When you watch "The ABCs of Death", you're really watching 26 f**ked up short stories that either leave you thinking it was good, or a total piece of crap. About half of these stories are good and the other half suck. The good thing about this is that even if while you're watching one and you think it's horrible, it only lasts about 4 minutes, then a whole new tale begins. There's a lot of graphic scenes in this gritty movie that you might not want to watch if you have a lite stomach. However, for all the gore loving horror freaks out there, I would definitely say its worth a see. I'm not sure of I'd ever watch the full thing again, but there are certainly a couple scenes that I would show my friends/family, and re-watch a couple times. Overall I give this movie a 5/10. Better than what I thought I would give it before I turned it on.
156 Reviews
A Very Uneven, But Overall Fun Watch
deltora3412 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Because the film is so uneven I'll just give a quick review of each segment. A is for Apocalypse-6/10 Kind of creative and had a neat twist. B is for Bigfoot-5/10 A bit more comedic, but not great. C is for Cycle-2/10 Very boring and kind of confusing. D is for Dogfight-8/10 Well shot, story without dialogue, twist ending. E is for Exterminate-4/10 Kind of gross, lower production value than other shorts. F is for Fart-1/10 Trying way too hard to be weird and funny. G is for Gravity-0/10 Insultingly bad. Where did his budget go? H is for Hydro Electric Diffusion-5/10 Weird, but entertaining. I is for Ingrown-7/10 Fairly effective and kind of depressing. J is for Jidai Geki-5/10 Entertaining for a bit then gets old quick. K is for Klutz-3/10 Could've been entertaining, but just fell flat. L is for Libido-9/10 Incredibly disturbing, well produced, cool ending. M is for Miscarriage-2/10 Ti West, you're better than this. N is for Nuptials-6.5/10 One of the funnier segments. O is for Orgasm-4/10 I don't get it. It's well shot, that's about it. P is for Pressure- 5/10 Disturbing, but not much else. Poor kitty. Q is for Quack-8.5/10 Funniest segment. Not really messed up or anything. R is for Removed-7.5/10 I don't completely get it, but it has some impressive effects and a cool visual style. S is for Speed-7/10 Fairly entertaining, got kinda depressing. T is for Toilet-6/10 Great use of claymation. This one made me laugh. U is for Unearthed-8.5/10 Very neat little found footage film. V is for Vagitus-7.5 Fairly good, but people over rate it. Definitely had a bigger budget than the other shorts. W is for WTF!-3/10 An unfunny attempt at doing something like Q is for Quack. X is for XXL-10/10 Very strong message. Incredibly effective and disturbing to watch. Y is for Youngbuck-6/10 Decent watch. Its not bad. Z is for Zetsumetsu-2/10 I'll admit I don't get it. It seems they are trying way to hard to get some sort of message across. It's a bit heavy handed and is just a crescendo of random stuff.
M is for Meh
ibrandonross26 January 2019
Honestly this movie had huge potential. But as with most anthologies like this, there are going to be a few bad bad ones. And trust me, this movie had its fair share of duds. However, some of the good ones were L, X, D, A, N, and R.
The rest are either average or pathetic. (For example the letter F almost made me want to turn off the movie) If you're into horror I would give it a watch, but don't expect a masterpiece
Excellent premise - Poorly Executed.
fury211 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
26 Directors. 26 ways to die. What comes next is 123 minutes of WTF which left me feeling like I had done a bucket load of drugs.
It started of promising with the intelligent "A is for Apocalypse" which starts out with a wife mercilessly trying to kill her bed-ridden husband. Has she snapped? Finally had enough? Not at all - it has a bittersweet ending that had me thinking this was going to be a worthy ride.
Then I got lost - B & C were either predictable (B) or just nonsensical (C). "D is for Dogfight" brought me back in - very well short with great lighting and no dialogue telling the story whatsoever. "E" features a spider on a revenge mission against the poor sap who tried to squish him. Then it gets to the first WTF moment - F. I don't really know what to say about F. But it featured nothing that I would have considered "horror" unless films about lesbians with fart fetishes terrify you. When we come to G - no clue as to what happened here, I guess it was a movie about someone drowning? I don't know.. Our second WTF moment comes in H - let's just say it features a man-dog being seduced by a Nazi woman cat and then a whole lot of electricity. The feature for the letter I was uninspired. By this point i'm starting to get a bit bored - but we're only a few shorts in - there still must be plenty more to come - it's got to get better... hasn't it?
Third WTF moment arrives in J (another Japanese segment) .. I don't even know where to begin. K see's the movie step into animated territory with the charming cartoon of a turd that just won't flush.. I won't spoil what happens but for the first time, I actually laughed. L is when things started to get serious. A twisted tale that repulsed me by the end. I'm reluctant to say it's one of the better shorts - but it did get a strong reaction from me - so I guess that's a good thing? M is probably the weakest short across the whole collection, which is disappointing as this is Ti West's feature - and whilst the subject matter is still somewhat taboo today - it was a cheap shot - and i'm curious as to know Ti spent the $5000 dollar budget on. N was another amusing entry - and had me laughing by the blood spattered end.
O was another one of those WTF moments... Then we got to P and I have to say this short upset me - as an animal lover, I found a particular scene of this short hard to watch. Not a fan. Q took us on a different direction - and was a short in the perspective of the directors of the short, p****ed they have the letter Q and decide to shoot a live duck as part of their segment.. another amusing effort but by this point in the movie... I have admitted defeat and realised that the opportunity to show case 26 of the best and well known horror/sci-fi directors has been completely wasted. I've seen nothing revolutionary or anything different to what we've seen in countless horror movies before.
Another WTF moment comes in "R" - i'm still not sure I really got what was going on, but it looked like there was a man who had "film cells" hidden beneath his hideously scarred flesh. I could be wrong, but by this point - I didn't really care. "S" features junkies and didn't come across as a segment that would really feature in a horror anthology. Nothing particularly horrific about it. "T" I had already seen before - Lee Hardcastle's excellent twisted claymation tale about a man-eating toilet. This is actually my favourite short across the whole segment just for it's creativity and fantastic claymation blood n guts - but it's the ending that really wins the points from me. "U" was another uninspired - been there/done that short filmed in a POV perspective. "V" was where it got interesting again. But this was again purely for the fact it took on a complete different style - more sci-fi than horror but very clever. W is another WTF moment which I suppose is appropriate considering the segment is actually called "W is WTF" - clearly the directors know what they were doing when it came to producing a segment that would incite the viewer to exclaim loudly "WTF?!" - but that's really all it was - poorly animated, poor special effects and just as much absurdity as you could possibly squeeze into 6/7 minutes. Not enjoyable at all. "X" was disturbing and probably features the most blood- shed out of all the shorts combined. A sad and graphic story about a fat girl who just wants to be thin and takes it to the extreme. "Y" was just... I don't even.. paedophiles, deer-hunting and licking up the sweat of young kids off of a gym bench... yeah, says it all really. Not one I enjoyed watching at all. And finally, another WTF moment courtesy of Japan when we come to "Z"... all you need to know - giant penis with a blade, girl shooting vegetables out of her vagina - close up of tits and a man ejaculating rice.
So when the credits rolled... I really didn't know what to say. My brain had been assaulted by 2 hours of perverse sexual violence, graphic gore and cliché story telling. If that's you're thing - well I guess there's a lot you can enjoy - lots of sex, drugs, violence and ridiculous bodily functions. If however, you like your horror with a little more intelligence - then I would steer clear of "The ABCs of Death".
It started of promising with the intelligent "A is for Apocalypse" which starts out with a wife mercilessly trying to kill her bed-ridden husband. Has she snapped? Finally had enough? Not at all - it has a bittersweet ending that had me thinking this was going to be a worthy ride.
Then I got lost - B & C were either predictable (B) or just nonsensical (C). "D is for Dogfight" brought me back in - very well short with great lighting and no dialogue telling the story whatsoever. "E" features a spider on a revenge mission against the poor sap who tried to squish him. Then it gets to the first WTF moment - F. I don't really know what to say about F. But it featured nothing that I would have considered "horror" unless films about lesbians with fart fetishes terrify you. When we come to G - no clue as to what happened here, I guess it was a movie about someone drowning? I don't know.. Our second WTF moment comes in H - let's just say it features a man-dog being seduced by a Nazi woman cat and then a whole lot of electricity. The feature for the letter I was uninspired. By this point i'm starting to get a bit bored - but we're only a few shorts in - there still must be plenty more to come - it's got to get better... hasn't it?
