Horrorpalooza 2014: "The ABC's of Death 2" Review - Written by Anthony T

“The ABC’s of Death 2” is a film that I’ve been waiting to get a chance to see since first hearing about it. I enjoyed the first film, even though I couldn’t stand some of its segments. But I was excited about this entry considering the talent that are involved with the project.

The film consists of 26 chapters that represent each letter of the alphabet. It features some of the best up and coming talents including Julian Barratt (A Field in England), Todd Rohal (The Catechism Cataclysm), Steven Kostanski (Manborg), Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead), Jim Hosking (commercial director), Hajime Ohata (Henge), Chris Nash (Skinfections), Rodney Ascher (Room 237), Bill Plympton (Animator), Erik Matti (On the Job), Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (Vanishing Waves), Vincenzo Natali (Cube), Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter), Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside), E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills), Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary), Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (Big Bad Wolves), Julian Gilbey (A Lonely Place To Die), Dennison Ramalho (Ninjas), Lancelot Imasuen (Nollywood director), Jerome Sable (Stagefright), Robert Morgan (Bobby Yeah), Robert Boocheck (Horrific), Juan Martinez Moreno (Game of Werewolves), Marvin Kren (Rammbock:Berlin Undead)and Soichi Umezawa (special makeup effects artist).

Before I start on what I liked and disliked about “The ABC’s of Death 2”, I think this is much better film than “The ABC’s of Death”. It didn’t feel like there too many awful ones here. There were a couple of bad one which I’ll get to but at least most of the films were good or so-so. This made it a little harder coming up with some of the best shorts here. Still, that it’s a good problem to have especially when there wasn’t many bad/awful ones. Let me start off with the ones I liked.

Speaking of starting off, this film starts off with one of best ones in the whole film. “A for Amateur” directed by E. L. Katz. Like his earlier film this year “Cheap Tricks”, this was one twisted film. I liked, the way that he does a great job starting the short like a music video with the way it was directed and conceived. It made me think that the whole short was going to be that way. But I was wrong, as this quickly turns into one of the most gruesome and shocking shorts of the bunch.

The next one that I truly liked and stood out for me was “K for Knell” directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper, the duo behind the Lithuania film “Vanishing Waves”. This was an intense short from start to finish. What I liked about it was the fact they manage to make everything intense without any dialogue being spoken. The way they directed their actress helped this short work as a whole without needing other characters to make the action scary, as her reactions helped build the suspense. It also provided a good scare or two which helped set it apart from some of the other shorts. The other one that stood out was “W for Wish” by Steven Kostanski. This short had the same feel as Kostanski’s last film “Manborg”. He makes sure that his short had a different approach from its fanboy feel to the way that he uses stop motion effects. It made the short have its apocalyptic tone while also having its cheesy feel to it. It made the short both entertaining and twisted.

Other good ones include the Claymation short “D for Deloused”, the weird “G is for Granddad”, Erik Matti’s (On the Job) dysfunctional family short “I is for Invincible”, Marvin Kren’s (Rammbock: Berlin Undead) “R is for Roulette”, the entertaining Q is for Questionnaire directed by Rodney Ascher (Room 237)” Jen and Sylvia Soska’s (See No Evil 2) creepy “T is Torture Porn” featuring Tristen Risk (American Mary) and Conor Sweeney (Father’s Day, Manborg) and the shocking “X is for Xylophone” directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury(Vivid, Inside) and starring Beatrice Dalle (Inside).

There were a couple of really bad ones too. For the life of me, why in the world the two of the worst shorts of are L and M again. They weren’t as horrifically bad as the L and M in the first film but I would’ve thought those letters would be the easiest shorts to watch. “L for Legacy” was one of those shorts that should’ve aired on Syfy and not this film. Everything was wrong from the story feeling rushed to the effects, it had a cheesy and dull feel to it. “M for Masticate” is the other one that really sucked. It was directed by Robert Boocheck, who won the 26th director contest for this entry. What made this short not work for me was the way that he uses slow motion. That technique made the short nauseating to watch, as I was disgusted with what I was watching. It also didn’t help that the ending was the beginning of the short.

Beside those two, the other awful short that stood out in a negative way was “E for Equilibrium directed by Alejandro Brugues (Juan of the Dead). This is the worst of the bunch. This short had characters that come off as stupid and uninteresting. Also, it would’ve been nice to have seen interaction with the characters. While some of shorts didn’t have dialogue or much interaction, they managed to build tension and suspense in their shorts. This film has none of that, as it’s not suspenseful and entertaining enough to grab my interest.

