This 1984 Classic is Even Scarier than ‘Final Destination’—And It’s Streaming Now
The Final Destination series is ingenious. Sure, the series has settled into a rhythm it hasn’t really iterated upon since 2000. But the conceit of dodging death, only for death to subsequently hunt down those it deems cheaters, is no less compelling now than it was when the franchise—once a The X-Files spec script—first premiered. On the heels of another new entry, the deliciously titled Final Destination: Bloodlines, why not revisit horror’s history of protagonists dodging death time and time again?
Oz Perkins’ The Monkey is undoubtedly the most recent example of random, Rube Goldberg-style deaths, and it was an unqualified success because of that. Dutch sensation The Lift isn’t quite Final Destination, though its haunted, killer elevator sure does operate like it’s working off death’s list. What about last year’s Witchboard?
Yet, the true star of the show remains Thom Eberhardt’s Sole Survivor, now streaming on AMC+.
Per AMC+: After inexplicably surviving a plane crash, Denise comes to learn that she should have died when the unseen specter of death starts sending its minions, people who have recently died, to collect her.
Sole Survivor is incredible, and so is that modern trailer. Truly. It was a random watch, a movie I’d never heard of whose plot seemed enticing enough to give a whirl. And, well, it changed my life. It’s an early template for the Final Destination formula, though more concerned with Carnival of Souls walking corpses than freak accidents, with a terrifying undercurrent of a life not earned. It’s terrifying because of that.
In our review of a physical release back in 2008, we not only argued the film was just a little better than Final Destination, but additionally wrote, “Sole Survivor shares a thematic difference with the Final Destination franchise, but death’s methods here are a little more ghastly and not designed around the orchestrated facade of chance.”
It’s tonally similar and mechanically different, though no less effective. If you’re a fan of the Final Destination series, you’ve got to check Sole Survivor out.
What do you think? Have you seen Sole Survivor before? If not, any plans to check the film out on streaming? Let me know what you think over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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