{"id":21879,"date":"2014-10-06T06:20:38","date_gmt":"2014-10-06T10:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=21879"},"modified":"2016-08-13T06:26:15","modified_gmt":"2016-08-13T10:26:15","slug":"abcs-of-death-2-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/06\/abcs-of-death-2-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"ABCs of Death 2 (2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ABCSofDeath2\"<\/a>I had a real fondness for \u201cABC\u2019s of Death,\u201d mainly because it was so bold and creative, even when it was very polarizing. Sure there were junky segments like \u201cM is for Miscarriage,\u201d but it was a fun experiment, overall. I\u2019d love to think of \u201cABC\u2019s of Death 2\u201d as a home run, but it\u2019s a poor follow-up. Much of the segments have something of a self-importance this time around, and the more compelling shorts are few and far between. The tonal inconsistencies are just about gone this time around, but that also leaves the film feeling oddly monotonous. I found myself counting the minutes rather than really enjoying the segments and experience, which is sad considering there\u2019s prime talent behind this project.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned, the terrible segments just outweighed the good, and took down what should have been a great follow up. Some of the worst segments of the bunch include \u201cC is for Capital Punishment,\u201d an abrupt and rushed thriller about a man accused of murder in a small town, \u201cDeloused\u201d which seemed like random imagery and nonsense in a stop motion aesthetic, and \u201cEquilibrium\u201d which felt downright misogynistic. Not to mention it went on way too long just to get to the punch line. \u201cInvincible\u201d from Erik Matti is downright irritating, while \u201cYouth\u201d and \u201cZygote\u201d felt like sanctimonious social commentary without much of a point. I\u2019m all for horror with substance, but horror that\u2019s actually menacing and leading in to something.<\/p>\n

Among my favorites though was Evan Katz\u2019s hilarious and sick \u201cAmateur,\u201d the utterly hilarious \u201cBadger\u201d from Julian Barrett, and the creepy approach to tentacle porn \u201cTorture Porn\u201d from the Soska Sisters. Vincenzo Natali provides audiences with a creepy short entitled \u201cUtopia\u201d about the perfect society, while \u201cKnell\u201d is a creepy silent short about the end of the world and one girl witnessing it all. \u201cMasticate\u201d from Robert Boocheck is a funny short with a great surprise ending, while \u201cFalling\u201d is a neat tale about irony and war time. I also shockingly loved Steven Kostanski\u2019s \u201cWish\u201d about two boys warped in to their favorite universe in the vein of \u201cHe-Man\u201d and find out how utterly barbaric it is.<\/p>\n

My two favorite segments that made \u201cThe ABC\u2019s of Death 2\u201d so worth the money spent is Juan Martinez Moreno\u2019s excellent \u201cSplit,\u201d about a young woman who is stalked by a hammer wielding maniac while her husband listens over the phone. The surprise ending is just genius. \u201cVacation\u201d is pure dark comedy and madness personified as director Jerome Sable sets on a young man talking to his girlfriend over a phone cam during a vacation with his best friend. When his friend yanks the phone, he shows how the mundane getaway is anything but. I really wish I\u2019d have appreciated \u201cThe ABC\u2019s of Death 2\u201d as much as the original. While there are a slew of talented filmmakers on board for the follow-up, the segments just lack variety and innovation resulting in a humdrum sequel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a real fondness for \u201cABC\u2019s of Death,\u201d mainly because it was so bold and creative, even when it was very polarizing. Sure there were junky segments like \u201cM is for Miscarriage,\u201d but it was a fun experiment, overall. I\u2019d love to think of \u201cABC\u2019s of Death 2\u201d as a home run, but it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[50,103,111,259,328,335,367,477,501,906,922,1087],"class_list":["post-21879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-halloween-horror-month","category-movie-reviews","tag-a","tag-anthology","tag-arthouse","tag-dark-comedy","tag-erotic","tag-experimental","tag-foreign","tag-horror","tag-indie-film","tag-science-fiction","tag-sequel","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21881,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21879\/revisions\/21881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}