Hold onto your hats, horror fans, because John Waters, the Pope of Trash himself, has spoken, and his favorite horror film of 2025 is a sequel you might not expect! Yes, you read that right. Final Destination: Bloodlines has earned a coveted spot on Waters' annual best-of list, published by Vulture, coming in as his second favorite film of the year.
Waters, known for his love of all things wonderfully weird and wonderfully wicked, calls Final Destination: Bloodlines "the best sequel to the coolest cinematic franchise ever." He raves about its "ferocious, fractured, and filled with so many scary, twisted surprises," declaring that the film "goes beyond trash into a new realm of exploitation art."
But what makes this sequel so special? In Final Destination: Bloodlines, a college student finds herself trapped in a terrifying, recurring nightmare. She must race against time to find the one person who can break the cycle and save her family from a gruesome fate. This premise alone is enough to send shivers down your spine, isn't it?
The film is directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, the duo behind Freaks, from a script penned by Guy Busick (of Scream 2022 and Scream VI fame) and Lori Evans Taylor. The cast includes Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, and the late Tony Todd.
And this is the part most people miss... The sixth installment in the Final Destination franchise has already become the series' highest-grossing entry, raking in over $315 million at the worldwide box office! That's a huge success, and it's no surprise that a sequel is already in development, with Michiel Blanchart (Night Call) in talks to direct from a script by Taylor.
Waters' top pick for the year was Arti Aster's satirical pandemic western thriller, Eddington, with Waters humorously stating, "If you don’t like this film, I hate you." The rest of Waters' favorites include Dag Johan Haugerud’s Oslo trilogy, Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt, Mathias Broe’s Sauna, Dennis Cooper & Zac Farley’s Room Temperature, Alain Guiraudie’s Misericordia, François Ozon’s When Fall Is Coming, Mariska Hargitay’s My Mom Jayne, and Bruno Dumont’s The Empire.
But here's where it gets controversial... Could a Final Destination sequel truly be considered a work of 'exploitation art'? What do you think? Does Waters' endorsement make you more or less likely to check it out? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
