‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ producers feared there was too much “gore” in the film – but test audiences asked for more.
Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein admitted the latest installment of the horror franchise has a “high body count” but in response to studio concerns, they included “everything they wanted” in a test screening cut, and viewers unexpectedly insisted it wasn’t bloody enough.
Lipovsky explained to SFX magazine: “They test the directors’ cut with an audience to see what’s working and what isn’t, so we put in all the gore and the kills and everything we wanted.
"The audience loved it and asked for even more.”
Stein added: “That’s related to how tastes have changed in the last decade or so.
“As far as gore goes, there was a lot more squeamishness before.
"When they tested movies in the past,t he scores would often go down if it was too gory.
“In the case of ‘Bloodlines’ it was the opposite.”
The directors believe the “sense of fun” in the ‘Final Destination’ series is one of the key reasons why such graphic deaths are accepted.
Lipovsky said: “There’s a big sense of fun in ‘Final Destination’ and there’s a great sense of humour to it.
“Death has a sense of humour in these movies. Death is trying to have the most fun possible in organizing these people’s deaths.
“As you’re watching a movie through your fingers, you have a huge smile on your face.
“With the gore comes a laugh. That was our North Star for the experience we were trying to create.”
The filmmakers also teased that circles are an important symbol in ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’.
Stein said: “Every death pretty much relates to a circle of some kind.
“The restaurant building is circular. There’s a circular dance floor. The trampoline is circular. In the tattoo parlour, there’s a giant neon circle.
“Basically, circles are used as a symbol. It’s an aesthetic that super nerds like us might notice and it’s something we had a lot of delight in implementing in the film as a subconscious message.
“It also has to do with eyes and irises, which are a big visual metaphor that the films pull on.”