Third WTF moment arrives in J (another Japanese segment) .. I don't even know where to begin. K see's the movie step into animated territory with the charming cartoon of a turd that just won't flush.. I won't spoil what happens but for the first time, I actually laughed. L is when things started to get serious. A twisted tale that repulsed me by the end. I'm reluctant to say it's one of the better shorts - but it did get a strong reaction from me - so I guess that's a good thing? M is probably the weakest short across the whole collection, which is disappointing as this is Ti West's feature - and whilst the subject matter is still somewhat taboo today - it was a cheap shot - and i'm curious as to know Ti spent the $5000 dollar budget on. N was another amusing entry - and had me laughing by the blood spattered end.
O was another one of those WTF moments... Then we got to P and I have to say this short upset me - as an animal lover, I found a particular scene of this short hard to watch. Not a fan. Q took us on a different direction - and was a short in the perspective of the directors of the short, p****ed they have the letter Q and decide to shoot a live duck as part of their segment.. another amusing effort but by this point in the movie... I have admitted defeat and realised that the opportunity to show case 26 of the best and well known horror/sci-fi directors has been completely wasted. I've seen nothing revolutionary or anything different to what we've seen in countless horror movies before.
Another WTF moment comes in "R" - i'm still not sure I really got what was going on, but it looked like there was a man who had "film cells" hidden beneath his hideously scarred flesh. I could be wrong, but by this point - I didn't really care. "S" features junkies and didn't come across as a segment that would really feature in a horror anthology. Nothing particularly horrific about it. "T" I had already seen before - Lee Hardcastle's excellent twisted claymation tale about a man-eating toilet. This is actually my favourite short across the whole segment just for it's creativity and fantastic claymation blood n guts - but it's the ending that really wins the points from me. "U" was another uninspired - been there/done that short filmed in a POV perspective. "V" was where it got interesting again. But this was again purely for the fact it took on a complete different style - more sci-fi than horror but very clever. W is another WTF moment which I suppose is appropriate considering the segment is actually called "W is WTF" - clearly the directors know what they were doing when it came to producing a segment that would incite the viewer to exclaim loudly "WTF?!" - but that's really all it was - poorly animated, poor special effects and just as much absurdity as you could possibly squeeze into 6/7 minutes. Not enjoyable at all. "X" was disturbing and probably features the most blood- shed out of all the shorts combined. A sad and graphic story about a fat girl who just wants to be thin and takes it to the extreme. "Y" was just... I don't even.. paedophiles, deer-hunting and licking up the sweat of young kids off of a gym bench... yeah, says it all really. Not one I enjoyed watching at all. And finally, another WTF moment courtesy of Japan when we come to "Z"... all you need to know - giant penis with a blade, girl shooting vegetables out of her vagina - close up of tits and a man ejaculating rice.
So when the credits rolled... I really didn't know what to say. My brain had been assaulted by 2 hours of perverse sexual violence, graphic gore and cliché story telling. If that's you're thing - well I guess there's a lot you can enjoy - lots of sex, drugs, violence and ridiculous bodily functions. If however, you like your horror with a little more intelligence - then I would steer clear of "The ABCs of Death".
So the Japanese people are weird....
Matt_Layden1 July 2013
The ABC's of Death is a horror anthology in which 26 directors are given a letter of the alphabet, they have to come up with one word starting with that letter and are given creative freedom on how to incorporate that into their 'death' segment. Each short begins and ends with the colour red, the rest is a wild, weird and grotesque trip into some of the demented minds behind horror.
This film is a classic example of interesting idea, poor execution. The biggest problem with the film is how uneven it is. Giving total freedom to 26 different directors is a blessing and a curse. The curse aspects come from how weird some of these are and how lazy the others appear to be. Finishing the film I can only remember a handful of them and even less are ones that I enjoyed. I guess I'll break it down by letter:
A - an exercise in torture with a twist ending that doesn't really serve the story.
B - Here's one that is a lazy attempt at a horrific bedtime story that doesn't end well for the storyteller.
C - Groundhog day with death, a half realized idea.
D - Probably one of the better ones that people like. Well shot, good set ups and executions.
E - I forgot what this one was and had to look it up, which should tell you for forgettable it is.
F - This one had me scratching my head in hilarious confusion. I thought the Japanese were weird before, this one shines a new light on everything.
G - A POV take that bores you to death.
H - Another humorous and odd concoction of giant dogs and foxes during WWII.
I - One of many that leaves you confused about what the director intended.
J - Something Takishi Miike would probably make if he were to take part.
K - A cartoon about a piece of poop that kills a woman...funny? I don't know.
L - Another entry from the Japanese market, another uncomfortable sequence that makes you wonder what they are drinking over there.
M - Ti West's entry, the laziest one of the bunch that runs about 2 minutes.
N - A comedic entry about a bird that should keep his mouth shut.
O - Visually striking, lacking story.
P - Realism about prostitution and the lengths one will go for her family. Icky ending.
Q - A self parody about the filmmakers who are upset they were given the letter Q.
R - From the guy who brought you A Serbian Film...nuff said.
S - A tale about drugs, felt like an Australian entry.
T - Claymation about a poor kid who fears the toilet. I kinda liked it.
U - Second POV, only with a story and more involvement.
V - Seems the director wanted to showcase his skills as an action director more than wanting to have an entry in this anthology.
W - A youtube like entry that should have been given to someone else.
X - Great story, great gore, even if it is predictable, it is one of the better entries.
Y - Odd, weird, gross.
Z - the absolute strangest of the bunch, feels like Japanese parody porn.
So this film has more misses than hits. I can 't really recommend this because of the oddity of the entries being so weird and uneven. I would advise people to simply watch Masters of Horror if you want to watch some horror stories from masters of the genre.
This film is a classic example of interesting idea, poor execution. The biggest problem with the film is how uneven it is. Giving total freedom to 26 different directors is a blessing and a curse. The curse aspects come from how weird some of these are and how lazy the others appear to be. Finishing the film I can only remember a handful of them and even less are ones that I enjoyed. I guess I'll break it down by letter:
A - an exercise in torture with a twist ending that doesn't really serve the story.
B - Here's one that is a lazy attempt at a horrific bedtime story that doesn't end well for the storyteller.
C - Groundhog day with death, a half realized idea.
D - Probably one of the better ones that people like. Well shot, good set ups and executions.
E - I forgot what this one was and had to look it up, which should tell you for forgettable it is.
F - This one had me scratching my head in hilarious confusion. I thought the Japanese were weird before, this one shines a new light on everything.
G - A POV take that bores you to death.
H - Another humorous and odd concoction of giant dogs and foxes during WWII.
I - One of many that leaves you confused about what the director intended.
J - Something Takishi Miike would probably make if he were to take part.
K - A cartoon about a piece of poop that kills a woman...funny? I don't know.
L - Another entry from the Japanese market, another uncomfortable sequence that makes you wonder what they are drinking over there.
M - Ti West's entry, the laziest one of the bunch that runs about 2 minutes.
N - A comedic entry about a bird that should keep his mouth shut.
O - Visually striking, lacking story.
P - Realism about prostitution and the lengths one will go for her family. Icky ending.
Q - A self parody about the filmmakers who are upset they were given the letter Q.
R - From the guy who brought you A Serbian Film...nuff said.
S - A tale about drugs, felt like an Australian entry.
T - Claymation about a poor kid who fears the toilet. I kinda liked it.
U - Second POV, only with a story and more involvement.
V - Seems the director wanted to showcase his skills as an action director more than wanting to have an entry in this anthology.
W - A youtube like entry that should have been given to someone else.
X - Great story, great gore, even if it is predictable, it is one of the better entries.
Y - Odd, weird, gross.
Z - the absolute strangest of the bunch, feels like Japanese parody porn.
So this film has more misses than hits. I can 't really recommend this because of the oddity of the entries being so weird and uneven. I would advise people to simply watch Masters of Horror if you want to watch some horror stories from masters of the genre.
