Many people claim movies have changed their lives. This could be because it touched them emotionally, opening a part of them they never knew existed. Some movies can change a person’s perceptions, fundamentally altering beliefs. Others are the reasons people have chosen specific careers or done certain things, inspired by what they saw on-screen.

Final Destination has changed my life but in another way – it has made me scared of the everyday! I’m not living in fear but there are things I do purely because of that movie. Some are simple, not affecting my life in any major way but others occur commonly, making me think of the movie series on a regular basis. Most, as I’m sure you’ll agree, are just common sense…

I never drive behind a truck carrying logs

This has become an internet meme but it doesn’t make it any less true. After seeing the destruction caused by the car accident that starts the second Final Destination, I can’t help but get a shiver when you see the logs, stacked up and surely not tied tight enough to stop them crashing through my windscreen.

I’m careful of where I place my knives

This is one of the most tense scenes in the whole franchise. The teacher from the high school makes so many poor decisions with her knife placement, from perched precariously on the edge of the counter to blade up in the dishwasher. She was just asking for trouble.

I don’t workout

I don’t care how many safety designs the weight-machine has, it will crush my head! I’d be a muscle-bound Adonis if it wasn’t for Final Destination.

I don’t use sunbeds

I’m happy to be pale when topless on holiday. If it avoids getting cut to shreds, slightly crushed and ultimately burnt to death in a neon-blue coffin, then just call me “Casper.”

I’m happy with my glasses

I’m short-sighted and need glasses or contact lenses to do most things well. If the opportunity for laser eye surgery ever did arise, I know I wouldn’t be able to get this scene out of my mind, making me genuinely think twice, regardless of the advice and reassurance.

I can’t help but add extra terror to rollercoasters

Like the eye surgery, I have a weird habit of only ever thinking about Final Destination 3 when I’m about to ride a rollercoaster. I can go years without ever considering the movie but then I’ll be strapped into the thrill-ride and start remembering the gruesome chain of events which set-up the series third installment.

Overall, five examples of how the Final Destination series has changed my life. It isn’t crippling but enough to have altered certain aspects of my everyday. Let me know if you have any new phobias, worries and habits of your own, inspired by the movies.