Clevercell Very disappointing...

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

a_chinn Like the first film, this is a very hit or miss horror anthology film where filmmakers from around the world (mostly who you've never heard of) made horror themed shorts based on one letter of the alphabet. Most of the shorts are pretty dull, not particularly clever, and most often seem to focus on just being gory (and consequentially pretty boring). However, none of them are longer than 10 minutes, so nothing really overstays its's welcome. The best entries were shorts that acted as if the audience had suddenly been plopped into the middle of a larger story already in progress, which were C is for Capital Punishment (a Shirley Jackson-like story about a mob seeking justice for a missing girl), I is for Invincible (an Evil Dead-like story about greedy family members trying unsuccessfully to kill off the monstrous family patriarch), O is for Ochlocracy (following a zombie apocalypse, a kangaroo court run by the living dead puts a living woman on trial for her crimes of zombie killing), R is for Roulette (a suspenseful game of backroom Russian roulette), and the very funny W is for Wish (a 1980s style He-Man-like toy commercial transports two boys into a gritty version of the fantasy toy world). There were a few self contained stories that were clever, such as F is for Falling (a two person drama about an Israeli paratrooper stuck in a tree who's discovered by an arab boy), M is for Masticate (a cleverly shot slow motion film about a crazed man running down a sidewalk with a funny punchline), and N is for Nexus (another cleverly edited short about a man on his way to see his girlfriend on Halloween). These good shorts were enough to balance out the bad ones and make the film worth watching.

MaximumMadness Say what you will about it, but I quite admire the first film in the "ABCs of Death" franchise. With a wonderful high-concept premise and a wide variety of tonalities and styles to chose from, it was quite the fascinating little excursion into the insane and the insidious.The series is of course based on a simple and elegant set-up... 26 filmmakers from all over the world are assigned a single letter from the English alphabet and are given free-reign to craft a short film based on a word beginning with that letter. The only stipulation? Horror and death must be a common theme amongst all entries. Thus, we are treated to a wide variety of filmmaking styles, ranging from the broadest of horror-comedies to the most sinister and twisted of torture and the macabre.It's a brilliant idea. And indeed, I thought the original entry in the now three-part series was a wonderfully disturbing ode to the horror genre that I greatly admired and very much enjoyed. But sadly, for the most part I feel the second chapter falls a bit too flat for it to hit home with nearly the same class and quality as what came before. Is it a total loss? No, not really. But are there more misses than hits here? Abso-freaking-lutely!The biggest problem I had is that there is a definite and very overt leaning towards dark comedy this time around... though none of the directors really seem to "get" what makes a dark horror-comedy work, with far too many of the films being little more than tactless, bland shock-comedy. So many of the films place so much emphasis on tacky gross-out gags that the whole experience starts to falter, and even the better entries that crop up now and again fail to elicit a genuine positive reaction as a result. You're dreading the next unfunny comedic bit too much to really appreciate the good entries that appear here and there. While I won't spoil their outcomes, entries like Jim Hosking's "G is for Grandad", Erik Matti's "I is for Invincible" and Todd Rohal's "P is for P-P-P- P SCARY!" are just painfully overlong jokes that far outstay their welcome and rely on the cheapest of pay-offs. Yes, there were some bizarre entries in the last film, and a few instances of unfunny gags... But not to this extent. I'd go so far as to call segment "G" one of the most shockingly unfunny films I've ever seen. Even with it going as far over-the-top as it did to try and get laugh out of you... I just stared blankly at the screen without any emotional response. In my opinion, the film really doesn't pick up until the very end, with a one-two-three punch in the forms of entries X, Y and Z... by far the three strongest entries in the entire assembled work. Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo's "X is for Xylophone" is a genuinely disturbing portrait of a woman driven mad by the seemingly innocent actions of her young granddaughter. Soichi Umezawa's "Y is for Youth" is both wonderfully crazed but also genuinely quite tragic. And Chris Nash's "Z is for Zygote"... Oh, boy. I don't even wanna say anything to even hint at what it's about, but suffice to say... Mr. Nash has issues. And he puts them on-screen in one of the most gloriously disturbing displays of carnage I've seen in quite some time.The sad thing is that the potential for a sprawling and exquisite franchise still exists with this premise. The idea is an intriguing one that affords near-limitless possibilities, and I'd love to see future follow-ups. Sadly, it just appears that "ABCs of Death 2" was too full of mis-steps to hit home with its full potential. My recommendation? Just fast-forward to the last three chapters. And maybe also give entries C, D, S and W a shot if you're feeling particularly charitable. But otherwise... skip the rest.I give "ABCs of Death 2" an underwhelming 4 out of 10. There's too much to hate and not quite enough to like this time around.

