Directors: Rodney Ascher, Julian Barratt, 28 more credits
Writers: Robert Boocheck (segment), Alejandro Brugués, 19 more credits
Stars: Tristan Risk, Martina García, Béatrice Dalle
Synopsis:
A is for Amateur (directed by E.L. Katz)
A hitman's meticulously planned hit doesn't go quite as planned.
B is for Badger (directed by Julian Barratt)
A wildlife documentary goes awry when the team encounters a giant badger.
C is for Capital Punishment (directed by Julian Gilbey)
A man is violently executed for a crime he didn't commit.
D is for Deloused (directed by Robert Morgan)
A stop-motion animated short about a large bug that helps an executed man get revenge on his killers.
E is for Equilibrium (directed by Alejandro Brugués)
Two castaways have their friendship tested when a beautiful woman washes ashore.
F is for Falling (directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado)
An Israeli woman is caught in a tree by her parachute and is found by a hostile Palestinian boy.
G is for Grandad (directed by Jim Hosking)
A young man discovers his grandfather has been sleeping under his bed.
H is for Head Games (directed by Bill Plympton)
A man and woman kiss, which turns into a surreal power struggle.
I is for Invincible (directed by Erik Matti)
A family tries to kill the matriarch for her inheritance.
J is for Jesus (directed by Dennison Ramalho)
A young man is violently martyred for being a homosexual.
K is for Knell (directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper)
A woman experiences the effects of a black liquid that turns people into killers.
L is for Legacy (directed by Lancelot Imasuen)
A ritual sacrifice goes wrong.
M is for Masticate (directed by Robert Boocheck)
A man runs down a street in slow motion, attempts to eat someone, and is shot by police. It's revealed that he did bath salts 34 minutes earlier.
N is for Nexus (directed by Larry Fessenden)
A man hurries to meet his girlfriend on Halloween.
O is for Ochlocracy (mob rule) (directed by Hajime Ohata)
A woman is sentenced to death by a courtroom full of zombies.
P is for P-P-P-P SCARY! (directed by Todd Rohal)
An homage to black and white comedy in which three prisoners encounter a strange man and a baby.
Q is for Questionnaire (directed by Rodney Ascher)
A man takes an intelligence test on the street, juxtaposed with footage of the man's brain being transferred to a gorilla.
R is for Roulette (directed by Marven Kren)
Two men and a woman play Russian roulette while hidden in a basement.
S is for Split (directed by Juan Martinez Moreno)
A woman is attacked in her home while on the phone with her husband.
T is for Torture Porn (directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska)
A woman is treated misogynistically at an audition, but when asked to strip, reveals tentacles where her vagina should be.
U is for Utopia (directed by Vincenzo Natali)
An unattractive man is singled out in a mall full of seemingly perfect people and publicly executed.
V is for Vacation (directed by Jerome Sable)
Two men are killed by a prostitute they hired while on the phone with one man's girlfriend.
W is for Wish (directed by Steven Kostanski)
Two kids wish themselves into a fantasy world, only to be violently taken prisoner by the villain.
X is for Xylophone (directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo)
A babysitter (Béatrice Dalle) is emotionally affected by a child's xylophone playing.
Y is for Youth (directed by Soichi Umezawa)
A young girl violently fantasizes about the deaths of her abusive family.
Z is for Zygote (directed by Chris Nash)
A pregnant woman has been staving off birth for 13 years and living with a 13-year-old inside her stomach.
In a post-credits scene, Laurence R. Harvey attempts to masturbate while watching the T segment, but stops saying "How am I supposed to wank to that?"
A is for Amateur (directed by E.L. Katz)
A hitman's meticulously planned hit doesn't go quite as planned.
B is for Badger (directed by Julian Barratt)
A wildlife documentary goes awry when the team encounters a giant badger.
C is for Capital Punishment (directed by Julian Gilbey)
A man is violently executed for a crime he didn't commit.
D is for Deloused (directed by Robert Morgan)
A stop-motion animated short about a large bug that helps an executed man get revenge on his killers.
E is for Equilibrium (directed by Alejandro Brugués)
Two castaways have their friendship tested when a beautiful woman washes ashore.
F is for Falling (directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado)
An Israeli woman is caught in a tree by her parachute and is found by a hostile Palestinian boy.
