Hey, This Rules! - Final Destination 5's Opening Credits

In 2011, a horror sequel dared to ask "What if our title sequence was just spectacularly cool?"

Welcome to the first installment of a new “when it feels appropriate” column, HEY, THIS RULES!, which will focus on some random part of pop culture that I feel is worthy of praise. It could be a standout scene in an otherwise bad or forgettable movie, a stellar performance that isn’t talked about enough, or a strong TV series that few have heard of… Or, in this case, the opening credits of the fifth installment in a long-running horror franchise.

I decided to go for a bit of branding on this one after spending the past week slowly becoming rather obsessed with the opening credits to Final Destination 5, a movie I’d only seen once before, in a theater back in 2011, until this month. But recently, we’ve been going through the entire series on the We Enjoy Podcast, and revisiting Final Destination 5 after fourteen years made me realize, “Hey, this rules!” That partially goes for the movie itself, which is a really fun entry in the series — and a notable return to form after the incredibly weak fourth installment — but especially for the film’s truly awesome opening credit sequence.

Final Destination 5, like its predecessor, was originally released in 3D, back when that was all the rage. One thing that really impresses me about these credits is that they were clearly designed to make a big visual impact in 3D, yet still hold up on their own as spectacular visuals even without that element - as opposed to the “look at this crazy in your face 3D moment!” that always is usually just goofy at home, minus the 3D (something the fourth Final Destination is filled with).

The concept in this credit sequence is that we are seeing various instruments of Death itself that were used in the previous four movies, as characters met their elaborate, Rube Goldberg-evoking ends. Except here, these objects are hurtling at the camera — which is to say, hurtling at us — and in the process shattering both the names of the cast and crew and a wall of glass, representative of the screen we’re watching on. Obviously, familiarity with the history of this series adds a whole extra fun layer to this, because then you can recall exactly how items like a fan, barb wire, a tea kettle, prosthetic arms, a tire, and a log played a part in the gruesome demise of a Final Destination character. But I think even if you don’t know these movies at all, this just looks damn cool!

And that score! Composer Brian Tyler really delivered something appropriately operatic and bombastic here and I love the crescendo it builds to, with the final moments leading to the fast paced montage and overlay of the previous images (and accompanying exploding cast and crew member names) we’ve seen so far.

So yeah, my rewatch of the movie had me suddenly fixated on how great these credits were, and I’ve now watched just this sequence a few times the past few days (look, that’s just how I can get with these things).

I assumed that the entire sequence was all created digitally, which wasn’t a knock, since I loved it, but researching who exactly made the opening credits brought me to Prologue Films, a studio who has created memorable and dynamic opening and closing credit sequences for a ton of big titles, including MCU films, Star Trek series, and much more. And Prologue actually offers some insight into how the Final Destination 5 credits were made on their website, explaining the following:

Shot in stereo, using the Phantom camera, Prologue shot live action in Mabel’s Basement at the historic Mack Sennett Studios for Final Destination 5. In the first four films of the franchise, projectiles caused nearly all of the deaths. Derived from this recurring theme, the goal of this title sequence was to have projectiles “shooting” towards the audience. The production crew utilized an on-location trap door, and rigged the camera under the floor, looking up. With a mounted plexiglass panel protecting the camera, the crew assembled layers of glass above, enabling them to throw objects through the glass, at the lens, providing the shattering effect seen in the opening for the fifth installment of the series.

So surprise, surprise, there’s actually a lot of practical imagery in there - most notably with the glass and the beautiful and evocative visuals it creates as it shatters. I assume a healthy amount of digital enhancement was at play here as well, but the, ahem, final result is something truly spectacular.

Giving credit where credit is due, I should note that, conceptually, the approach to Final Destination 5’s credits are a spin on the terrific opening credits from the fourth movie, The Final Destination, which also took us down memory lane for the franchise. Truly, the only standout part of that particular movie is those credits, created by PIC Agency, and how they recreated the actual moments of death from the earlier films using an appropriately macabre take on X-ray vision.

But as strong as those credits were, I’d still say the Final Destination 5 opening credits wins out. They’re just so exciting and creative and make an impact all on their own, cementing their place not just the best title sequence in this franchise but, honestly, as one of the all-time great title sequences in movie history.

Yeah, I said it! Come fight me!

…or maybe just argue with me on the internet. That’s actually the preferable approach.