Will Clear succeed where her friends failed? Can the ragtag group of strangers led by Kimberley and Police Officer Thomas Burke thwart Death’s design? After watching "disposable" characters bite the dust in spectacularly bloody fashion for 90 minutes, will audiences care?

• positive elements: Early in the film, Kimberley’s dad shows great love for her by trying to ensure her safety during a road trip. Believing she has a responsibility toward those she saved from the interstate pile-up, Kimberley tries as hard as she can to preserve their lives (at one point she chastises Clear for hiding in the asylum instead of trying to help others). Before he dies, a stoner asks Kimberley to throw away his drugs and pornography so that his mother won’t be heartbroken when she goes through his belongings. [Spoiler Warning] In order to save others, Kimberley sacrifices her own life, but is later resuscitated.

• spiritual content: The introduction of Final Destination 2 is a treatise on its metaphysics. Via television interview, a theorist states that people are surrounded by a malevolent force which decides when they will die. The speaker scoffs at the idea that it should be called "The Devil," preferring to simply name it "Death." Those who manage to sidestep its plans only slightly postpone their demise. A spooky mortuary worker further explains to Clear and Kimberley that "only new life can defeat Death" (the meaning of the phrase is much debated). Otherwise, it will continue to stalk you. The film’s plot follows these principles to a T. Elsewhere, a man claims that he alone controls his life, not any spiritual force, and a cross-wearing woman says she’s unafraid to join her family in heaven (in one perilous situation, however, she frantically screams that she doesn’t want to die). Kimberley has numerous visions about the future.

• sexual content: In a scene director David Ellis describes as "totally gratuitous," a motorcycle-riding woman flashes her breasts at two guys (the camera lingers on the nudity). Comments fly about casual sex, sadomasochism, oral sex and molestation while under anesthesia. A girl lying on a hospital table is seen without her shirt on (she’s wearing a bra). An elderly man sniffs a woman’s hair, aroused by its scent. Several characters dress immodestly.

• violent content: If Death is a nearly all-powerful force that can manipulate natural environments and human actions, couldn’t it kill its victims with an embolism as they slept? Of course. But that wouldn’t attract scores of horror fans eager to soak in ridiculous amounts of blood and gore. People perish in complicated and horrible ways throughout the film. They're impaled, decapitated, immolated, crushed, exploded and drowned. Items ranging from logs and PVC pipe to escape ladders and artificial limbs become implements of death too gruesome to document in detail. Ellis’ own words speak volumes more than any description. "It’s sick," he said. "I look at it, and I go, ... that’s just not right. But we decided that if we were going to do it, then do it. And that meant showing the gore instead of cutting away from it."

• crude or profane language: Almost 20 uses each of the s-word and f-word, and about the same number of mild profanities and crude expressions. God and Jesus’ names are abused over a dozen times. Characters make obscene gestures.

• drug and alcohol content: Rarely is a character not smoking, sipping or snorting some controlled substance. One of Kimberley’s friends puffs on a joint and carries a huge bag of pot. Another constantly snorts cocaine. A grief-stricken mother pops a Valium. Numerous people drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes.