''ABCs of Death 2'' is a 2014 American

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

produced by Ant Timpson and Tim League. It contains 26 different shorts, each by different directors spanning various countries. It is a sequel to ''

The ABCs of Death ''The ABCs of Death'' is a 2012 American comedy horror anthology film produced by international producers and directed by filmmakers from around the world. The film contains 26 shorts, each by different directors spanning fifteen countries, inc ...

'' (2012), and second installment in the ''ABCs of Death'' film series. Directors featured include Jim Hosking,

Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen (born 20 June 1971) is a Nigerian film director and film producer. Popularly known as De' Guvnor of Nollywood] Career Imasuen has worked in the film industry since 1995, mainly as a film director and producer. He currentl ...

, the Jen and Sylvia Soska, Soska sisters,

Julian Barratt Julian Barratt Pettifer (born 4 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe along ...

Rodney Ascher Rodney Ascher is an American film director, best known for his 2012 documentary ''Room 237''. Early life His mother is Jewish, and he resides in Hollywood. Awards *''Best Director Award'' at the Austin Fantastic Fest (2012, won for ''Room 237'') ...

Kristina Buožytė Kristina Buožytė (; born October 9, 1982) is a Lithuanian film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. In her early films she focused on women, explored their inner world and depicted them using fantasy elements. Her science fiction ...

Larry Fessenden Laurence T. Fessenden (born March 23, 1963) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits inclu ...

, Navot Papushado,

Aharon Keshales Aharon Keshales (; born 16 April 1976) is an Israeli film director, screenwriter, and film critic. Biography Keshales was born in Jaffa, Israel, to a Sephardic Jewish family. He grew up in Bat Yam, Israel. He served as a soldier in the Intellig ...

Bill Plympton Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Award–nominated animated short '' Your Face'' and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting ...

, and

Vincenzo Natali Vincenzo Natali (born 1969) is an American-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, known for writing and directing science fiction and horror films such as ''Cube'', '' Cypher'', ''Nothing'', and '' Splice''. Early life and education Natal ...

. The film received a much more positive response than its predecessor. A second sequel titled ''ABCs of Death 3: Teach Harder'' was announced to be in development during the post-credits

title card In films and videos, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (hence, ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred ...

. However, due to illegal pirating of the second film, the status of the project has been left in

development hell Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic ...

. Despite this, producers released what they categorized as a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

, titled '' ABC's of Death 2½'' in 2016.

Plot

Like the first film, the sequel is divided into 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. The varieties of death range from accidents to murders. A contest was held for the role of the 26th director. The winner was music video director Robert Boocheck, who submitted his short for M.

Content

The movie begins with a creepy stop-motion storybook that opens showing children doing a variety of fun activities that end up being very deadly (i.e. a jump rope slices a girl in half, children playing ball with a boy's head and a girl on a swing made from a boy's intestines). Throughout the film, a teacher with a skeleton face presents the titles to all the segments, with each of the segments ending and beginning with a focus on, or a fade into, the color black.

Reception

The

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 77% approval rating based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''ABCs of Death 2'' delivers some inventively gory thrills, offering a surprising (albeit still somewhat uneven) upgrade over its predecessor".

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned a score of 53 out of 100 based on ten critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

* * * {{Bill Plympton 2014 black comedy films 2014 comedy horror films 2014 films 2014 independent films 2014 LGBTQ-related films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American black comedy films American comedy horror films American horror anthology films American independent films American sequel films American splatter films American supernatural horror films Films based on urban legends Films directed by Bill Plympton Films directed by Julian Gilbey Films directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo Films directed by the Soska sisters Films directed by Steven Kostanski Films directed by Vincenzo Natali Films with screenplays by Vincenzo Natali LGBTQ-related horror films Films with live action and animation American LGBTQ-related films English-language comedy horror films English-language independent films