VOD Review: The ABCs of Death 2 (2014)

It's hard to rate a anthology film like The ABCs of Death as one movie, with one grade, as there are 26 filmmakers giving us 26 wildly different short films here, each of which is going to differ in quality, for better or worse. If we're being truly objective about it, we'd rate each short film and then come up with some sort of a median grade for all of them as a whole.

We are absolutely not going to do that though, for multiple reasons.

So whatever grade we assign to this movie, or any other Horror anthology film, it will be for the overall experience of it as a whole. The sum of the parts, if you will.


We found the first ABCs of Death (our review HERE) to be pretty entertaining overall. It was big, bold, and its good aspects outweighed its bad, even if it was only slightly. With The ABCs of Death 2, we get more of the same, and even if there is no short in this collection that stands out quite like D is for Dog did in the first movie, there are some really great efforts to be seen here. A few are even exceptional.

Below, we'll give a brief summary of all 26 short films, and we'll do our best not to spoil any of their reveals for you. Also, we'll only be using pictures for the entries that we really liked, so that they stand out a bit more.

A is for Amateur (Directed by E.L. Katz) This first entry takes place in an air vent, showcasing a bumbling hitman that isn't quite the assassin he imagines himself to be. Aside from the silly ending, we liked this one. 

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB.

B is for Badger (Directed by Julian Barratt) This one, about Mother Nature giving a jerk of a TV Show host exactly what he deserves, was supposed to be funny, but it did nothing for us.

C is for Capitol Punishment (Directed by Julian Gilbey) A small town lynch mob dispenses their own brand of justice to a man accused of killing a young girl. This one was pretty good, and fairly nasty on the violence front.

D is for Deloused (Directed by Robert Morgan)  An odd, creepy, nightmare that is told through the magic of claymation, this one reminded us of something you'd see in a Tool video. Pretty damned creative.

"I AM JUST A WORTHLESS LIAR. I AM JUST AN IMBECILE."

E is for Equilibrium (Directed by Alejandro Brugues) Two men who are shipwrecked on an island come to blows when a hot chick washes up on shore. A bit too goofy for our tastes, especially the ending.

F is for Falling (Directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado) The directors of Big Bad Wolves bring us this interesting short about an Israeli soldier hanging in a tree, and what happens when an Arab soldier finds her. Strong commentary, and a solid entry.

YOU KNOW WHAT CAN BRING ABOUT WORLD PEACE? MORE CLEAVAGE.

G is for Grandad (Directed by Jim Hosking) A jerk-off grandson finds out that his grandad isn't quite the wanker that he makes him out to be. Literally. This one was fun in an odd way, and the ending made us cringe.

H is for Head Games (Directed by Bill Plympton)  An odd bit on animation that was really not our thing, we checked out Twitter messages during this one. Blah.

I is for Invincible (Directed by Erik Matti) This one, which involves a family trying to off their matriarch to get an inheritance, was pretty fun and gruesome, if a little bit silly.

J is for Jesus (Directed by Dennison Ramalho) A solid entry about two priests trying to exorcise the gay out of a guy, and how the guy's father learns that his son isn't the one possessed. Not bad.

K is for Knell (Directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper) A woman on a balcony witnesses everyone in nearby apartment buildings being murdered, and then finds herself in danger. This one didn't make a lot of sense in the end, but it's the one that we liked most out of the 26 entries. Creepy stuff.

WTF IS GOING ON HERE?

L is for Legacy (Directed by Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen) This goofy, cheesy story a tribal sacrifice and a dude in a bad monster suit, left us cold.

M is for Masticate (Directed by Robert Boocheck) This slow motion entry, about a guy causing havoc while running down the street, was entertaining, and the ending made us laugh. Nice job.

METH: NOT EVEN ONCE.

N is for Nexus (Directed by Larry Fessenden) We wanted to like this one, about a group of costumed people converging on the streets on Halloween, but it just came off as dumb to us. I mean, what kind of an idiot rides a bike in a Halloween mask while talking on the phone? Meh.

O is for Ochlocracy (Mob rule) (Directed by Hajime Ohata) This one was a nice spin on the overdone zombie genre, and was definitely one of the better entries of the 26.
 

PRETTY COOL PEZ DISPENSER.

P is for P-P-P-Scary (Directed by Todd Rohal) This bunch of bullshit fuck-baggery made us want to punch someone. Honestly, if we had been in a room with this Todd Rohal guy while watching this tripe, he would have caught a smack. Or three.

Q is for Questionnaire (Directed by Rodney Ascher) This was a fun one, even though we're not quite sure what the point of it was. Nice bit of gore at the end too.

R is for Roulette (Directed by Marvin Kren) The more we think about this one, the more we like it. It took us a second to realize what happened at the end, but once we realized what Marvin Kren had done, we were duly impressed. One of the best entries of the collection.

NEXT TIME, PLAY WITH A 9MM; THE GAME WILL GO FASTER.

S is for Split (Directed by Juan Martinez Moreno) This one, about a husband on the phone with his wife as a hammer-wielding intruder is chasing her around the house, was pretty intense and satisfying. The reveal at the end made it extra fun.

"SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THAT DINNER ISN'T READY YET?"

T is for Torture Porn (Directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska) Expected way more from these two, as American Mary was such A great flick, but this short is a pandering mess. Easily one of the worst shorts of the 26. *It really hurts me to say that.

U is for Utopia (Directed by Vincenzo Natali) Ugly people do not fare so well in this dystopian society where the beautiful ones rule. This short boasts top-notch visuals and was a lot of devilish fun, even if the message was a pretty fucked up one.

WE ASSUME THAT THEY ALSO HAVE A "NO FATTIES" POLICY AS WELL.

V is for Vacation (Directed by Jerome Sable) This one got on our nerves, mainly because the one guy was an annoying dick, but it's a pretty effective and nasty effort, none the less.

W is for Wish (Directed by Steven Kostanski) This one was pretty great at the beginning, as it reminded us of the toy commercials that populated our Saturday morning cartoon-watching, but it didn't finish quite as strong. A fun watch though.

X is for Xylophone (Directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustilo) For the love of Christ, does Beatrice Dalle always have to play the creepiest bitch in the universe? Whoever would hire her to babysit their kids deserves exactly what they get. Grisly ending here.

Y is for Youth (Directed by Soichi Umezawa) Another great entry, this one deals with a teenage girl who grows tired of her parent's shit, and the price they pay for earning her contempt. An odd, but great entry.

OH, JAPAN. ONLY YOU.

Z is for Zygote (Directed by Chris Nash) A woman, pregnant and abandoned by her husband, is determined to keep her unborn baby in the womb so that it can't leave her too. This one was just disturbing as hell, and equally as weird. And good.

The ABCs of Death 2 is a solid sequel that improves upon the first film, for the most part, and it should greatly please those Horror fans who like their stories short and sweet. It's definitely worth a rental.

B

The ABCs of Death 2 is available now on VOD, and is in theaters on October 31st.

The ABC's of eye-candy.