Even though I liked “The ABC’s of Death”, this film is much better than the last one. With some very entertaining shorts and more of an intense feel. “The ABC’s of Death 2” shocking horror at its best. I can’t wait to see a third installment of this series.

“The ABC’s of Death 2” is currently available through VOD providers and ITunes and hits theaters in limited release on October 31st.

Review Rating: Four Stars

Horrorpalooza 2014: Outrageous and Horrifying Stills from the Horror Anthology "The ABC's of Death 2"

Drafthouse Films and Magnet Releasing recently released stills for the upcoming horror anthology film "The ABC's of Death 2 features 26 short films from directors Julian Barratt (THE MIGHTY BOOSH), Todd Rohal (THE CATECHISM CATALYSM), Steven Kostanski (MANBORG), Alejandro Brugués (JUAN OF THE DEAD), Jim Hosking (commercial director), Hajime Ohata (HENGE), Chris Nash (SKINFECTIONS), Rodney Ascher (ROOM 237), Bill Plympton (Animator), Erik Matti (ON THE JOB, MAGIC TEMPLE), Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (VANISHING WAVES), Vincenzo Natali (SPLICE, CUBE), Larry Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER, HABIT), Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (INSIDE, LIVID), E.L. Katz (CHEAP THRILLS), Jen and Sylvia Soska (AMERICAN MARY, DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK), Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (RABIES, BIG BAD WOLVES), Julian Gilbey (A LONELY PLACE TO DIE), Dennison Ramalho (NINJAS and LOVE FOR MOTHER ONLY), Lancelot Imasuen (Nollywood director), Jerome Sable (THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM, STAGEFRIGHT), Robert Morgan (BOBBY YEAH), Robert Boocheck (HORRIFIC), Juan Martinez Moreno (GAME OF WEREWOLVES), Marvin Kren (RAMMBOCK BERLIN UNDEAD) and Soichi Umezawa (special makeup effects artist).

"The ABC's of Death 2" is currently available through various VOD providers and hits theaters in limited release on October 31st.

Plot Synopsis:

ABCs of Death 2 is the follow-up to the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived with productions spanning from Nigeria to UK to Brazil and everywhere in between. It features segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. The film is comprised of twenty-six individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet, beginning with the letter A and ending with the letter Z. The directors were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Provocative, shocking, funny and at times confrontational,ABCs of Death 2 is another global celebration of next generation genre filmmaking.

Anthony T's #TBT: "Pop Skull"

Welcome to another edition of Anthony T’s #TBT. With Adam Wingard’s (Your Next, The ABC’s of Death) latest film “The Guest” hitting theaters in limited release this week, I decided to go back and pull out a review of one of Wingard’s earlier films “Pop Skull”. It’s amazing how far he come as a director from this film to “Your Next”.

While also going through this review, I noticed that the screenplay was co-written by E.L. Katz, who directed the shocking film “Cheap Thrills” which I highly recommend you check out. The film available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Here's my review of Adam Wingard's "Pop Skull

Repost from March 23rd, 2010 with changes from the original review.

“Pop Skull” is a film that has won grand jury prizes at the Indianapolis International Film festival and Boston Underground film festival. It has also been premiered at the AFI Film Festival and internationally at Rome Film Festival. Now, the film has been on DVD for a couple of months now.

This shocking film is about Daniel, a young Alabama pill addict who has increasingly become addictive to pills and drugs. His downward spiral becomes worst, when he collides with deadly sprits that begin to inhabit his house and haunt him. Soon, Daniel discovers that the home holds a deadly secret. As the force’s presence grows stronger, Daniel must stop these forces or else those murders are doomed to repeat again and destroy his life.

There are few films that you would be guaranteed to come out feeling like that you’ve just been on one bad acid trip, like for example Darren Afronosky’s first two films. “Pop Skull” was one of those films that it never lets up, as this becomes an acid trip in the first few minutes and never stops. The film also is one of those films where you’ll watch the whole film and be horrified or you’ll just turn it off ten minutes into the film and never look back.

“Pop Skull” relies mostly on Adam Wingard’s direction. The direction here was very good, as he goes for a very chaotic approach when directing and shooting some of the film’s most horrifying images and scenes. He makes the imagery very dark, by using various techniques as there were some scenes that were full of color and some that were dark and very bleak. This is where the acid trip analogy comes into play. Wingard also blends some of the film’s images together to give its surreal tone. He blends them in to give the viewer an experience that frightens your senses and mind. Wingard also does a good job making performances work within the context of the story, as they were very dark especially the lead performance, as I was sold on the fact that his character is on a downward spiral and losing control of himself. The performance helps makes this film, very effective.