A Huge Wasted Effort
moviewizguy31 January 2013
Concept of the anthology: 26 letters in the alphabet, 26 shorts, and all must have at least one death and open and close with the color red. To say the anthology is a mixed bag is obvious. You have some good films here mixed with a lot of bad ones mixed with a whole lot of forgettable ones. "The ABCs of Death" just proves how incredibly hard it is to make a good short film, and I'm sad to say the bad far outweighs the good.
The first decent short does not come all the way until the letter L, which is almost halfway through the alphabet. It's not until you get to the second half of the letters where you finally begin to see some good shorts, my favorite being Q, directed by Adam Wingard. Other notable filmmakers involved include Ti West (M) and Nacho Vigalondo (A). Unfortunately, West's segment feels incredibly lazy and shot in five minutes while Vigalondo's segment rehashes the same apocalypse premise we've seen many times before. T is a notable segment because it was for a competition, and it's one of the best ones here. X is the most violent (and is also very good), which isn't surprising coming from French filmmaker Xavier Gens ("Frontier(s)").
Shorts F, J, and Z are all Japanese, which you think might be a good thing, but they are huge stinkers in the bunch, especially "F is for Fart." It's pretty much self-explanatory. Another one that I hated is W, appropriately titled "WTF!" O is the most visually breathtaking with uses of slow-mo and sound effects, but it's pretty much style over substance. But hey, compared to most of the shorts you see, it's a welcome change. G seems to be the most pointless one where all you see is a guy surfing. Seriously, I'm not joking. That's all there is.
I guess I was a bit mad watching this because, as an aspiring filmmaker, if someone were to give me $5000 to make a short, I would work very hard in creating something good. Seeing all the wasted effort from most of the filmmakers here just angered me. Overall, "The ABCs of Death," while a neat idea, is mostly just a collection of forgettable to incredibly bad shorts sprinkled with very few good ones.
The Good: L, N, P, Q, T, U, X // The Bad: E, F, G, H, J, M, W, Z // The Best: Q // The Worst: W // The Forgettable: All others not listed.
The first decent short does not come all the way until the letter L, which is almost halfway through the alphabet. It's not until you get to the second half of the letters where you finally begin to see some good shorts, my favorite being Q, directed by Adam Wingard. Other notable filmmakers involved include Ti West (M) and Nacho Vigalondo (A). Unfortunately, West's segment feels incredibly lazy and shot in five minutes while Vigalondo's segment rehashes the same apocalypse premise we've seen many times before. T is a notable segment because it was for a competition, and it's one of the best ones here. X is the most violent (and is also very good), which isn't surprising coming from French filmmaker Xavier Gens ("Frontier(s)").
Shorts F, J, and Z are all Japanese, which you think might be a good thing, but they are huge stinkers in the bunch, especially "F is for Fart." It's pretty much self-explanatory. Another one that I hated is W, appropriately titled "WTF!" O is the most visually breathtaking with uses of slow-mo and sound effects, but it's pretty much style over substance. But hey, compared to most of the shorts you see, it's a welcome change. G seems to be the most pointless one where all you see is a guy surfing. Seriously, I'm not joking. That's all there is.
I guess I was a bit mad watching this because, as an aspiring filmmaker, if someone were to give me $5000 to make a short, I would work very hard in creating something good. Seeing all the wasted effort from most of the filmmakers here just angered me. Overall, "The ABCs of Death," while a neat idea, is mostly just a collection of forgettable to incredibly bad shorts sprinkled with very few good ones.
The Good: L, N, P, Q, T, U, X // The Bad: E, F, G, H, J, M, W, Z // The Best: Q // The Worst: W // The Forgettable: All others not listed.
A Bonkers Collection.
BA_Harrison19 April 2013
A collection of 26 short films from 26 directors from all over the world, each using a different letter of the alphabet for their theme, The ABCs of Death is an ambitious experiment in horror that, although far too much of a mixed bag to prove wholly entertaining, still offers enough for fans of outrageous cinema to enjoy. Whatever your taste in horror, there will most likely be something here to cater for it, and with each segment being an average running length of just 4 minutes, if you don't like the current tale it's not long before something different comes along.
A large proportion of the films are either frustratingly weak (guilty parties: Adam Wingard, Andrew Traucki, Simon Rumley), utterly perplexing, regrettably mediocre (Angela Bettis, come on down) or just plain bad (yes, Ti West, I'm looking at you—again!), threatening to make the film more of an 'Eh?-to-Zzzzzz' of horror than an A-to-Z (yeah, OK, I shoe-horned that line in, but it was too good to waste!).
Thankfully, the good stuff—the really wild stuff—makes it all worthwhile and then some: Marcel Sarmiento's 'D is for Dogfight' is beautifully shot in slow motion throughout; Xavier Gens' 'X Is for XXL' is wonderfully gory, just as one might imagine from the man who gave us Frontier(s); Thomas Cappelen Malling's 'H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion' comes across like a live-action cartoon on crack; 'L is for Libido' is fap-tastically depraved; crude claymation short 'T is for Toilet' may lack the finesse of a Nick Park film, but is tons gorier; and words cannot do justice to the insanity on display in Yoshihiro Nishimura's 'Z is for Zetsumetsu'.
Even if, like me, you only really enjoy (or even understand) a handful of these twisted works of art, The ABCs of Death is a commendable effort and easily worth a couple of hours of any degenerate's time; while I can't see myself watching the whole thing again in a hurry, there are certain chapters that I'm sure I'll revisit many times over in the future.
A large proportion of the films are either frustratingly weak (guilty parties: Adam Wingard, Andrew Traucki, Simon Rumley), utterly perplexing, regrettably mediocre (Angela Bettis, come on down) or just plain bad (yes, Ti West, I'm looking at you—again!), threatening to make the film more of an 'Eh?-to-Zzzzzz' of horror than an A-to-Z (yeah, OK, I shoe-horned that line in, but it was too good to waste!).
Thankfully, the good stuff—the really wild stuff—makes it all worthwhile and then some: Marcel Sarmiento's 'D is for Dogfight' is beautifully shot in slow motion throughout; Xavier Gens' 'X Is for XXL' is wonderfully gory, just as one might imagine from the man who gave us Frontier(s); Thomas Cappelen Malling's 'H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion' comes across like a live-action cartoon on crack; 'L is for Libido' is fap-tastically depraved; crude claymation short 'T is for Toilet' may lack the finesse of a Nick Park film, but is tons gorier; and words cannot do justice to the insanity on display in Yoshihiro Nishimura's 'Z is for Zetsumetsu'.
Even if, like me, you only really enjoy (or even understand) a handful of these twisted works of art, The ABCs of Death is a commendable effort and easily worth a couple of hours of any degenerate's time; while I can't see myself watching the whole thing again in a hurry, there are certain chapters that I'm sure I'll revisit many times over in the future.
There should be a zero rating
wormtheace1 February 2013
I've been a horror lover all my life. I especially enjoy anthology films like "Creepshow." I was super excited to see some up and coming filmmakers showcase their talent. Little did I know that this is what would happen. There are maybe two to three decent shorts in here, but for the most part this is embarrassing. Rather than concentrating on telling interesting horror tales, the filmmakers here have decided to make crude and incomprehensible films. Most of the stories concentrate on sexually perverse imagery. The few decent (when I say decent I mean up to the level of an amateur) shorts are surrounded by absolute garbage. There is no artistic merit to be found. Most of the stories are lazy and inept. It's sad to say that most of the amateur shorts that were made for the contest leading up to this film are far superior. This is embarrassing. I am ashamed that I paid to watch this movie. If most of these shorts were introduced in an introductory film school class, they would be torn to shreds. This is quite possibly one of the worst films I have seen in my life. I'm sure people will jump to the movie's defense and say things like "they were given creative freedom" or "this is art, you just don't get it." Sorry, this is trash! This is bottom feeder garbage. Don't pay to see this movie and don't waste the two hours watching it.
Some gems among the rocks.
face-819-93372611 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
A good idea to bring together a group of directors, and writers to give their own takes on horror by the letters so this is 26 totally unique stories about death. Some of this is so amazing, and some of it even I was shocked at. One standing ovation though. Watch it if you are able this movie will be too much for most. There is a surprisingly high production quality to this movie in parts, as 26 separate parts made by 26 separate people you can expect a lot of variety in the film styles, and the writing. Some of the stories that are supposed to represent certain letters are not very clear in showing how the letter relates to the story. It sometimes feels that the person did not care what the letter was, they had a story they wanted to tell, and so they just forced it to fit. Others though are so well thought out, and detailed that you would never question what letter you are seeing. I really Enjoyed most of this movie, it is a shame that the over all score has to reflect the fact that there are great stories, and awful ones mixed in here together. I recommend that you check this out if you like Horror, or are just fascinated with death of any kind, you will get a lot of it.
