Chekhov’s Screw: The Single Most Excruciating Death Sequence in the Entire ‘Final Destination’ Franchise
In our subjective opinion, this is the one scene in the Final Destination franchise that is almost unbearable to watch.
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In anticipation of the upcoming sixth Final Destination film, Final Destination: Bloodlines, we ranked the nine gnarliest deaths in the franchise. Candice Hooper’s gymnastics death in Final Destination 5 is one of them. In our subjective opinion, this is the one scene in the Final Destination franchise that is almost unbearable to watch.
The scene
In Final Destination 5, Candice Hooper (Ellen Wroe) was accompanying her boyfriend to his office retreat when their lives were saved from a bridge collapse by another character’s premonition. However, Death comes back around for those who escape it and Candice is later killed during a freak gymnastics practice accident. This happens when a screw falls from a ceiling fan and lands upright on the balance beam. Candice escapes stepping on it herself, but when a teammate does land on it, she tips over a chalk stand while Candice is mid-routine on the uneven bars. Candice’s surprised dismount appears to cause her instant death by snapping her in half, with her legs landing over her head.
The scene is age-restricted on YouTube, but you can view it here.
What makes this scene so excruciating to watch?
We know what’s coming. The audience knows someone is going to step on the screw. We know Candice is very likely going to die. However, it takes an agonizing two minutes from the time the screw lands on the balance beam for someone to step on it, and that suspense is agony.
In our ranking of the gnarliest deaths in the franchise, Candice’s death doesn’t even nab the top spot. This is because the gnarliest death scene involves a man’s internal organs being sucked out of his anus by a pool drain. That death is worse overall because it involved the character’s struggle for oxygen and prolonged awareness of imminent death while Candice appears to have died instantly after her gymnastics fall. Also, while similar pool suction-drain injuries happen in real life, they aren’t widely known about. The danger of stepping on a sharp object, however, is a concept everyone in the audience can immediately recognize (and dread).
Watching for two minutes while we wait for someone to step on the screw in Candice’s big scene is what makes it so unbearable. This is why the gymnastic’s scene is more successful than the pool drain injury, even though the former is a worse way to go. We can’t stand to watch that simple, familiar pain we know is coming.
We’ll see if any of the death sequences in Final Destination: Bloodlines tops Candice’s death scene when it hits theaters this Friday, May 16.
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