Horror flicks, especially the spatter subgenre, are not everyone’s favorite. But as this long-running franchise has proven several times (this is the sixth since 2000), that’s okay if you make it funny. I’ve always had a soft spot for these FD movies for their Rube Goldberg/MacGyver aspects, featuring an unseen Death (the life of the party) making use of whatever’s at hand to do in the doomed in imaginative, dynamic and lavishly absurd ways. Be warned: It’s exploding-head gory. But, you know, played for chuckles. I mean, who doesn’t laugh at the old falling-piano schtick? 

If you’re unfamiliar with the central conceit, it posits a group of people narrowly avoiding certain death through a premonition or some such, like not getting on an airplane that later crashes. Death does not like to be cheated and wants what it is owed. 

So you gore-resistant connoisseurs of carnage are in for quite a ride of unrepentant silliness and stupid fun. Idea: in these times of too many things to worry about, you could view this film as a “brain-cleanser.” Like sorbet between courses at a fine restaurant. Just sayin’.

Anyway, this one extends the owed-death concept to ensuing generations, meaning that if your grandmother escaped Death, you would never have been born, so your life is also on the hit list. This added complexity may slow things down at times, but it’s never too long before the next hilariously gory fatality.

Go with friends and maybe have a few drinks first. And final? Not likely. Number 7 is in pre-production. P.S. If you haven’t been up Sky Tree yet, you probably won’t be going after seeing this movie’s exemplary 25-minute opening segment.

(110 min)