Hit or miss, but well worth the watch.
thelastblogontheleft18 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This was a re-watch for me — the first time was closer to when the anthology was first released — and I definitely enjoyed it, possibly more than most. It consists of 26 different short films from actors spanning 15 different countries, and the only common theme is death.
I think it's to be expected that any anthology, but especially one with over 20 installments, is going to be an exercise in hit or miss. Even if you had a line-up of directors and actors with decades of experience, you'd still have some shorts that didn't quite come together and many of the people involved in these are new to the game. The good news for someone like me with a relatively short attention span is that each short is exactly that — short. It has a total runtime of 129 minutes so each film is an average of 5 minutes long easy enough to sit through one that doesn't really work. I think the interesting thing — aside from getting a taste of each directors' style — was how differently the theme of death was interpreted. Some went the classic scary route, some went more cerebral, some went funny literal vs abstract, gritty vs neat. It's a fascinating, brief look into their brain, which is cool no matter the context. It's also fun to watch the short and guess what the word is going to be!
** SPOILERS! **
There were a few that were interesting but not particularly gripping: Apocalypse (directed by Nacho Vigalondo) was an intense way to kick off the series; Gravity (directed by Andrew Traucki) was a neat little POV adventure; and Orgasm (directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani) was stylish and sleek.
There were a few that made me want to see more ones that worked well in their short timeframe but were intriguing enough to make me curious: Cycle (directed by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza) was a trippy mindfuck; Ingrown (directed by Jorge Michel Grau) was dark and intimate; Pressure (directed by Simon Rumley) played on the underbelly of desperation; Quack (directed by Adam Wingard) was just funny and clever; and Unearthed (directed by Ben Wheatley) was super engaging.
Sadly a bunch were just straight up dumb: Bigfoot (directed Adrián García Bogliano, who is ALWAYS hit or miss for me); Exterminate (directed by Angela Bettis) played on the creepy crawly aspect of spiders but was just bad otherwise; Fart (directed by Noboru Iguchi) was just stupid beyond words; Hydro-Electric Diffusion (directed by Thomas Cappelen Malling) was physically repulsive for me; Miscarriage (directed by Ti West) was easily the laziest of the bunch; Nuptials (directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun) was pointless; Removed (directed by Srdjan Spasojevic) was just UGH; Speed (directed by Jake West) tried to be deep but failed; Vagitus (directed by Kaare Andrews) was one of the most technically impressive but terrible otherwise; WTF! (directed by Jon Schnepp) was intentionally a hot mess but so damn lazy); and Zetsumesu (Yoshihiro Nishimura) I just have no words for.
A few went the funny route and did it well: Jidai-Geki (directed by Yudai Yamaguchi) was so bizarre; Klutz (directed by Anders Morgenthaler) was so good I want a whole show of it; and Toilet (directed by Lee Hardcastle) managed to be funny, bizarre, and surprisingly gory for claymation.
A few were pretty well done but OVER THE TOP shocking: Libido (directed by Timo Tjahjanto) is impressive if for no other reason than its ability to shock at every single turn, and XXL (directed by Xavier Gens) is an intensely dark look at the diet and weight loss industry's impact on society.
There were only two that I considered truly awesome: Dogfight (directed by Marcel Sarmiento) was easily the winner of the whole series for me – gripping, intense, gritty, clever, and well shot; and Young Buck (directed by Jason Eisener), just a bizarre adventure overall but weird enough for me to love it.
Overall, well worth the two hours, and I'm super excited to watch the second series!
I think it's to be expected that any anthology, but especially one with over 20 installments, is going to be an exercise in hit or miss. Even if you had a line-up of directors and actors with decades of experience, you'd still have some shorts that didn't quite come together and many of the people involved in these are new to the game. The good news for someone like me with a relatively short attention span is that each short is exactly that — short. It has a total runtime of 129 minutes so each film is an average of 5 minutes long easy enough to sit through one that doesn't really work. I think the interesting thing — aside from getting a taste of each directors' style — was how differently the theme of death was interpreted. Some went the classic scary route, some went more cerebral, some went funny literal vs abstract, gritty vs neat. It's a fascinating, brief look into their brain, which is cool no matter the context. It's also fun to watch the short and guess what the word is going to be!
** SPOILERS! **
There were a few that were interesting but not particularly gripping: Apocalypse (directed by Nacho Vigalondo) was an intense way to kick off the series; Gravity (directed by Andrew Traucki) was a neat little POV adventure; and Orgasm (directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani) was stylish and sleek.
There were a few that made me want to see more ones that worked well in their short timeframe but were intriguing enough to make me curious: Cycle (directed by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza) was a trippy mindfuck; Ingrown (directed by Jorge Michel Grau) was dark and intimate; Pressure (directed by Simon Rumley) played on the underbelly of desperation; Quack (directed by Adam Wingard) was just funny and clever; and Unearthed (directed by Ben Wheatley) was super engaging.
Sadly a bunch were just straight up dumb: Bigfoot (directed Adrián García Bogliano, who is ALWAYS hit or miss for me); Exterminate (directed by Angela Bettis) played on the creepy crawly aspect of spiders but was just bad otherwise; Fart (directed by Noboru Iguchi) was just stupid beyond words; Hydro-Electric Diffusion (directed by Thomas Cappelen Malling) was physically repulsive for me; Miscarriage (directed by Ti West) was easily the laziest of the bunch; Nuptials (directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun) was pointless; Removed (directed by Srdjan Spasojevic) was just UGH; Speed (directed by Jake West) tried to be deep but failed; Vagitus (directed by Kaare Andrews) was one of the most technically impressive but terrible otherwise; WTF! (directed by Jon Schnepp) was intentionally a hot mess but so damn lazy); and Zetsumesu (Yoshihiro Nishimura) I just have no words for.
A few went the funny route and did it well: Jidai-Geki (directed by Yudai Yamaguchi) was so bizarre; Klutz (directed by Anders Morgenthaler) was so good I want a whole show of it; and Toilet (directed by Lee Hardcastle) managed to be funny, bizarre, and surprisingly gory for claymation.
A few were pretty well done but OVER THE TOP shocking: Libido (directed by Timo Tjahjanto) is impressive if for no other reason than its ability to shock at every single turn, and XXL (directed by Xavier Gens) is an intensely dark look at the diet and weight loss industry's impact on society.
There were only two that I considered truly awesome: Dogfight (directed by Marcel Sarmiento) was easily the winner of the whole series for me – gripping, intense, gritty, clever, and well shot; and Young Buck (directed by Jason Eisener), just a bizarre adventure overall but weird enough for me to love it.
Overall, well worth the two hours, and I'm super excited to watch the second series!
The true horror fans' delight
Coventry12 November 2012
Quite possibly the most ambitious horror film project ever, "The ABC's of Death" is an anthology of no less than 26 (!) different little segments, directed by 26 different people and with each segment revolving on a horrific tableau in alphabetic order. Some of the directors are well-experienced already, some are still in an early phase of their careers, but definitely all twenty-six of them are multi-talented and quite often even visionary filmmakers that have contributed to the revival of the horror genre throughout the last decade. I watched "The ABC's of Death" at a little festival in my home country Belgium, where two of the participant directors were present to explain the concept and background of the project in general and of course elaborate on their own personal chapter. They claim to have been approached with an offer to make a death-themed short film with a budget of $5,000 and a running time of maximally four minutes. Other than these two conditions, the directors were give complete artistic freedom to do whatever the hell they wanted. This resulted in a wide variety of demented little stories, varying from sober and intense towards outrageous and downright ludicrous. What amused me personally the most about "The ABC's of Death" was detecting the different directors' styles and then subsequently link them to the brief segments before their names are revealed at the end. If you are even remotely familiar with the names and their repertoires, this isn't all too complex to be honest. For example, it won't come as a massive surprise to learn that Srdjan Spasojevic from "A Serbian Film" delivers the most grim and shocking tale, whereas Noboru Iguchi from "Machine Girl" and "Robo-Geisha" assembled the most absurd and tasteless compartment. "The ABC's of Death" offers a great assortment of diversity in terms of type (animated tales, mockumentaries, torture porn
) and horror subjects for all tastes and preferences (killers, animals, monsters,
). Certain stories are atmospheric, experimental and beautifully artsy, but the vast majority of them contains a whole lot of bloodshed, filth and rancid sleaze. It's a must-see adventure if you live, breath and bleed horror!
