There are very few people unfamiliar with the Final Destination movies at this point. The long-running horror series has given most of us irrational fears of airplanes, roller coasters, and most of all, logging trucks. I don’t know if there’s higher praise I can give than to say I still get nervous whenever one of those trucks pulls in front of me on the highway. The films, and the impractical, over-the-top deaths within them, are downright iconic. Admittedly, that’s a lot for the newest entry, Bloodlines, to live up to. While it’s not even remotely on the same level as the first few installments, it manages just fine.

For those who have somehow avoided learning about this series until now, the Final Destination movies all follow groups of characters that survive horrible accidents thanks to a premonition that one of them has, allowing them to save themselves and their friends. Death, however, doesn’t like people messing with its design, and comes for each of the survivors one by one, killing them off in gruesome freak accidents.

Bloodlines follows mostly the same formula, though with the twist that the original accident actually took place decades before, with main character Stefani’s (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) grandmother Iris (Brec Bassinger) having a premonition that saved hundreds of lives. Since then, Death has been slowly hunting down those survivors and killing them, as well as their families that were never supposed to be born in the first place. With all the other surviving families taken care of, it is finally time for Death to turn its attention to Iris and her clan.

It's a fresh, fun take on the mythos that actually deepens the lore of the series a good bit. This group of characters is also one of my favorites in the franchise. Part of that is that they’re all family, meaning they don’t have to hunt each other down and convince potential victims to trust them. They are all together at the beginning and already know one another. This trims a lot of fat from the movie and gives us some great dynamics between the characters. Stefani works well as the lead, and there are good performances to go around. In particular, I really enjoyed Richard Harmon as cousin Erik. He’s funny and engaging, and Harmon gives a weirdly nuanced performance, something the series isn’t exactly known for.

The kills that thin out the great cast are also of the quality we’ve come to expect from these films. They are inventive, clever, and memorable, though the gore and effects do look a little less polished than usual. It’s not so bad that it detracts much from the overall product, but it is noticeable.

Where Bloodlines falls a bit flat isn’t actually in anything it does, but rather what it doesn’t do. First, the opening sequence showing Iris as a young woman and the catastrophe she prevents is so good that it’s honestly disappointing that the movie isn’t just about her. The whole thing could have just been set in 1968, and I would have been invested. There’s nothing wrong with cutting to modern day, but every time the original survivors got brought up, I couldn’t help but wish I could have watched their story instead.

It also feels like some good ideas got cut from the movie. For instance, it’s revealed early on that Stefani is very smart, and can actually piece together exactly how death is going to kill someone. She can see the design. It’s a fantastic ability for the character to have, one that opens up tons of possibilities for the story, and it is promptly never used a single time for the rest of the film. Stefani isn’t even around for several of the deaths. It’s just a missed opportunity and wasted potential.

Still, if a Final Destination movie has fun and ridiculous kills, and Bloodlines certainly does, then it’s silly to nitpick flaws with the story. This movie knows what it is, knows what people expect of it, and it delivers. It’s no masterpiece, and it doesn’t always live up to all of its predecessors, but it’s a perfectly fine addition to a franchise that doesn’t seem to be dying anytime soon.