The ABCs of Death (2012)

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As with most anthologies, consistency and pace is somewhat of an issue…With the scale even grander, every misguided fault is magnified and glaring. Yet, if you can stick with it. When The ABCs of Death is good, it’s unbelievably terrifying and undeniably fun. However, when it’s bad, it’s enough to compromise the integrity of the entire film. Ranging from obscenely sexual to excessively violent and laughably idiotic to ingeniously clever. There is bound to be something that will eventually catch your attention. The problem is that it’s quite the ordeal just to uncover what that something is. No doubt some segments will draw the ire and wrath of those unwilling to part with their innocence or are easily offended by touchy subject matter. Regardless, The ABCs of Death has, albeit barely, enough balance to keep you on the edge of your seat while you’re simultaneously ready to storm out of the theatre. All in all, there is enough well constructed content to simply ignore The ABCs of Death.

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Even though the premise suggests limitless possibilities. The ABCs of Death gets bogged down in the usual tendencies of the genre and one can’t help but feel that an outstanding opportunity was squandered here. There is simply far too many original ideas and storyline tangents to successfully merge them all into a single, honourable film. That being said, some sequences do achieve what they set out to accomplish, so it is rather hard to dismiss the film as a whole. So, if you can muster the nerve to sit through a seemingly endless number of segments that don’t lead into one another very well, digest the more outlandish content, and silence the constantly nagging twitch in your brain telling you to stop watching. The ABCs of Death has some unique content that needs to be sifted out of the dirt, but in the end is worth the effort.

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The Good: D is for Dogfight, E is for Exterminate, G is for Gravity, L is for Libido, M is for Miscarriage, P is for Pressure, U is for Unearthed, X is for XXL, Y is for Youngbuck.

The Mediocre: A is for Apocalypse, B is for Bigfoot, J is for Jidai-geki, O is for Orgasm, Q is for Quack, T is for Toilet, V is for Vagitus.

The Bad: C is for Cycle, F is for Fart, H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion, I is for Ingrown, K is for Klutz, N is for Nuptials,  R is for Removed, S is for Speed, W is for Wtf, Z is for Zetsumetsu.

One thing that caught me off guard was the extent the film was willing to go. It garnered a lot of respect, from me anyway, when I saw how far a few of the directors were willing to push it. There is some truly disturbing sequences that in all honesty, took me by surprise and I had to look away. In the same breath, The ABCs of Death looses points for its conscious decisions in layering the segments. I find it a bit off-putting that instead of cutting the segments that don’t earn their place in the anthology, it is simply placed before or after one of the better segments, kind of like sweeping it under the rug. I hope I am being clear enough and you can understand what I’m trying to say. Just when you begin to feel frustrated and bored, a watchable, even enjoyable segment comes along.

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Don’t get me wrong, there is some strong content here that I will watch again. The problem is watching the film as a whole feels to much like a grind. If you want to know more about the film such as directors, actors, etc…let me know.

The ABCs of Death: 6.5 out of 10. (Simply because there is a few great segments).

About Joseph@thecinemamonster

Aspiring writer who absolutely adores film and television. thecinemamonster.com

Posted on May 21, 2013, in Horror and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.

  1. don’t mind the good old horror anthology, ever since The Twilight Zone and Ghost Story. Thought VHS was quite decent but like with this, as you say, the crappier ones harm the integrity of the whole movie. May check this out!

    • I really enjoyed V/H/S, it was fairly well balanced had original ideas to offer. When anthologies are done right, they can really stick with you. However, if it has too few watchable segments, they really turn into an ordeal. If you can make it thorough ABCs, there will be some shorts you’ll enjoy, it’s just a question if you can make it.

  2. I’m just stumped as to what ‘vagitus’ is! Anyway Creepshow is my favourite horror anthology

    • I’ll have to check Creepshow out! Vagitus is probably the most obscure of all the entires, fairly entertaining. Essentially it has to do with artificial intelligence and infertile woman, if that happens to capture your attention, then by all means check it out haha.

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