It is, of course, absolutely useless and irrelevant to name my own personal favorite and least favorite episodes here in this user comment, but I'll do it anyways. My top five, in no specific order, includes Marcel Sarmiento's "D is for Dogfight", because it contains some of the most powerful and gripping images I've ever witnessed. I didn't like his long-feature flick "DeadGirl" all that much, but this little segment is definitely genius. I also positively worshiped Xavier Gens' contribution "XXL", which is probably the bloodiest of the bunch", and also "R is for Removed" from the aforementioned Serbian director Srdjan Spasojevic. If I had to select one of the animated stories as a favorite, it would probably be the deranged but innovative and creative "H is from Hydro-Electronic Diffusion" from the relatively unknown director Thomas Cappelen Malling. One final chapter that deserves an honorable mention is "L is for Libido", from the Mo Brothers who previously surprised me with the aptly titled "Macabre". Their slice is sickening and depraved, but very brave and compelling. Inevitable, I also spotted a few major disappointing and "nothing special about this at all" episodes as well, like "G is for Gravity" by Andrew Troucki ("The Reef", "Black Water") and "M is for Miscarriage" by Ti West ("The House of the Devil", "The Innkeepers").
It is, of course, absolutely useless and irrelevant to name my own personal favorite and least favorite episodes here in this user comment, but I'll do it anyways. My top five, in no specific order, includes Marcel Sarmiento's "D is for Dogfight", because it contains some of the most powerful and gripping images I've ever witnessed. I didn't like his long-feature flick "DeadGirl" all that much, but this little segment is definitely genius. I also positively worshiped Xavier Gens' contribution "XXL", which is probably the bloodiest of the bunch", and also "R is for Removed" from the aforementioned Serbian director Srdjan Spasojevic. If I had to select one of the animated stories as a favorite, it would probably be the deranged but innovative and creative "H is from Hydro-Electronic Diffusion" from the relatively unknown director Thomas Cappelen Malling. One final chapter that deserves an honorable mention is "L is for Libido", from the Mo Brothers who previously surprised me with the aptly titled "Macabre". Their slice is sickening and depraved, but very brave and compelling. Inevitable, I also spotted a few major disappointing and "nothing special about this at all" episodes as well, like "G is for Gravity" by Andrew Troucki ("The Reef", "Black Water") and "M is for Miscarriage" by Ti West ("The House of the Devil", "The Innkeepers").
A (Mostly) Fun Experiment in Short Horror Films
brando6479 August 2013
This movie is freakin' insane. THE ABCS OF DEATH is the perfect movie to sit around with your buddies and watch over a few six-packs. It's equal parts hilarious and disturbing, but primarily this movie is an endurance test. Twenty-six short films is a lot to sit through, even when they're universally excellent. The shorts in this ambitious horror anthology range from garbage to golden. But before I even address the films in this collection, I think you have to respect the premise of the film regardless of the quality of its individual parts. THE ABCS OF DEATH gave $5000 each to twenty-six aspiring horror directors and assigned each of them a letter of the alphabet. With their assigned letter, each filmmaker was to shoot a segment based on a word starting with that letter and, of course, relevant to death in some form. Some of the shorts are actually incredibly well done, while some of them seem as if the directors shot whatever they could do in an afternoon and pocketed the majority of their $5000 budget. But, as with any sort of anthology collection, the quality of the shorts are going to run the gamut from one end of the spectrum to the other. There's no good way to address each individual short in a comment like this so I'm just going to shower some praise on a few of the best and warn you about some of the worst of the bunch. Just remember: opinions vary and some might disagree. These are my personal thoughts on the best and worst.
There are some really awesome short films included in this collection. Some of them will blow your mind when you realize it was all done on a meager $5000 budget. The segment "V is for Vagitus" was written and directed by Kaare Andrews and creates a fleshed-out futuristic Vancouver in the course of a few minutes. The production design and effects are fantastic, especially a robot cop named Nezbit. The V segment contains enough ingrained plot that you almost wish it would be expanded into a full-length film. Then there is the hand-full of segments that are just awesome little doses of creative filmmaking. "D is for Dogfight" and "Y is for Youngbuck" (from HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN director Jason Eisener) are some of the best in the series based on creative film-making alone, and "S is for Speed" is a cool little grindhouse short that doesn't seem like much at first but redeems itself in it's final moments when you realize what director Jake West was doing with it. Some directors use their spot in the movie to make a personal statement (such as Jorge Michel Grau or Xavier Glens) while others are just flat-out crazy for the sake of crazy. Admittedly, the craziest ones are my personal favorites and most of them are out of Japan. The letters F, H, J, T, and especially Z are some of the most mind-bogglingly weird portions of the film but they make for the some of the funniest bits (again, especially Z).
On the other end of the spectrum, some of the shorts in the collection just didn't work for me. Thankfully, there are far fewer shorts that fail than succeed. The segment for the letter M (for Miscarriage) seems to be receiving a lot of flack, and it deserves it. It's short, lazy, and aims for a quick shock gag. It's not horrifying, it's just poor taste. I suppose it is a form of death, but the most frightening aspect of the short is the woman's reaction to it. The segment "Q is for Quack" is another lazy film. The majority of the short is director Adam Wingard and producer Simon Barrett complaining about receiving the letter Q for their assignment and it's not quite as funny as I'm sure they were hoping it would be. "C is for Cycle" is an interesting premise but it looks like it was shot on home video and the constant use of fade-outs to change scenes was aggravating, and "O is for Orgasm", while the most artistic of the bunch, feels horribly out of place and grinds the movie to a halt right smack dab in the middle of an already long run-time. On the bright side, all of the weaker shorts in the film occur within the first half and I feel safe in proclaiming that entire last half of the movie is totally worth it.
Some segments might make you cringe ("L is for Libido") and some might make you laugh ("F is for Fart"), but as a whole THE ABCS OF DEATH is an interesting movie. I imagine there's got to be something here that will appeal to most everyone. It can be an incredibly difficult task to sit through the entirety of this movie in one showing, but it's a fun one to throw on with a bunch of friends to laugh and gag at. If nothing else, people with a bizarre sense of humor who preferably grew up on Tex Avery cartoons need to watch "H is for Hydro-electric Diffusion". It's an absolute nightmare (made especially creepy by the makeup effects) but it's so bizarre that you can't not watch.
There are some really awesome short films included in this collection. Some of them will blow your mind when you realize it was all done on a meager $5000 budget. The segment "V is for Vagitus" was written and directed by Kaare Andrews and creates a fleshed-out futuristic Vancouver in the course of a few minutes. The production design and effects are fantastic, especially a robot cop named Nezbit. The V segment contains enough ingrained plot that you almost wish it would be expanded into a full-length film. Then there is the hand-full of segments that are just awesome little doses of creative filmmaking. "D is for Dogfight" and "Y is for Youngbuck" (from HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN director Jason Eisener) are some of the best in the series based on creative film-making alone, and "S is for Speed" is a cool little grindhouse short that doesn't seem like much at first but redeems itself in it's final moments when you realize what director Jake West was doing with it. Some directors use their spot in the movie to make a personal statement (such as Jorge Michel Grau or Xavier Glens) while others are just flat-out crazy for the sake of crazy. Admittedly, the craziest ones are my personal favorites and most of them are out of Japan. The letters F, H, J, T, and especially Z are some of the most mind-bogglingly weird portions of the film but they make for the some of the funniest bits (again, especially Z).
