Starring Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, and Courtney B. Vance. Directed by Steven Quale. R; 92 minutes; Grade: C-

Near the end of Final Destination 5, a ritualistic exercise in relentless mutilation and mayhem, a potential victim has a frightening encounter with a meat grinder in a restaurant kitchen. It’s a pointed reminder of how this series, regularly churned out since its somewhat intriguing debut 11 years ago, routinely and methodically grinds up its young victims. Who needs a serial killer when supernaturally induced chains of coincidences can so effectively do the trick?

The latest entry, helmed by first-time director Steven Quale, a journeyman cinematographer and special effects wizard best known for collaborating with James Cameron, is no exception. Death, which “doesn’t like to be cheated,” as a spooky coroner (Tony Todd) counsels, takes pleasure in dispatching various underdeveloped characters via multiple grisly methods. Naturally, impalings abound, but there are also torso slices, fire deaths, a particularly disgusting gymnastics accident, and several bodies that go splat.

The tragedies are set in motion after Sam (Nicholas D’Agosto), employed by a company called Presage — get it? — has a frightening vision and convinces seven colleagues to abandon the bus they’re taking to a business retreat. Minutes later, the suspension bridge they’re on collapses, and 17 of the octet’s coworkers plunge to their deaths. The two sequences, the accident in Sam’s premonition followed by the real thing, are horrific if spectacular, as cables snap, concrete cracks, and vehicles and bodies go flying. 3D, introduced to the series with the fourth installment, is particularly effective here.

The plot, as such, thickens with the arrival of an FBI investigator (Courtney B. Vance) initially determined to discover what Sam knew, and when he knew it. As the death toll mounts, the law man grows increasingly baffled. And the survivors, including characters played by Miles Fisher and Emma Bell, become increasingly frantic, particularly when they realize that it’s all a zero-sum game (I won’t spoil this minor twist).

Levity isn’t exactly the forte of Final Destination movies, but No. 5 certainly offers several darkly comic moments, including an office manager (David Koechner of “The Office”) who keeps forgetting that a nerdish tech support guy (P.J. Byrne) isn’t one of the dead, and a smiling Buddha statue that plays a part in one killing. “Dust in the Wind,” the Kansas hit, makes several cameos.

Is this the last chapter? This film’s coda seems to suggest that it’s over, via a montage of horrific deaths from the first four movies. Then again, I have a premonition that a box-office bash could very well lead to FD6. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Final Destination 5 opens wide Aug. 12 (and, in some locations, tonight at midnight).