The ABCs of Death 2

The first ABCS OF DEATH was a fun little experiment in short-form horror storytelling. Now the producers have returned with another 26 teams of filmmakers for a second lesson in blood, guts, and often laughs. I was pretty keen on the first one despite its weaknesses so I was more than happy to settle in for another round. For the unfamiliar, THE ABCS OF DEATH assembles horror filmmakers from around the world, gives them a budget, and assigns a letter of the alphabet around which they create a short film. To be honest, I actually didn't like this one when I first watched it. I thought it relied too heavily on shock value to get reactions, but a second viewing helped me realize I was applying my disgust for one or two particular shorts against the film as a whole. That's not fair, as there is actually a lot of good stuff here.

THE GOOD: A, E, F, G, M, O, S, V, W, Y, and Z

As usual, I tended to love the crazier shorts the best. "Grandad" and "Masticate" were some of the funniest segments, but the honor for most insane goes to "Wish", where a couple of young boys are sucked into the world of an 80s era toy commercial (in the vein of He-Man) and realize it's not so fun anymore. The cheesy costumes and production design are perfect and the ending is equal parts funny and unsettling. "Amateur", "Equilibrium", and "Ochlocracy" get their share of laughs with "Equilibrium" earning some bonus points for creativity in camera blocking and choreography during an extended camera take. And then some of the filmmakers chose to go a more serious route. "Falling" is the simple tale of an Israeli paratrooper whose chute got caught in a tree and she's left at the mercy of a young Palestinian boy, injecting a bit of a social commentary. "Split" is one of the more brutal, as a man speaks with his wife over the phone during particularly punishing home invasion where we're reminded "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".

THE "BAD": …

That's not really fair. I wouldn't go so far as to call any of these bad, necessarily. The collection has its low points, as any anthology is bound to. Some of them just weren't as memorable. "Nexus", "Knell", and "Utopia" were all well done but I didn't think they were on par with a lot of the stronger material. Really, I'd have loved "Knell" if I understood what it was going for. The "commentary" track was none too helpful but added some extra uneasiness with it's bizarre…what was it? Chant? Poem? I don't know but it probably would've been better if it'd been used as the main audio track for the short. I still wouldn't know what was going on, but it added an extra feeling of unease to an already strange short. I should also mention "P-P-P-P-SCARY!" to this section but…as completely out of place as it felt…I don't hate it. It's…weird…and it's not scary, but it's unique. Kudos for that.

THE UGLY: D and X

"Deloused" is the most nauseating segment in the entire film. That's isn't necessarily a complaint. It's a surreal stop-motion segment with some of the most hideous puppetry I've seen. Keep in mind I don't mean to say the puppets or design were lame or amateur; I mean they were the stuff of nightmares. Its hellish imagery ensures that it stands out against the other segments and guarantees you won't forget it. Meanwhile, "Xylophone" is the one segment I'd love to forget. After a second viewing, I realized this was the segment that painted the movie in a bad light for me. I'm not a fan of child death in film for the sole purpose of shock value. "Split" and "Wish" also involve child death/murder but neither is anywhere as gratuitous. This might not bother others, and that's cool, but it made me ill and I could've done without it.

By the power of these 26 filmmakers combined, THE ABCS OF DEATH 2 is ultimately a stronger film than the first. There was a lot of really cool stuff here and it gives attention to aspiring horror filmmakers that have some awesome talent, and hopefully that attention leads to some bigger opportunities in the future. These movies provide a showcase for talent that might not get the coverage that the big studio films relish in, and I'm open for another round if the producers keep this franchise going.

ABCs of Death 2 is an improvement on the first one in almost every way. The short films are much enjoyable but at some point, I asked myself: is this good? The first one contained some really weird shorts and it was so bizarre that it was enjoyable after a while. This, contains very down to earth stories most of the time but there are still some weird stuff in there. Anyway, the quality of the whole is improved. The first one made me think sometimes, L was my favourite but in this, there were so many twisted and chilling stories that really got me, because some of them were so believable. It is nothing groundbreaking, but check this one out if you liked the first one.

A few of these films were pretty good. J, M, O, S,& V. They were creative, well written, or had a good twist. The rest were pretty meh. That's fine. I've seen enough short films. They're passion projects for aspiring film makers working to better their craft, and vent some creative juices. I can accept them well enough, appreciate the little nuggets of goodness that might shine through here and there, and appreciate the effort that went into making them, often a budget of little to nothing, as they made it in their free time.

"P-p-p-p is for Scary" was possibly the worst short film I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot. How this ever made its way into this collection leaves me with just one of two conclusions. A: Purely through nepotism or bribery, or P: because there was no other film submitted for "P". If it was the latter, I would've hoped they just left it out. There were definitely some other bad ones in this collection, but this won the top prize of worst by a mile.

26 other directors with the total creative freedom granted to 26 other sick and crazy horror stories. Always for all tastes and for those who do not like some short films there are many others that can certainly like

I will say that these ABC movies are great for some lite viewing.As i said in my review of the first one ,you get a chance to see an artist;s work ,and can keep track of the works that are out there to see.It also gives a person a red flag to a persons work that you may want to avoid in the future.Most of the shorts(each about 5 mins.) are well done ,as far as competent film making ,and production goes.I have a few new artists to follow ,and a few to avoid.Some of the stories are very cool,or very cool to watch(letter D,a personal fave ,cause this artists work is great),and others just had me shaking my head....(letter p )so ,to sum it up ,these are all new stories ,by all new filmmakers,doing what they did in part one.Telling stories,and showing us something worth watching.On that respect,they pulled it off again ,with style ,and flare.Worth a watch if you liked the first one.If this is all new to you ,the viewer ,go back and see the first one ,as this is not the kind of movie that you need to see the first one ,to follow the second.Good stuff,check it out.