On the other end of the spectrum, some of the shorts in the collection just didn't work for me. Thankfully, there are far fewer shorts that fail than succeed. The segment for the letter M (for Miscarriage) seems to be receiving a lot of flack, and it deserves it. It's short, lazy, and aims for a quick shock gag. It's not horrifying, it's just poor taste. I suppose it is a form of death, but the most frightening aspect of the short is the woman's reaction to it. The segment "Q is for Quack" is another lazy film. The majority of the short is director Adam Wingard and producer Simon Barrett complaining about receiving the letter Q for their assignment and it's not quite as funny as I'm sure they were hoping it would be. "C is for Cycle" is an interesting premise but it looks like it was shot on home video and the constant use of fade-outs to change scenes was aggravating, and "O is for Orgasm", while the most artistic of the bunch, feels horribly out of place and grinds the movie to a halt right smack dab in the middle of an already long run-time. On the bright side, all of the weaker shorts in the film occur within the first half and I feel safe in proclaiming that entire last half of the movie is totally worth it.
Some segments might make you cringe ("L is for Libido") and some might make you laugh ("F is for Fart"), but as a whole THE ABCS OF DEATH is an interesting movie. I imagine there's got to be something here that will appeal to most everyone. It can be an incredibly difficult task to sit through the entirety of this movie in one showing, but it's a fun one to throw on with a bunch of friends to laugh and gag at. If nothing else, people with a bizarre sense of humor who preferably grew up on Tex Avery cartoons need to watch "H is for Hydro-electric Diffusion". It's an absolute nightmare (made especially creepy by the makeup effects) but it's so bizarre that you can't not watch.
Great Idea, Mixed Execution
midnighttriplefeature7 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The concept behind ABC's of Death is an inspired one. Take 26 genre directors, give them each a letter and a budget of $5000, and have them direct a short based on their given letter. The directors are given 100% freedom to write and direct as they see fit with no intervention from the production studio. It's like a visual take on the saying "when the cat is away the mice will play". The only problem is some of the mice just aren't as good at playing the game as others and can make the better players look bad. That's kind of what happens with ABC's of Death. There are a few moments of true entertainment and enjoyment but they are often overshadowed by their less entertaining and enjoyable counterparts. That's not to say these aren't all talented directors because they are, it just didn't work out for them in this format. The other issue is there is no real editing here. The letters are presented in order so we get no real sense of flow beside the fact that the letters follow each other. What follows is a rundown of each letter. The only way I could think to rate a movie like this is to rate each segment and average them together for an overall rating. A is for Apocalypse: Unfortunately I was more interested in seeing the apocalypse than what was portrayed on screen. 2/5 B is for Bigfoot: Simple take on a boogeyman story but enjoyable nonetheless. 3.5/5 C is for Cycle: I think they over-thought this one, it just isn't working for me. 1.5/5 D is for Dogfight: Well shot and choreographed, predictable ending. 2/5 E is for Exterminate: A man is terrorized by a spider he just can't squash. Enjoyable. 3/5 F is for Fart: Yeah, I just didn't get this one. 1/5 G is for Gravity: I had no idea where this one was going, and it really didn't go anywhere. 1.5/5 H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion: A male dog is watching a female fox strip when things start to go unexpectedly. Definitely can't say I've seen anything like this before. 2/5 I is for Ingrown: This was the first entry that made me feel legitimately uncomfortable. It's a tough one to watch and only strengthened by the comment in the credits regarding female murders in Mexico. 2.5/5 J is for Jidai-Geki (Samurai Movie): A samurai is having trouble beheading a man. Funny, odd and entertaining. 2.5/5 K is for Klutz: The first animated entry in the compilation. A woman can't seem to rid herself of a pesky stool. 3/5 L is for Libido: At moments I felt like I was watching a condensed version of Serbian Film. This one's kind of all over the place for me. I think it goes a bit too far in trying to shock but still some interesting ideas. 2.5/5 M is for Miscarriage: Awful. Easily the worst one in the bunch. Even more shocking when I saw that Ti West directed this. 0/5 N is for Nuptials: A man buys a parrot that can't shut it's mouth around his girlfriend. Even though the joke is old it still works. 3.5/5 O is for Orgasm: Not as exciting as it sounds. .5/5 P is for Pressure: A story about a prostitute who wants to buy her daughter a bike. Will do anything for the cash. Not working for me either. .5/5 Q is for Quack: Adam Wingard plays himself and it's hilarious. Finally an entry that I loved. By far my favorite short in the series. 5/5 R is for Removed: Maybe I'm just not a smart viewer. I just didn't get it. Visually it's clever and there are some effective gore effects but I just didn't get it. 1/5 S is for Speed: Interesting entry featuring fast cars and flamethrowers with an interesting twist at the end. Different but enjoyable. 3/5 T is for Toilet: Another entry featuring a toilet. A boy is deathly afraid of his toilet. A lot of fun. 3.5/5 U is for Unearthed: A really effective take on a vampire story. 4/5 V is for Vagitus (The Cry of a Newborn Baby): An impressive take on a dystopian future where fertility is controlled. My 2nd favorite of the lot. 4.5/5 W is for WTF!: A really enjoyable short where every idea for W is thrown on the screen. 4/5 X is for XXL: A graphic and gruesome portrayal of the effects of negative body image. 2.5/5 Y is for Youngbuck: Uncomfortable yet fun. A perverted janitor gets his comeuppance. Great soundtrack. 3.5/5 Z is for Zetsumetsu (Extinction): This one should have been called WTF. 2/5 Overall: 2.5 I am not surprised this fell literally right in the middle of the rating scale. It sums up my feelings on the movie pretty well.
So disappointing
matta-113 February 2013
I am not sure if I was expecting the wrong thing, of if most of the directors went in the wrong direction... But I was thinking this was supposed to be a horror anthology with an interesting concept. In the end it felt more like a competition for the segment that is the most absurd, outrageous, ultra-violent, hyper-sexual, or all of the above combined. For the most part this movie was insulting and left me embarrassed that I sat trough half of it.
Perhaps less than 10 segments were good. There were a few clever ones. I don't want to name any letters to ruin anything.
I would not recommend this to anyone unless you NEED to see it for you self to satisfy your curiosity or if you are really into senseless extreme movies.
I enjoyed the bits by Marcel Sarmiento, Andrew Traucki, Thomas Malling, Lee Hardcastle, Ben Wheatley, Kaare Andrews, Jon Schnepp, Jason Eisener. Just to give respect where it is due.
Perhaps less than 10 segments were good. There were a few clever ones. I don't want to name any letters to ruin anything.
I would not recommend this to anyone unless you NEED to see it for you self to satisfy your curiosity or if you are really into senseless extreme movies.
I enjoyed the bits by Marcel Sarmiento, Andrew Traucki, Thomas Malling, Lee Hardcastle, Ben Wheatley, Kaare Andrews, Jon Schnepp, Jason Eisener. Just to give respect where it is due.
the ABC of stupidness
maryfeather802 February 2013
That anthology must be one of the worst horror anthologies ever!The stories were so quick and amateur it hurt my eyes just by watching them.Some people found it good and interesting?Really?How good can a story be whose title is Fart??Seriously i can write down a few stories right now and beat that sorry and random anthology...I think that the most decent story of this horror madness must be the one with the two girls who use drugs..that was okay...but that's it..fin...I doubt that it was a scary story but it was kinda smart..unlike the other meaningless and random stories.The last story is tragic!I am amazed the rating is so high because i have seen better horror movies and their ratings were unbelievable low and i think that this is unfair because most of these movies were decent!Overall not worth your time at all..complete waste of my two precious hours..
W is for Waste of time
BearGlove22 June 2013
Idea for the movie was really great, but they missed the whole point of movie. Realization of that idea was in best case awful. 26 different directors must made a skit (ABOUT DYING), everyone for a different letter of alphabet. And everyone of them did it badly. Movie isn't horror, parody, comedy, it is nothing. This is currently my biggest waste of time watching this. I can't describe emotions while watching this movie. It isn't fun or thrilling or even boring. You just watch the movie and think why am I wasting my time on this. I don't know what more to say about this movie. Movie has no point so there is no point watching it.
A little Something for everyone, but not all.
loomis78-815-98903430 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
26 Horror filmmakers were given a letter of the alphabet and told to make a short film starting with that letter. As you might expect, the shorts vary in style, content and effect. From all over the globe the stories range from brutally graphic to sick comedy. Each audience member will react accordingly as some are very effective and others just plain weird or lousy. All though this is certainly an interesting and unique anthology film it runs over two hours and it's doubtful that so many different approaches will ever completely satisfy everyone from start to finish. Because the stories are so short it keeps you watching to see what happens next. Worth a look to the curious Horror fan but keep an open mind.