Rickting 26 ideas. 26 directors. 26 short films. Each short film features death in some way and the film is mostly, though not exclusively horror. Being an anthology, this is incredibly hit and miss. The acting isn't great, a lot of it is just trying to be as disgusting as possible with no real purpose and it takes a little while to get into. However, when it's good, it's a firecracker. Here are the segments rated out of 5. A is for Amateur: 4/5 not particularly horror-like, but in terms of comedy and pay-off this is one of the highlights.B is for Badger: 3/5 you can see what's coming a mile off, but it's still quite amusing. C is for Capital Punishment: 4/5 even if it tries to accomplish too much in not enough time, it's still a sobering watch. D is for Deloused: 4.5/5 the story makes no sense, but who cares? This is seriously, seriously disturbing and scary, and a minor masterpiece of creepiness. E is for Equlibrium: 1/5 just stupid. F is for Falling: 1.5/5 this goes for deep but winds up just being boring. G is for Grandad: 1.5/5 this one is creepy, but not in the right way at all. Not only will you cringe so much your mouth will hurt, but the acting is at its possible worst in the entire short here. H is for Head Games: 2.5/5 once you get it, it's decent. I is for Invincible: 1.5/5 a lame, annoying comedy fail with a highly unsatisfying conclusion. J is for Jesus: 3.5/5 an interesting one with a good plot, although it is too over-the-top for its own good. K is for Knell: 4/5 a well-done science-fiction short where the story seemingly ends as the film begins, which is always the sign of a good short film. L is for Legacy: 0.5/5 oh dear. This one couldn't be any less scary and the CGI is laughable. M is for Masticate: 3/5 this one gets a bit repetitive, but it is well-structured and amusing with a good pay-off. N is for Nexus: 2/5 good cinematography and idea, bad and incoherent execution. O is for Ochlocracy: 2/5 another good idea badly executed. P is for P-P-P-P SCARY!: 0/5 I've seen better filmmaking from 7 year-olds. Q is for Questionnaire: 3.5/5 a silly but interesting short with some clever editing. R is for Roulette: 4.5/5 until the annoying ending, this is unbearably tense, short film gold. S is for Split: 5/5 a masterfully executed suspense piece with some of the best split-screen use ever. T is for Torture Porn: 3/5 rather silly, but still an interesting and worthwhile short. U is for Utopia: 4/5 powerful and well directed if confusing. V is for Vacation: 4/5 this one gets a little crazy in the best way. W is for Wish: 3/5 an excellent idea and plot, although it translates somewhat awkwardly to screen. X is for Xylophone: 4/5 a real gut punch. Y is for Youth: 5/5 an incredibly moving and beautifully made short film with a feature film's worth of material. Z is for Zygote: 4.5/5 crazy, twisted, disturbing and rather masterful body horror. An uneven film with a weak first half, but it gets better and better and when it's at its best, it really hits the mark. Overall, a flawed but worthwhile project. S and Y are the best, while L and P are the worst. 6/10

Stacy Larkin I liked the original ABCs of Death. I loved the idea, and have seen quite a few of the directors' work. Unfortunately, it seems some of the directors approached didn't get the memo, and gave very little effort in their submissions. G for Gravity and M for Miscarriage spring to mind. Then you have your wild/crazy efforts like F,J,W and Z which I wasted minutes of my life watching.The good news is that the ABCs of Death 2 is far more consistent in the quality. It starts strong with 'A' by E.L.Katz, an amusing tale of a hit-gone-wrong (or has it?) and carried on with great gusto and a well-paced mix of both fun ('B') and dread ('C' and 'D'). In fact, by the time you get to 'Q' during the second half of the film, the quality is almost totally improved and maintains a high level until the film ends.And what an ending.'Z' is not just (in my humble opinion) the best short film of the bunch, but also one of the best short films I've ever seen. I wouldn't eat during this one if I were you, and I'd turn all the lights out as well. Be prepared to be thoroughly shocked. It's not quite as disgusting as 'L for Libido' from the first film (my favourite short of that bunch), but is a quite unique take on motherhood and features some quite remarkable, and disgusting, special effects, all of which I think I believe were done by the director in his own living room!I'll summarise the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, so to speak:The Great: AZ The very Good: BCFJKRSV The OK: DEGHIMNOQTUWXY The downright ugly: LPSo for your money, you get 2 excellent shorts, 2 awful ones, and the rest are all decent. That's a pretty good run for an anthology-style film like this, I think. :)