G is for Grandad (directed by Jim Hosking)
A young man discovers his grandfather has been sleeping under his bed.
H is for Head Games (directed by Bill Plympton)
A man and woman kiss, which turns into a surreal power struggle.
I is for Invincible (directed by Erik Matti)
A family tries to kill the matriarch for her inheritance.
J is for Jesus (directed by Dennison Ramalho)
A young man is violently martyred for being a homosexual.
K is for Knell (directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper)
A woman experiences the effects of a black liquid that turns people into killers.
L is for Legacy (directed by Lancelot Imasuen)
A ritual sacrifice goes wrong.
M is for Masticate (directed by Robert Boocheck)
A man runs down a street in slow motion, attempts to eat someone, and is shot by police. It's revealed that he did bath salts 34 minutes earlier.
N is for Nexus (directed by Larry Fessenden)
A man hurries to meet his girlfriend on Halloween.
O is for Ochlocracy (mob rule) (directed by Hajime Ohata)
A woman is sentenced to death by a courtroom full of zombies.
P is for P-P-P-P SCARY! (directed by Todd Rohal)
An homage to black and white comedy in which three prisoners encounter a strange man and a baby.
Q is for Questionnaire (directed by Rodney Ascher)
A man takes an intelligence test on the street, juxtaposed with footage of the man's brain being transferred to a gorilla.
R is for Roulette (directed by Marven Kren)
Two men and a woman play Russian roulette while hidden in a basement.
S is for Split (directed by Juan Martinez Moreno)
A woman is attacked in her home while on the phone with her husband.
T is for Torture Porn (directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska)
A woman is treated misogynistically at an audition, but when asked to strip, reveals tentacles where her vagina should be.
U is for Utopia (directed by Vincenzo Natali)
An unattractive man is singled out in a mall full of seemingly perfect people and publicly executed.
V is for Vacation (directed by Jerome Sable)
Two men are killed by a prostitute they hired while on the phone with one man's girlfriend.
W is for Wish (directed by Steven Kostanski)
Two kids wish themselves into a fantasy world, only to be violently taken prisoner by the villain.
X is for Xylophone (directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo)
A babysitter (Béatrice Dalle) is emotionally affected by a child's xylophone playing.
Y is for Youth (directed by Soichi Umezawa)
A young girl violently fantasizes about the deaths of her abusive family.
Z is for Zygote (directed by Chris Nash)
A pregnant woman has been staving off birth for 13 years and living with a 13-year-old inside her stomach.
In a post-credits scene, Laurence R. Harvey attempts to masturbate while watching the T segment, but stops saying "How am I supposed to wank to that?"
Review:
The concept of The ABCs of Death is very good and it opens up many possibilities. Gathering 26 directors, giving them a letter, and giving them creative freedom to do what they want involving the subject of death. The first movie was interesting, but very uneven in terms of the shorts on display with most of them very mediocre or bad. This sequel does fare a little better, but it still suffers from the uneven balance between good and bad shorts.
Good: I still really like the concept of the anthology and the chance for many talented directors to display their skills. There are quite a few shorts that display a lot of fun and creativity like the letter A, B, C, J, N, O, R, S, and Z being the standouts.
Bad: The other shorts were either going for the gross factor and becoming numb in terms of the shocks or they ended up being mediocre in its execution.
Overall, it is an uneven anthology, but there are some shorts that make it worth a watch if you love horror.
The concept of The ABCs of Death is very good and it opens up many possibilities. Gathering 26 directors, giving them a letter, and giving them creative freedom to do what they want involving the subject of death. The first movie was interesting, but very uneven in terms of the shorts on display with most of them very mediocre or bad. This sequel does fare a little better, but it still suffers from the uneven balance between good and bad shorts.
Good: I still really like the concept of the anthology and the chance for many talented directors to display their skills. There are quite a few shorts that display a lot of fun and creativity like the letter A, B, C, J, N, O, R, S, and Z being the standouts.
Bad: The other shorts were either going for the gross factor and becoming numb in terms of the shocks or they ended up being mediocre in its execution.
Overall, it is an uneven anthology, but there are some shorts that make it worth a watch if you love horror.
Star Rating: 3 Stars
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