About.com Rating

The sequel to last year's horror anthology ABCs of Death, the appropriately titled ABCs of Death 2 continues its predecessor's unique, ambitious concept of presenting 26 short films, each from a different director and each revolving around a manner of death beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.

The Plot

There's no point in delving into 26 plots. Suffice it to say, there's a lot of death.

The End Result

ABCs of Death 2 runs into the same roadblock that tripped up the first film. That is, it's practically impossible for a movie with 26 directors individually telling their own tales to be consistently good throughout. In the case of the sequel, its quality is very backend-heavy, with only 7 of the first 18 entries hitting the mark -- testing viewers' patience and no doubt causing some to tune out. However, the latter shorts save the day with a marvelous streak -- 7 of the final 8 score -- that reminds us why this whole endeavor wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Generally, the weaker ones are guilty of one of two blunders: either they try too hard to come up with something outrageous, or they fail to start with a solid, simple, clever concept. Of course, since building your film around shock value isn't the sort of cleverness that makes for a good short, several of the entries commit both sins. The ones that try too hard come off as shallow nonsense, while the ones that lack a solid foundation either meander aimlessly or feature an intriguing buildup that fails to pay off.

For my money, the ones that pull it all together the best are A, M, O and Z, all of which are strikingly original with imaginative premises that hold true to the end. Interestingly, all four are helmed by lesser-known filmmakers (A's E.L. Katz, whose lone film is this year's Cheap Thrills, being the most recognizable) -- including M, which was chosen by a fan submission competition -- a trend that runs throughout ABCs of Death 2, which features fewer big names than its predecessor.

The other trend that runs through the sequel is humor. About half of the films are horror-comedies -- which is fine, but because most of the ones that don't go for laughs also don't go for scares (preferring instead to stick with gross-out material), you end up wishing that more of them would amp up the fright factor. I would've relished a simple ghost story, something to make my skin crawl rather than trying to rip it off.

The Skinny

• Acting: C+ (Uneven, but generally solid.)
• Direction: B- (Some impressive performances from unknown filmmakers.)
• Script: C- (Stories tend to lack the cleverness of the best horror anthologies.)
• Gore/Effects: B (Grisly throughout, culminating in one of the most striking, gnarly effects sequences in recent memory in the Z entry.)
• Overall: C+ (Wildly uneven, but has enough to satisfy genre fans.)

ABCs of Death 2 is directed by various and is not rated by the MPAA. Release date: October 31, 2014 (on demand October 2).