisor Andrea von Foerster, delivers the goods and then some, with inventive set-ups, shots and cuts which ramp up the thrills to maximum. The film’s CGI isn’t always quite up to snuff, with some key moments appearing like a full-on cartoon at times, but the film still delivers the shocks and awe despite this setback, thanks to expertly realised sequences of pure raining gore!

Bloodlines also avoids the obvious pitfall from its predecessors by introducing victims you actually care about. Kaitlyn Santa Juana gives a great lead performance as the clairvoyant college student Stefani, and has us fully invested in her quest for survival from the word go, whilst other characters on Death’s hit-list prove equally worthy of our sympathy (not all, but some). This certainly adds some dramatic weight to proceedings, and whilst it’s enormously fun seeing the annoying individuals get their comeuppance, it also helps to have some emotional attachment in order to really up the pressure – something which Bloodlines does with ease thanks to excellent ensemble performances and a solid script full of neat character beats. The highlight of the entire film in this respect is the bittersweet cameo from the late great Tony Todd, which not only serves a narrative purpose for the main characters, but also brings the movie and his ominous character’s story full circle in an interesting and surprisingly heartfelt way.

Most resurrections prove to be underwhelming at best, but Final Destination: Bloodlines proves there’s plenty of life in this long-running franchise despite years of banality and inactivity. A confident return to form, it’s entertaining and depraved in all the best possible ways, and worthy of the best the franchise has previously offered. It’s fair to say this film series has certainly cheated death on this occasion – here’s hoping the Reaper won’t be back to collect for some considerable time!

Final Destination: Bloodlines open in UK and Irish cinemas on 14th May