Amateur Offerings from Professionals.
electronicsspa17 May 2013
I "liked" two out of twenty-six segments. Each director went for the absurd approach, I suppose because they felt they couldn't do anything truly disturbing with 5k and six minutes. Instead of digging deep to produce segments that dissect death and the many tragedies that lead up to it, most went for comedy over drama. The two segments I "liked" were D is for Dogfight and X is for XXL. I only say I "liked" them because they actually unsettled me, and that's what horror is supposed to do. I truly couldn't believe these were professionals at the helms of these movies. I've seen better amateur shorts on Youtube, and most of those were terrifying in under three minutes with nonexistent budgets. Highly disappointed.
Outrageous, audacious and even courageous
gregsrants19 September 2012
The ABC's of Death offers audiences twenty-six different ways to die. The film is an anthology where 27 different directors produced 26 different chapters each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. Given free rein, the only rule they had to apply was corresponding their short film to their assigned letter which would represent the manner of death that is portrayed on screen.
The producers then set out to find the best, most eclectic group of directors willing to participate in this ambitious project. Their efforts resulted in names such as Ti West (House of the Devil), Jason Eisner (Hobo With a Shotgun), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Machine Girl) and Adam Wingard (V/H/S) each attaching themselves to a specific letter in which to thrill, repulse and amuse the audience.
The film shorts go in the order of the alphabet (A,B,C..etc) with director Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes) first out of the gate with his A-themed short titled Apocalypse. Next up was the B-themed short, Bigfoot followed by the letter D's entry titled Dogfight. I think you get the picture from here.
The shorts all range in running time, but none is more than a few minutes (all 26 letters of the alphabet are completed within a 123 minute span) and without restriction of studio interference, the directors brought their style of horror, humor and hubris to the platform. The shorts include multiple languages and showcase even animation and claymation.
As with any anthology, there are highs and lows. We loved 'A is for Apocalypse', 'D is for Dogfight', 'F is for Fart', 'T is for Toilet' and 'Y is for Youngbuck'. Letters 'V' and 'K' were also slickly produced on their $5,000 budgets and don't even get us started on 'Z' that had gigantic penises with swords and a whole bunch of other visuals that had us exiting the theatre just a tad disturbed.
'X is for XXL' was possibly the entry with the most blood spewing and 'L is for Libido' was just plain weird. The most disappointing entry was easily Ti West's 'M is for Miscarriage'. It was neither interesting nor involving and considering he may be the most commercial name who contributed to the effort, it has to be considered the biggest misfire. Adam Wingard got stuck with the difficult letter 'Q' and pulled off a humorous entry that was a welcomed diversion from the otherwise violent entries that preceded it.
As I have long complained in many of my reviews that films are often over long and stretched beyond their paper think story lines for the purposes of achieving the standard 90-minute running time range, The ABC's of Death was a welcomed treat. We were able to sit back and enjoy the films without a bunch of subplots or unnecessary character development clogging up my time investment. So if you didn't like 'K is for Klutz' then wait through the five minutes and give 'L is for Libido' a chance.
However, the change of pace might not be for all audiences. We found our screening at this year's Toronto International Film Festival to be filled with an audience that began to sway in energy and excitement as we plodded through the later letters of the English alphabet.
But we were not one of the distracted. We were invested through all 26 entries and it was fun to watch a short and try and determine what the letter designation would represent in the title card that comes only after the film.
Outrageous, audacious and even courageous, The ABC's of Death will be considered an experiment that all horror film fans should experience. It is sure to shock, entertain and provide plenty of after screening conversation over which entries you thought were better than others or what worked or failed.
www.killerreviews.com
The producers then set out to find the best, most eclectic group of directors willing to participate in this ambitious project. Their efforts resulted in names such as Ti West (House of the Devil), Jason Eisner (Hobo With a Shotgun), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Machine Girl) and Adam Wingard (V/H/S) each attaching themselves to a specific letter in which to thrill, repulse and amuse the audience.
The film shorts go in the order of the alphabet (A,B,C..etc) with director Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes) first out of the gate with his A-themed short titled Apocalypse. Next up was the B-themed short, Bigfoot followed by the letter D's entry titled Dogfight. I think you get the picture from here.
The shorts all range in running time, but none is more than a few minutes (all 26 letters of the alphabet are completed within a 123 minute span) and without restriction of studio interference, the directors brought their style of horror, humor and hubris to the platform. The shorts include multiple languages and showcase even animation and claymation.
As with any anthology, there are highs and lows. We loved 'A is for Apocalypse', 'D is for Dogfight', 'F is for Fart', 'T is for Toilet' and 'Y is for Youngbuck'. Letters 'V' and 'K' were also slickly produced on their $5,000 budgets and don't even get us started on 'Z' that had gigantic penises with swords and a whole bunch of other visuals that had us exiting the theatre just a tad disturbed.
'X is for XXL' was possibly the entry with the most blood spewing and 'L is for Libido' was just plain weird. The most disappointing entry was easily Ti West's 'M is for Miscarriage'. It was neither interesting nor involving and considering he may be the most commercial name who contributed to the effort, it has to be considered the biggest misfire. Adam Wingard got stuck with the difficult letter 'Q' and pulled off a humorous entry that was a welcomed diversion from the otherwise violent entries that preceded it.
As I have long complained in many of my reviews that films are often over long and stretched beyond their paper think story lines for the purposes of achieving the standard 90-minute running time range, The ABC's of Death was a welcomed treat. We were able to sit back and enjoy the films without a bunch of subplots or unnecessary character development clogging up my time investment. So if you didn't like 'K is for Klutz' then wait through the five minutes and give 'L is for Libido' a chance.
However, the change of pace might not be for all audiences. We found our screening at this year's Toronto International Film Festival to be filled with an audience that began to sway in energy and excitement as we plodded through the later letters of the English alphabet.
But we were not one of the distracted. We were invested through all 26 entries and it was fun to watch a short and try and determine what the letter designation would represent in the title card that comes only after the film.
Outrageous, audacious and even courageous, The ABC's of Death will be considered an experiment that all horror film fans should experience. It is sure to shock, entertain and provide plenty of after screening conversation over which entries you thought were better than others or what worked or failed.
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Cheapest Sickest Cheeziest Disturbing in the worst ways
jolenewebber17 February 2013
This is the worst waste of time in the world, Whoever made some of these scenes should seriously be put in a high security institution or be offed with, anyone who displays any type of sick slide where a child is sexually abused, and people crushing kittens with feet..is f**kd beyond ALL recognition, that's two hours of my life i'll never get back, that's some sick bastards who made this horrible traumatizing crock of sh*t. i hope whoever created those disturbing flicks rolls over dead. in fact this shouldn't even be called a movie, or legal.
To clarify i vote 1 because there is no "- 1000000" i actually felt so sick to my stomach after i threwup
To clarify i vote 1 because there is no "- 1000000" i actually felt so sick to my stomach after i threwup
Nothing else like it
eched3 February 2013
26 directors all doing whatever they want for a straight 2 hours. The result is a massive, and I mean MASSIVE tribute film to every kind of horror flick there is.
Some of the shorts feel like splatter comedies like Dead Alive and Evil Dead 2(the short A comes to mind), while others seem like a run of the mill slasher like Friday the 13th(the short B comes to mind). Some are first person point of view, some are over the top exploitation, some are dark and disturbing. A couple are just random.
A lot of them have a twisted, childish sense of comedy, making this a great experience if you are seeing this with some friends and got some pop and chips. Actually, that's really the best way to see this.
The ending credit song, 'Horror Movie' is also an awesome song and a couple of the shorts like L and V are EXTREMELY well done.
If you are a horror fan and have seen quite a lot of the indie kind, then this is a must see.
Some of the shorts feel like splatter comedies like Dead Alive and Evil Dead 2(the short A comes to mind), while others seem like a run of the mill slasher like Friday the 13th(the short B comes to mind). Some are first person point of view, some are over the top exploitation, some are dark and disturbing. A couple are just random.
A lot of them have a twisted, childish sense of comedy, making this a great experience if you are seeing this with some friends and got some pop and chips. Actually, that's really the best way to see this.
The ending credit song, 'Horror Movie' is also an awesome song and a couple of the shorts like L and V are EXTREMELY well done.
If you are a horror fan and have seen quite a lot of the indie kind, then this is a must see.
