Inspired by alphabet teaching books, a group of cutting edge indie film directors from across the globe have created 26 short films ranging from the absurd, the baffling and the cleverly comic to the downright disgusting to create The ABCs of Death, a shocking, funny, confrontational anthology that is destined for notoriety.
If you are a fan of cult weirdness, toilet humour (there’s lots of it) and know your Ti West from your Jake West, then this will float your boat, while the bucket loads of blood and guts are certain to test your gore levels. Watching it in a single sitting at the cinema was like being on an acid trip, so I’m looking forward to the DVD/Blu-ray release on 3 June so I can choose a letter at random and watch it at my own leisure. But the one I won’t be watching again in a hurry is Timo Tjahjanto’s hardcore sexualised horror L is for Libido (just how did it escape the censors?).
For what it’s worth, here’s my breakdown: Purple (One to Watch) Green (Just OK) Orange (To be Avoided) A is for Apocalypse (Nacho Vigalondo, Spain) Comical. B is for Bigfoot (Adrían Garcia Bogliano, Mexico) Just ok soap opera spoof. C is for Cycle by (Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Chile) Not very good. D is for Dogfight (Marcel Sarmiento, USA) Outstanding aural delight. E is for Exterminate (Angela Bettis, USA) Something about spiders. F is for Fart (Noburu Iguchi, Japan) Wretched bad taste joke. G is for Gravity (Andrew Traucki, Australia) Deadly dull surf death. H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion (Thomas Malling, Norway) WTF! I is for Ingrown (Jorge Michel Grau, Mexico) Unforgettable Psycho shower scene. J is for Jidai-Geki (Yudai Yamaguchi, Japan) Harakiri with laughs. K is for Klutz (Anders Morgenthaler, Denmark) Very funny poo joke. L is for Libido (Timo Tjahjanto, Indonesia) Sick. Disgusting. Vile. M is for Miscarriage (Ti West, USA) Lazy, insulting miscarriage. N is for Nuptials (Banjong Pisathanakun, Thailand) Loved this talking bird comedy. O is for Orgasm (Bruno Forzani & Héléne Cattet, Belgium) Arthouse perfection. P is for Pressure (Simon Rumley, UK) Sad. Twisted. Worth a second look. Q is for Quack by (Adam Wingard, USA) Surprisingly dull. R is for Removed (Srdjan Spasojevic, Serbia) Incomprehensible. Disappointing. S is for Speed (Jake West, UK) A ripper speed trip to Hell a la Mad Max. T is for Toilet (Lee Hardcastle, UK) Another toilet joke, but the best by far. U is for Unearthed (Ben Wheatley, UK) Interesting, but not arresting. V is for Vagitus (Kaare Andrews, USA) Weird sci-fi horror that's better than Oblivion. W is for WTF! (Jon Schnepp, USA) Chucking everything at the screen isn’t clever. X is for XXL (Xavier Gens, France) This gorefest should come with a health warning. Y is for Youngbuck (Jason Eisener, Canada) A sick delight and a visual feast. Z is for Zetsumetsu (Yoshihiro Nishimura, Japan) Wretched sushi sex comedy.
The ABCs of Death ★★★ Certificate: UK (18) | US (R) | Runtime 124 minutes
The ABCs of Death screens in 26 UK cinemas from 26 April 2013
THE WEBSITE For more on The ABCs of Death check out the film’s official website (click here)
THE DISC A DVD and Blu-ray edition of The ABCs of Death are set to be released on 3 June 2013. Available to pre-order now from Amazon and other online outlets.
THE PHOTOS Check out an A to Z of photos from the film on Flickr (click here http://youtube.com/v/9JAqUxEh2xI
