It is rare for even the longest movie franchises by runtime to keep winning over fans across decades and generations. Even something so beloved as Star Wars has been heavily criticized in recent years, with many fans denouncing the sequel trilogy for being uncreative. However, a franchise keeping people invested enough to return to theaters for new installments isn’t rare.
Now, some movie franchises have reinvented themselves to remain successful, especially because experimental entries in the earlier phases didn’t do well with audiences. There are only so many times that a formula can be repeated exactly as you know it before a franchise starts feeling tired. Even television shows need to experiment if they don’t want to become soap operas.
The genre that can reliably reuse a winning formula because people enjoy the consequences of that formula and don’t care if there’s not much plot or lore left to explore is horror. Many of the best horror franchises with over five movies have found success with minimal change to their blueprints, but none have done it better than Final Destination.
The Final Destination Movie Has Stuck To Its Winning Formula
All Final Destination movies follow nearly the same exact structure and formula from the opening premonition to the last death. Someone gets a vision of a major accident and somehow manages to save themselves, along with a few others who believe them. However, the survivors soon start dying in the most unpredictable ways while trying to figure out the pattern.
The consistency with which this exact storyline has been repeated by the Final Destination franchise is genuinely shocking. While some details about the pattern of survivors dying and the means to cheat death have evolved over the years, even the basic lore hasn’t been reinvented much. Final Destination‘s appeal lies in the innovative deaths that terrify you in real life.
The Saw Movie Has Reinvented Its Lore Too Much
Another horror franchise with a striking similarity to Final Destination, especially the extent and nature of violence, and the blueprint they use, however, really struggled to stay afloat beyond the first few entries. The Saw franchise basically follows the latest victims of Jigsaw, a psychopath who puts immoral people in death traps, as they try to survive his impossible designs.
However, the frustrating plot holes in the Saw movie franchise can disrupt your immersion because the movies spend time on developing plot points that lead nowhere and unnecessarily retcon facts from previous installments. It’s impossible to even care about the recurring characters, because the side plot evolves into a boring police procedural, detracting from the thrill of the Jigsaw traps.
Final Destination Did Not Overstay Its Welcome
The reason we all remember Final Destination so fondly despite a couple of the movies being significantly worse than the first installment, is that it didn’t forcefully continue beyond a point. Final Destination 5 was the best in the franchise when it ended back in 2011, proving that it found the best point to leave viewers with mostly good memories.
This is precisely why Final Destination Bloodlines was so highly anticipated and shocked everyone by being so good. It reinvents the lore just enough to entice a new target demographic while still retaining the same basic formula, so loyal fans feel welcome as well. Horror was the best genre of 2025, and Final Destination Bloodlines is part of the reason.
Even Saw Has A Winning Formula That Is Easy To Reuse
I was truly shocked by how good Saw X was, despite my very low expectations of it. It did something I had stopped hoping for. It removed all the boring details about the police investigation that hadn’t made sense since the fifth film anyway, and instead brought back John Kramer as the main character after years, by being a prequel.
Just showing Kramer meting out his version of moral justice by putting people in cruel traps, the Saw films could have remained simple and entertained viewers the same amount as they have. I’d argue they’d be better movies if they dropped the convoluted investigation plotline and kept Jigsaw alive, because the real appeal is watching the victims in their traps.
Saw X proves that Saw also has a formula it can successfully reuse, like Final Destination,without feeling stale. The reason is also the same. As long as Jigsaw’s traps remain thrilling and cruel, and his victims have varying degrees of survival instinct, we’ll be entertained. Ask any casual fan, and they don’t even remember much beyond their favorite traps.
The Future Looks Bright For Both Franchises
It seemed like, despite giving us the highest-rated Saw movie, the planned sequel to Saw X wouldn’t see the light of day. But since Blumhouse now owns the rights to the Saw franchise, there’s some hope the sequel will happen as planned, continuing in the past with more stories about Jigsaw, away from forgettable characters introduced in older installments.
While it remains to be seen if Saw 11 will happen, the other franchise’s future is beyond secure. Final Destination Bloodlines is the highest rated Final Destination movie, and it has revived interest in it, even finding a new generation of fans. It’s also sparked conversations about growing the franchise further, with at least one sequel already in the works.
- Created by
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Jeffrey Reddick
- Cast
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Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Tony Todd, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, A.J. Cook, Michael Landes, Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher
“Final Destination” is a horror franchise known for its unique premise centered around the inevitability of death. Each installment typically follows a group of individuals who escape a catastrophic accident due to a premonition experienced by one member of the group. However, Death, unwilling to be cheated, begins to claim the survivors in a series of increasingly elaborate and gruesome accidents. The franchise has gained a cult following for its inventive death scenes, tension-building storytelling, and the overarching theme that death is unavoidable.
- Movie(s)
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Saw (2004), Saw 2 (2005), Saw 3 (2006), Saw 4 (2007), Saw 5 (2008), Saw 6 (2009), Saw 3D (2010), Jigsaw (2017), Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021), Saw X (2023)
The Saw film franchise is an anthology of horror films centered around the Jigsaw Killer, a mastermind who crafts elaborate traps to test his victims’ will to live. Victims, often morally flawed, are forced into gruesome games where they must inflict severe pain on themselves or others to survive.