Worth watching no doubt for some outstanding shorts
TdSmth519 September 2013
The ABCs of Death offers 26 five-minute-or-so stories from 26 different directors from all over the world about death with a different theme based on a word starting with each of the letters of the alphabet from A-Z. It looks like the directors were given complete creative freedom and probably were also told to go "extreme," for the audience is spared no human excretion. You get a little bit of everything- all sorts of animation, POV/shaky cam, movies with no dialog, very simple shorts, very elaborate ones, brilliant ones, stupid ones. How can one review a movie like this without going into the detail of every short- something which would take too much time.
I'll just concentrate on the outstanding and good shorts. In reviews and comments there is a consensus about which ones are great and which ones are terrible. The terrible and bad ones don't even deserve a mention.
Outstanding shorts:
Dogfight (Marcel Sarmiento)- Visually brilliant; a story that ends on a good note, and with an exceptional performance by Riley the dog.
Libido (Timo Tjahjanto)- A mind-blowing but twisted story no doubt.
Removed (Srdjan Spasojevic)- A somewhat puzzling but strong short about a guy whose skin is being removed piece by piece and then takes revenge.
Unearthed (Ben Wheatley) - an original POV short from the perspective of... the villain creature, as people try to kill it- very cool.
Vagitus (Kaare Andrews)- The most elaborate short of them all. Brilliant story, excellent effects. I'm thrilled to see this director working on Cabin Fever III.
XXL (Xavier Gens)- What happens when an overweight woman can't handle the social pressure of not being thin? It's bloody.
Good shorts:
Apocalypse (Ignacio Vigalondo)- A woman tries to kill her husband. Killing isn't as smooth and easy as portrayed in the movies though. Good effects and a surprising ending.
Jidai-geki (Yudai Yamaguchi)- One of the few more humorous shorts that stands out for effects, as a guy tries to execute another one with a sword.
Orgasm (Bruno Forzani, Hélène Cattet)- A couple gets intimate, we get a neat portrayal I guess of what pleasure feels like for a woman. They don't call it little death for nothing though.
Pressure (Simon Rumley)- How far would a prostitute go to get money to buy her daughter a bike for her birthday?
Toilet (Lee Hardcastle)- I'm not a fan of animation, let alone play-doh animation, but this one is good and has a neat story.
Youngbuck (Jason Eisener)- A depraved old hunter guy tries to turn a boy into a hunter. Things don't go well.
The ABCs of Death is an ambitious project that succeeds overall thanks to the outstanding work of some of the filmmakers.
I'll just concentrate on the outstanding and good shorts. In reviews and comments there is a consensus about which ones are great and which ones are terrible. The terrible and bad ones don't even deserve a mention.
Outstanding shorts:
Dogfight (Marcel Sarmiento)- Visually brilliant; a story that ends on a good note, and with an exceptional performance by Riley the dog.
Libido (Timo Tjahjanto)- A mind-blowing but twisted story no doubt.
Removed (Srdjan Spasojevic)- A somewhat puzzling but strong short about a guy whose skin is being removed piece by piece and then takes revenge.
Unearthed (Ben Wheatley) - an original POV short from the perspective of... the villain creature, as people try to kill it- very cool.
Vagitus (Kaare Andrews)- The most elaborate short of them all. Brilliant story, excellent effects. I'm thrilled to see this director working on Cabin Fever III.
XXL (Xavier Gens)- What happens when an overweight woman can't handle the social pressure of not being thin? It's bloody.
Good shorts:
Apocalypse (Ignacio Vigalondo)- A woman tries to kill her husband. Killing isn't as smooth and easy as portrayed in the movies though. Good effects and a surprising ending.
Jidai-geki (Yudai Yamaguchi)- One of the few more humorous shorts that stands out for effects, as a guy tries to execute another one with a sword.
Orgasm (Bruno Forzani, Hélène Cattet)- A couple gets intimate, we get a neat portrayal I guess of what pleasure feels like for a woman. They don't call it little death for nothing though.
Pressure (Simon Rumley)- How far would a prostitute go to get money to buy her daughter a bike for her birthday?
Toilet (Lee Hardcastle)- I'm not a fan of animation, let alone play-doh animation, but this one is good and has a neat story.
Youngbuck (Jason Eisener)- A depraved old hunter guy tries to turn a boy into a hunter. Things don't go well.
The ABCs of Death is an ambitious project that succeeds overall thanks to the outstanding work of some of the filmmakers.
A terrible movie and wasted idea
jasonbarter9 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
When I first heard the premise of the movie I thought "this is going to be GREAT." 26 different stories without a lame way of "stitching" them together... just writers writing and directors directing one of my favorite genre's.. horror. Of course given that subject matter I wasn't expecting an Oscar caliber movie. I was expecting to be entertained, scared and horrified. Well I was horrified but for all the wrong reasons. It AMAZES me (not in a good way) that you give 26 people an opportunity to do something and this is the crap that comes forth.
For most of the ideas it was almost as if the criteria was create something in the horror genre that has to do with death and is perverse. If it can contain child molestation or just disgusting sexual acts thats a bonus. Terribly disappointing.
That isn't to say that NONE of the ABC's were good. I do believe that around 3 or 4 were enjoyable but in no way do those 3 or 4 make it worth watching this movie. 2 hours of my life I will never get back. Brain cells have died. I feel dumber having watched it.
I understand that the creators wanted to be unique, so they stay clear away from the Q for Quarantine, V for Vampire and W for Werewolf formula... but this is one of those times when I can't help but think they should not have been so "creative". It's one of those movies that makes me wonder if we stick to formulaic story telling for a (good) reason.
Do NOT waste your time seeing this in theaters or in demand (I caught an early screening in demand). If you are going to waste your time watching this do so when it is free or damn near free to watch.
For most of the ideas it was almost as if the criteria was create something in the horror genre that has to do with death and is perverse. If it can contain child molestation or just disgusting sexual acts thats a bonus. Terribly disappointing.
That isn't to say that NONE of the ABC's were good. I do believe that around 3 or 4 were enjoyable but in no way do those 3 or 4 make it worth watching this movie. 2 hours of my life I will never get back. Brain cells have died. I feel dumber having watched it.
I understand that the creators wanted to be unique, so they stay clear away from the Q for Quarantine, V for Vampire and W for Werewolf formula... but this is one of those times when I can't help but think they should not have been so "creative". It's one of those movies that makes me wonder if we stick to formulaic story telling for a (good) reason.
Do NOT waste your time seeing this in theaters or in demand (I caught an early screening in demand). If you are going to waste your time watching this do so when it is free or damn near free to watch.
G is for Garbage
Suicide_Saint23 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
If you are a fan of farts, miscarriages, turds, a human versus dog fight, or a woman indulging a man's crush fetish, than perhaps this movie was made for you. Otherwise, even the most seasoned horror fans are likely to be disappointed with this one. Despite more than 2 hours of run time, each segment feels very brief and unable to create anything of substance. At the same time, many of the segments are so unbearable that the next and possibly less god-awful short cannot come soon enough. I have been a tremendous fan of horror my entire life. As well, I am a proponent of creative integrity and freedom from Hollywood's repetitive idiocy. However, if this is what these directors came up with with "artistic freedom" then perhaps they should try another line of work. I find nothing about this film terrifying, humorous, or entertaining in any way. Rather, each segment was dull, predictable and seemed more interest in pushing the boundaries of the grotesque rather than trying to create something interesting. One can only assume that an incredibly cheap production cost is what lead to a sequel to this disaster of a collection. Hitchcock would be rolling over in his grave if he knew this abomination passed for "horror."
The A,B,C's of Garbage is more like it.
mhorg201824 August 2014
There are two types of anthology movies. One, like say, Tales from the Crypt, or The Vault of Horror, are great. Then there's a silly piece of garbage like this. What did some company have leftover parts of bad movies and film stock left over? I didn't see one segment I felt was worth watching, and among the worst was death by farts. What is it with the Japanese and toilet, farting, crapping? It's ridiculous. Most of these 'stories' wouldn't have made it into a fanfic site, and far too many are just poorly thought out and filmed. Just a really, really poor effort. I'll be passing on part 2, unless I'm feeling a bout of insomnia. If I'd paid to watch this, well I did since it was on NETFLIX, I'd have been really angry. This is as bad as the stuff the scifi channel shows.
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