Fear the Reaper, Not LASIK

In a scene that aspires to do for LASIK procedures what Psycho did for showers and Jaws did for the ocean, the upcoming horror film Final Destination 5 features death by laser corrective eye surgery.

Not only does the movie manage an entire scene about the use of a surgical laser as an instrument of annihilation, the studio marketing types were so confident in the primal terror stirred by LASIK—you know, the fear of clear vision—that they built the movie’s trailer around it.

The preview begins with a menacing close-up of … wait for it … an eye surgery laser. The camera pushes closer to accentuate its chilling, finely polished, antiseptic sheen. Fright, thy name is excimer laser.

Cut to a nervous woman (who frankly looks a bit young for LASIK; patients should be at least in their late teens to early 20s, after the eyes have fully matured) being prepped for surgery.

“When we’re done, you’ll have perfect vision,” says the ophthalmologist before exiting, leaving the woman in the surgical chair facing the laser.

Even someone suffering from advanced myopia could see what’s coming from a mile away.

Perhaps more distressing than the fact that this franchise is on its fifth installment—despite the irony that each episode is deemed “final”—is that its creators have resorted to surgical procedures with a success rate of more than 95 percent as a means of soliciting scares and making mincemeat out of the obligatory nubile victims. Final Destination 5 also contains death by acupuncture, leaving perhaps only slaughter by Swedish massage and execution via tongue depressor for the inevitable Final Destination 6.

If you’re considering laser vision correction, choosing the right LASIK surgeon can help allay your fears. But don’t let an ophthalmologist be your final destination for a LASIK recommendation; just ask any of the nearly 20 million people who have had their vision corrected with laser eye surgery.

To learn more about vision correction with LASIK surgery and to find an ophthalmologist near you, please contact The LASIK Directory.