Who's in It: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche, Texas Battle, Alexz Johnson, Jesse Moss
The Basics: A bunch of kids you've never heard of (unless you watch Instant Star on the N) line up to get slaughtered by Death in excellently detailed ways. It's not scary at all, but you still end up tense from wondering exactly what wacky stunt that nutty Death is going to pull next.
What's the Deal? If you have to die — and you do, eventually — it might as well be elaborately choreographed like in this series of movies. Short of becoming the next Oprah, it's the only way people are going to talk about you after you're gone. But back to the subject at hand. Without much warning, this horror series has become the coolest, goriest batch of sequels to come along in a while. They're not stingy with bloody, point-of-impact deaths, and they have more imagination in any one scene than a dull remake of something like The Fog has in its entirety.
The Plot: Death has migrated from the last batch of kids to a fresh new flock. And when some don't die immediately on the trailer's roller coaster ride, Death decides to issue mini–press releases (some people might call them spoilers) via a series of photographs that suggest how each kid is going to bite it by the time the credits roll.
The Math: FD3 = FD1, but FD1 + FD3 < FD2. They're all a blast, but FD2 takes the prize because the deaths in it are just more Rube Goldberg-ish and therefore more fun. In that one, Death didn't feel the need to announce intentions before each one. Oh, and if you don't know who Rube Goldberg was, then Google him. I can't spell everything out for you people every day of your lives.
My Big Idea: Set the next one in the Surreal Life house.