Stephen R. Covey once said, “Strength lies in differences,
not in similarities.” That’s certainly the case with The ABCs of Death, a 2012
American anthology horror film produced by Ant Timpson and Tim League. Their
plan was simple, one movie consisting of 26 short films, shot by up and coming
directors from 15 countries. Each director was assigned a letter of the
alphabet and given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving death.
While the individual chapters were always going to be a
little hit and miss, depending on your taste in horror, the quality of
filmmakers is undeniable. Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), Noboru Iguchi (The
Machine Girl), Yudai Yamaguchi (Tamami), Ti West (The Innkeepers), Banjong
Pisanthanakun (Shutter), Adam Wingard (A Horrible Way to Die) and our very own
Ben Wheatley (Kill List) lend their skills to a disjointed, occasionally
offensive, often engaging and highly recommended movie going experience.
Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo is an ideal choice to get
the ball rolling, having directed the sublime time travel thriller, Time
Crimes. His entry, A is for Apocalypse, sets an awkward tone that ABCs never
quite recovers from, but then one might argue that’s also the reason why it
remained so captivating. Apocalypse is a darkly comic offering that sets a
relatively high standard, one that the following two chapters fail to live up
to.
One of the standout chapters arrives as early as D, with
Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl) delivering a savagely entertaining short that
delivers in every sense of the word. A lot of the stories lack closure but D is
for Dogfight feels complete, and if I had to choose a favourite chapter it
would probably be this. There are several gems littered throughout and the
diversity at times is staggering. Q is for Quack takes a self mocking tone and
is all the more enjoyable for it, Y is for Youngbuck veers into revenge
territory and U is for Unearthed earns points for injecting new life into a
saturated sub-genre.
If you’re looking for something a little insane you’re bound
to find it here, with the Asian entries in particular offering up a heady dose
of light relief. Or in the case of Noboru Iguchi’s F is for Fart, a heady dose
of light release. Yudai Yamaguchi (Tamami) blends samurai styling with goofy
humour in J is for Jidai-geki and Banjong Pisanthanakun (Shutter) takes us on a
bloodthirsty flight of fancy. All surpassed by Lee Hardcastle’s entry, the
winner of an online competition to find talented new filmmakers, who gives the
concept of toilet humour an amusing and literal spin.
Lacklustre entries are inevitable of course; not least the
inexcusable M is for Miscarriage, an ill-conceived shocker that smacks of
laziness and distaste. The fact that it comes from Ti West – the director of
The Innkeepers and The House of the Devil – makes it doubly disappointing. G is
for Gravity fails to find it’s footing too, leaving you with an overwhelming
sense of, ‘oh, is that it?’ They’re not the only ones either, B is for Bigfoot,
E is for Exterminate and I is for Ingrown open promisingly but fail to engage
in the way that they should.
There are still highlights waiting to be discovered though,
with one chapter in particular proving just how far $5000 can go. V is for
Vagitus (the crying of a newborn baby) is an electrifying sci-fi movie that
bleeds creativity from every pour. Kaare Andrews – a Canadian comic book
writer, artist and filmmaker – puts the other directors to shame in terms of jaw-dropping
spectacle. His 2010 directorial debut, Altitude, is also worth checking out.
Extreme cinema finds a home in Timo Tjahjanto’s L is for
Libido, an uncompromising entry that deals with ejaculation, masturbation and
chainsaws. P is for Pressure has the potential of pushing animal lovers over
the edge and X is for XXL makes a powerful point about appearance. Directed by
Xavier Gens (Frontiers), XXL really goes for the jugular, earning its place
with a sickening display of self-harm and social commentary. I’m not sure if I
should be more disturbed by the subject matter or the fact that it was one of
my favourite chapters.
The second half of the movie is stronger than the first,
with Jon Schnepp’s entry for ‘W’ summing up the whole experience perfectly, but
fans of the horror genre are bound to find something to enjoy along the way.
With entries varying from 30 seconds to 5 minutes in length, there’s never
enough time to get bored and the scattershot approach actually works in its
favour. The ABCs proves, if nothing else, that there’s plenty of life in death,
and the horror genre seems to be in very safe hands indeed. AW
You definitely picked some of my favorites, especially D for Dogfight, L for Libido and X for XXL. Sadly, I could not get into the Japanese entries at all. Which one did Shutter director Pisanthanakun do? I also enjoyed Q for Quack and N for Nuptials as my comic relief. F for Fart from Japan just made me roll my eyes at its absurdity.
ReplyDeletePisanthanakun directed one of your favourites, N is for Nuptials. When we watched this we had sunk a few glasses of vino, which certainly helped F is for Fart!
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