If the Final Destination series has shown audiences anything, it's that the Grim Reaper works in mysterious ways. Take any everyday situation, even going to the movies for example. Let's say you buy a ticket for When a Stranger Calls. Unfortunately, one of the employees left a mess in the auditorium after mopping, so some water seeps over to an electrical plug that starts a fire, which in turn burns up to the ventilation system, starts melting some of the tubes, and sends the whole thing crashing down on the seats below.You escape by heading through the exit, only to be plowed into by a truck speeding through the parking lot.

That's the sort of world Final Destination movies inhabit, where no death is simple or without a few shades of gruesome inventiveness. Of course, this whole scenario could be avoided by buying -- instead -- a ticket to Final Destination 3, a much more creative and entertaining horror film than the genre disappointments crowding multiplexes these days.

As with its two predecessors, Final Destination 3 begins with the premonition of a horrible accident. High school senior Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is hanging out with a bunch of friends at a last-blast graduation party taking place at a carnival. But while her buddies are geared up to take on the mighty Devil's Flight rollercoaster, Wendy has a terrifying vision of the ride taking a turn for the violent, causing the passengers to meet grisly ends via derailment, falling to their doom, and good, old-fashioned dismemberment. Her rantings convince a handful of people to get off the ride -- right before the ghastly vision becomes a reality before their very eyes.

Sadly, the kids barely have time to grieve before Death itself returns to do away with the souls who escaped its grasp. Be it through overheated tanning beds, nail guns, or an unfortunate accident at a drive-thru window, Wendy sees her classmates fall victim to one bizarre accident after another, inspiring her to team up with fellow survivor Kevin (Ryan Merriman) and find a way to break the chain of death before their names turn up next on the Grim Reaper's hit list.

The thing I dig most about the Final Destination series is its creativity. Back when the original film came out, the state of horror films was rather grim. The success of Scream unleashed a stream of self-referential clones that completely left out the satirical spark responsible for Scream being so good in the first place. Final Destination was different, featuring not a masked slasher as the antagonist but rather Death itself, represented as an invisible force that could turn any elements of one's life into a potential deathtrap. While raising some interesting questions about fate and whether death could be cheated, the movie still managed to scare the bejeebers out of people. As with other great horror films, the sequels aren't as good as the original, but they're entertaining nonetheless.

Final Destination 3 does justice to the formula established by its predecessors, blending together the delicate arts of thrilling an audience and devising a series of death scenes that aren't the same old thing people have seen a dozen times before in a dozen similar flicks.

Sure, this being the third round of high schoolers cheating Death only to feel its wrath, Final Destination 3 does show a little wear and tear within the story. The discussions of fate and the nature of death seem more than ever like filler designed to tide the audience over until the next kill scene. The death setups begin to reveal their familiar structure, as if a musician were performing the same piece over and over, well enough to be appreciated but still a bit on the tiring side. And unlike its predecessors, Final Destination 3 rushes straight into one heck of an anticlimax, meant to leave the viewers with one last grand jolt before departing the theatre -- but coming off instead as a predictable and awkward note to end the film on.

Still, I was not let down by Final Destination 3. On the contrary, I'm pleased with the return of James Wong and Glen Morgan, the guys who helped craft the first film. They took to their duties as horror maestros with only a few hiccups. And the deaths are as grimly inventive and outrageously gory as ever (note: you might not want to go through a fast food drive-thru after seeing this movie); the pacing is kept at a tight level; and the characters are actually sympathetic, thanks to solid performances by Winstead (Sky High) and Merriman (Halloween: Resurrection).

Though imperfect and at times a bit restrained in comparison to the other titles in its series (the epic car pileup in FD2 is a hard act to follow), Final Destination 3 emerges as a slick, tense horror film that proves not all sequels stink. I believe it's sure to please most genre fans. 

MY RATING: *** (out of ****)

(Released by New Line Cinema and rated "R" for strong horror violence/gore, language and some nudity.)