FINAL DESTINATION

FINAL DESTINATION

Directed by James Wong. Starring Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke

A relentless, blood-soaked grand-guignol bombardment of cheapo SFX-on-genocidal-rampage destruction, Final Destination boasts one of the worst scripts of all time, but it's an inordinate amount of fun, shining from start to finish with an idiotic magnificence reminiscent of Ed Wood (almost).

A gothic Scream-derived teen caper featuring a gang of apple-pie teens so wholesome and shabbily-scripted they would disgrace a bad episode of Dawson's Creek, the film marries dodgy soap-opera melodrama with a ruthless generic imperative to have its protagonists horrendously butchered, and the result is every bit as compelling as it sounds.

Penned and directed by the X-Files team, Final Destination's plot runs thus: all-American teen everyman Alex (Dewon Sawa, a winning combination of wide-eyed earnestness and utter talentlessness) suffers a traumatic freak-out on an aeroplane bound for a school-trip to France, when he has a premonition of a mid-air explosion.

A scuffle ensues and seven people are ejected from the flight, while the remainder are left to perish in a fiery wreck. This leads to a scenario whereby Death is relentlessly chasing the seven survivors - as they have cheated death once, it will seek them out in increasingly ingenious ways.

Cue death by microwave, death by dishwasher, death by kettle, death by blade, death by exploding PC, death by bus, death by shower-hose - all executed in hilariously inept fashion, while the soundtrack spews forth an incessant barrage of John Denver songs.

Whether intentionally or otherwise, the movie piles both comic-and shock-value on to the point where you find yourself lapping up every second. The bone-stupidity of the script invites any number of unintentional laughs, and sits perfectly well with the vacuity of the movie's central characters - they're a bunch you're quite happy to see dispatched, and the household-objects-turn-nasty moments are truly unforgettable.

Inventive, hilarious, and devoid of the faintest trace of seriousness, Final Destination is such a goof that you even end up forgiving it for its script.