Posted in: Horror, Movies, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros | Tagged: final destination, Final Destination: Bloodlines

Final Destination: Bloodlines Stars on RV Scene, Unconventional Horror

Final Destination: Bloodline stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones & Rya Kihlstedt spoke to Bleeding Cool about RV, franchise horror & more.

When anyone signs up to be part of the Final Destination franchise, all bets are typically off as an unconventional horror franchise as there is no physical face or form our victims can allude to as the antagonist is Death itself. In the latest film, Bloodlines, Kailtyn Santa Juana plays Stefani Reyes, who discovers a curse that Iris (Brec Bassinger) managed to hold at bay after a fateful night where she cheated Death from its owed souls as she averted disaster after a premonition got her to act and save everyone at a wedding dance before the tower collapsed. Decades later, Stefani visits her grandmother, Iris (Gabrielle Rose), and finds herself in a similar situation where she has to warn her family from imminent danger when Death comes collecting. Santa Juana, Teo Briones, who plays Stefani's brother Charlie Reyes; and Rya Kihlstedt, who plays Stefani's estranged mother Darlene Campbell, spoke to Bleeding Cool on whether they had to change how they approached the film since the franchise doesn't fall within typical horror conventions, working with the late Tony Todd, who reprised his role from the original as William Bludworth; their RV scene, and if the actors became paranoid themselves from the potential death scenarios.

Final Destination: Bloodlines Stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, and Kya Kihlstedt on Trying to Escape Death

Bleeding Cool: When you decided to sign on to the 'Final Destination' franchise, did you guys have to rewire your brains as actors as far as your approach to horror, since you don't have anything physically chasing you in a conventional sense with Death?

Santa Juana: I will say, as far as being a fan of the horror genre and this franchise in general, you must rewire your thinking, "You're in it now." You're not a fan watching it from the outside, so you must do a little rewiring because when you're in such a high-stakes environment, you don't have to… I mean, it's so easy to watch a horror movie and be like "Don't go through that door!" Because you're not dealing with the stakes of that environment. It's never that easy when you're like in it. It's hard to think on your feet that fast. There's the whole fight-or-flight aspect of it, too. There's so much more to work with.

Kihlstedt: And there's something about having Death be an entity that is ever-present in this, and that is what makes this genre special and stand-alone.

What was it like filming your group scene with Tony Todd, and what was he like on set?

Kihstedt: He was a kind and lovely, gentle giant. We all spent a day with him on set in his presence, sharing stories. He was a kind, really lovely man.

What sequence stood out to you guys? I was thinking about the one when you guys were in that RV.

Briones: Yeah, like the water stuff in the RV, that was really difficult, physically and mentally.

Kihlstedt: Mentally as well

Briones: Exhausting stuff, because this is a very action-heavy movie.

Kihlstedt: It's a very action-forward movie, and you don't really think that it is until you have to like be in there doing it. The rest of the RV stuff was a blast. It felt like we were going on vacation.

Briones: The RV without the water was awesome.

Kihlstedt: There was this one day, we were just sitting in there. They were doing Richard [Harmon] and Owen's [Patrick Joyner] coverage, and they were just improvising. I almost had to leave, because I was like, "I can't be in this right now, I'm going to ruin all of their takes, I'm giggling so hard, yeah, those were fun." It's a great cast, we kept each other on our toes, and made each other laugh.

Do you guys ever find yourselves just a little bit paranoid, like "What could happen?" A lot of that stuff is sort of plausible sequences, even if a lot goes to cartoonish in ways, but do you think about, "Well, maybe I shouldn't go out of the house today?"

Kihlstedt: Look, I like to think about it as Rube Goldberg, not cartoonish. It's a treasure map, right? There's a map that may or may not take you where you think you're going. It's smartly thought through.

Santa Juana: I used to think that things could have been thought of as cartoonish until one day, I was wearing jeans and I was walking through. Do you know the belt loops on jeans? I was walk through a doorway and one of my belt loops got stuck to a door handle, and I like, "Oh, anything, like this small hole, anything can happen at any time." So yes, I'm paranoid.

I want to thank you three for joining me, and you guys are great and wonderful in the film. Wishing you nothing but the best. I also have to give a quick shout out to you, Rya, because it must have felt like some Deja vu after like 'Home Alone 3' [Rya bends over laughing] when filming 'Final Destination: Bloodlines'.

New Line and Warner Bros. ' Final Destination: Bloodlines, which also stars Anna Lore, is currently in theaters.

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