The ABC’s of Death (2013) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: 26 Various Directors
Starring: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Iván González, Kyra Zagorsky
Rated: UR/Region: A/1:85/Number of disc: 1
Available from Magnolia Home Entertainment
The ABC’s OF DEATH is an ambitious anthology film featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world’s leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children’s educational ABC books, the motion picture is comprised of 26 individual chapters; each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Provocative, shocking, funny and ultimately confrontational; THE ABC’s OF DEATH is the definitive snapshot of the diversity of modern horror.
The ABC’s of Death was a film that once I heard the original idea for I became very interested in. I love anthology films and truth be told this is a very cool concept and an awesome sounding idea. That being the case, it is hard to turn every awesome idea into an equally awesome movie. Case in point would be the ABC’s of Death. I understand giving a director a letter and only a short amount of time isn’t easy and handcuffs the director, but in some cases you’d think the director didn’t even try (Ti West I’m looking at you). The stories here go from the bloody, very bizarre, comedic, strange, to the more abstract, animated, and in some cases clever. Some letters have life behind their entries and some fall short. I admit that there are a few keepers here and there, some did need work. Also, we have a transfer here that looks about as good as you’d hope for given the circumstances.
The film can at least say that it ends much better than it starts out, but by that time with over two hours of a film before you it can all seem like a chore. Out of all we see, I don’t think I’d be wrong in saying less than half stand out in a good way. Off the top of my head, the letters S, U, and Z come to mind as being pretty good and standing out among the pack. The letter L may be the very best in the whole film, but it has the dark cloud of maybe going a bit too far over the line in good taste hanging over it. M is by far the worst with G coming close behind it. That doesn’t even get me started on all the entries that were just there, kind of bad, and fall flat. I do think it was a film with a great concept, just mostly lackluster results. Watching this movie again for people might be hard to do without skipping letters. That being the case, the movie is still a great concept and this Blu-ray makes for a great release picture wise.
– 11(DVD)/14 (BR) Behind the Scenes, Making-ofs and Deleted Scenes
– Filmmaker Commentary (Over 30 Filmmakers)
– BD-Live Feature Exclusive to Blu-ray – Additional Short Film Contest Submissions