The screenplay written by Wingard, Lane Hughes and E.L. Katz does a good job creating a level of suspense and shocking images. One of the reasons was that the writers did a good job focusing the film around a character, whose life is spiraling out of control. They do that, by going into the character’s state of mind. By focusing on all of his problems and how his addiction to pills has changed the way that he looks at everything, it gives a frightening aspect into how addictions destroy people. The writers also do a very good job making some of the film’s scares works. The reason that they work is the fact that they come out of nowhere. You have all of this bizarre imagery that grabs your attention to the point that you want to know how this is going to play out. This is a very well crafted and shocking film. “Pop Skull” is a frightening and visually horrifying look at drug addiction and how it destroys people.

Review Rating: Five Stars

Horror Anthology "The ABC's of Death 2" To World Premiere at Fantastic Fest 2014

Magnet Releasing and Drafthouse Films bring a kaleidoscope of death, mayhem and fun with the World Premiere of ABCs of Death 2 at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX on Thursday, September 18. The film has also been announced for release on VOD platforms October 2 with a theatrical run set for October 31.

ABCs of Death 2 features 26 brand new shorts from 26 new directors of acclaimed genre films like Cheap Thrills, Inside, A Lonely Place to Die, American Mary, Big Bad Wolves and many more. Once again, the filmmakers were given free reign to create a short film about death in all its many forms and the results are at turns shocking, hilarious, vile, surprising, beautiful, reprehensible, poignant, disturbing, but most of all, mind-melting fun. In addition to the varied subject matter and creative approaches to time-tested genres, the filmmakers explore a variety of styles including stop-motion animation, dialogue-free, and hand-drawn animation to bring their twisted visions to the screen.

"I truly love how divisive this anthology series will be. There's no grey when it comes to the ABCs OF DEATH. People either love it or detest it. And that is the exactly the way it should be. Filmmakers are rarely given the opportunity to express themselves with full creative freedom. That's because it's usually a dangerous and risky endeavour. So it's a good thing Tim League and I enjoy risk and we're happy our partners at Magnet Releasing feel the same way as we do," said producer Ant Timpson.

"I want people to look back at the ABCs of DEATH rosters ten years from now and see many of these now emerging directors running the show in future Hollywood," said producer Tim League. " With Fantastic Fest veterans Garreth Edwards and Rian Johnson commanding the Star Wars franchise, this doesn't seem unreasonable at all."

ABCs of Death 2 is the follow-up to the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived with productions spanning from Nigeria to UK to Brazil and everywhere in between. It features segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. The film is comprised of twenty-six individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet, beginning with the letter A and ending with the letter Z. The directors were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Provocative, shocking, funny and at times confrontational,ABCs of Death 2 is another global celebration of next generation genre filmmaking.

The following is the list of participating directors and a reference title from each of their filmographies:

Julian Barratt (THE MIGHTY BOOSH)
Todd Rohal (THE CATECHISM CATALYSM)
Steven Kostanski (MANBORG)
Alejandro Brugués (JUAN OF THE DEAD)
Jim Hosking (commercial director)
Hajime Ohata (HENGE)
Chris Nash (SKINFECTIONS)
Rodney Ascher (ROOM 237)
Bill Plympton (Animator)
Erik Matti (ON THE JOB, MAGIC TEMPLE)
Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (VANISHING WAVES)
Vincenzo Natali (SPLICE, CUBE)
Larry Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER, HABIT)
Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (INSIDE, LIVID)
E.L. Katz (CHEAP THRILLS)
Jen and Sylvia Soska (AMERICAN MARY, DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK)
Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (RABIES, BIG BAD WOLVES)
Julian Gilbey (A LONELY PLACE TO DIE)
Dennison Ramalho (NINJAS and LOVE FOR MOTHER ONLY)
Lancelot Imasuen (Nollywood director)
Jerome Sable (THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM, STAGEFRIGHT)
Robert Morgan (BOBBY YEAH)
Robert Boocheck (HORRIFIC)
Juan Martinez Moreno (GAME OF WEREWOLVES)
Marvin Kren (RAMMBOCK BERLIN UNDEAD)
Soichi Umezawa (special makeup effects artist)

For more information about ABCs of Death 2, please visit http://www.magnetreleasing.com/theabcsofdeath2/,"like" the film on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/theabcsofdeath or follow on twitter @ABCsofDeath.