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The ABCs of Death

Play trailer Poster for The ABCs of Death Released Mar 8, 2013 2h 3m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
39% Tomatometer 67 Reviews 23% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
An anthology of stories helmed by more than two dozen directors details 26 ways to die, each corresponding to a different letter of the alphabet.
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The ABCs of Death

The ABCs of Death

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Critics Consensus

As is often the case with anthology films, The ABCs of Death is wildly uneven, with several legitimately scary entries and a bunch more that miss the mark.

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Critics Reviews

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Catherine Shoard Guardian It presents 26 disparate (read: in need of an editor) slices of dicing from 26 directors you've almost certainly never heard of (and indeed, the one you have - Ben Wheatley - feels tainted by association). Rated: 2/5 Apr 25, 2013 Full Review Rebecca Ellis Little White Lies The fans will love. The faint-hearted won't. Rated: 3/5 Apr 25, 2013 Full Review Nigel Floyd Time Out Gives a sense of horror movie making learned by rote - at a boy's school where girls have been admitted under sufferance. Rated: 2/5 Apr 24, 2013 Full Review Patrick Cavanaugh The Wolfman Cometh The volume of shorts contained in this anthology set the film apart from its predecessors, as the audience doesn't have time to get bored with any shorts and the effective scenes will stick with them for quite some time. Rated: 4/5 Sep 22, 2023 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com With each segment running at roughly five minutes in length, there's an inordinate amount of forgettable entries, but that's not to say it's not worth a look. Jul 24, 2019 Full Review Naila Scargill Exquisite Terror The real standout is "Dogfight" from Marcel Sarmiento, an unsettling piece that lingers longer than any other story here. Feb 28, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Sarah E What a joke embarrassing pathetic I don't know what else to say but what a waste of my life watching this Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/13/24 Full Review Sabrina D This movie was insane! And I get where many reviewers are coming from in terms of disturbing content and low budget/over the top. But humanity is frequently predatory, depraved, vapid-and broke. All of which are on full display here. It's not meant to make you feel a simple thrill, knowing full-well that you're safe on your couch. It's supposed to make you wonder what worms are crawling in the minds of those around you. Your neighbor, your coworker, your lover...perhaps yourself? The stories don't flow, nor are they supposed to. Their disjointedness elevates the unnerving nature of the film as a whole. It was gross, it was dumb, it was funny, it was confusing, and somehow scary when it didn't mean to be. It was like watching humanity watch itself. Did I cringe? Yes. Did I get nauseated? Also yes. Did I watch it entirely, read the reviews, then post this? Absofrigginlutely. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/28/24 Full Review John C `The ABCs of Death' is a hard film to review. Largely because it's not really a film. It's a two hour set of twenty-six different short films, each dealing with a different way of death (normally pretty horrific ones). I can't imagine there are many people who will love EVERY single segment. I certainly didn't. Because each part is written/directed by a different person, you have every type of interpretation of a death, ranging from humorous types, to sadistic types, to gory types and generally just surreal types. Yes, any horror fan is bound to love a percentage of them, you're also bound to find a few that leave you absolutely cold. I would say - as a horror fan - I `got' about half of them. The other half I could quite happily have skipped. At least each part is only about five minutes long, so, when you encounter one that just doesn't do it, you don't have to endure it for long. One for horror buffs only (just keep your thumb on the DVD remote's `skip' button - you'll quickly get the measure of each one and probably know if you're going to see it through to the end. If not... on to the next). Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/20/24 Full Review Andy B Anthology films are often patchy. This can work to their advantage as if you don’t like a segment, you don’t have too long to wait for it to finish. That advantage should be even more in play in this film as there are 26 segments. Each one is directed by a different person, so we should have 26 different visions of death. Some are light-hearted, some gritty, some grim. None are really scary and most are massively pretentious. Several segments go way over the line of good taste - L is for Libido particularly. Some are just plain weird - and not in a good way. Overall, a waste of time though it does give us a list of filmmakers to avoid. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 05/26/24 Full Review Jean M "The ABCs of Death" is a unique anthology film that explores mortality through a series of short, alphabetical segments, each representing a different method of death. However, I found the overall execution of this concept to be quite disappointing and, frankly, nauseating. The film's approach to depicting death ranges from the bizarre to the grotesque, with each segment directed by a different filmmaker. While some of these shorts are creative and thought-provoking, many others delve into gratuitous violence and shock value without much substance or purpose. One of the significant issues with "The ABCs of Death" is its inconsistency. The quality of the segments varies wildly, making it a jarring and disjointed viewing experience. Additionally, some shorts are so over-the-top in their attempts to shock that they become more laughable than disturbing. Moreover, the film's reliance on graphic content and shock tactics feels more exploitative than meaningful. It often crosses the line into tastelessness, leaving viewers with a sense of revulsion rather than introspection. Overall, "The ABCs of Death" is a disappointing attempt to explore profound themes through a unique storytelling format. While it may appeal to fans of extreme horror looking for a dose of shock, the film's lack of coherence and reliance on shock value makes it a forgettable and unpleasant watch for most viewers. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/15/24 Full Review Emoji M Glad I didn't rewatch this movie because yeah it's sucks so much. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/06/24 Full Review Read all reviews
The ABCs of Death

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Cast & Crew

The ABCs of Death

The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - R is for Removed The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - R is for Removed 3:00 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - D is for Dogfight The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - D is for Dogfight 3:00 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - W is for WTF The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - W is for WTF 3:00 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - S is for Speed The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - S is for Speed 3:00 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - T is for Toilet The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - T is for Toilet 2:59 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion 2:58 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - V is for Vagitus The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - V is for Vagitus 3:00 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - A is for Apocalypse The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - A is for Apocalypse 3:00 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - F is for Fart The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - F is for Fart 3:00 The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - K is for Klutz The ABCs of Death: Official Clip - K is for Klutz 3:00 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis An anthology of stories helmed by more than two dozen directors details 26 ways to die, each corresponding to a different letter of the alphabet.
Director
Angela Bettis, Hélène Cattet, Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Jason Eisener, Bruno Forzani, Adrián García Bogliano, Xavier Gens, Noboru Iguchi, Thomas Cappelen Malling, Jorge Michel Grau, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Simon Rumley, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Srdjan Spasojevic, Timo Tjahjanto, Andrew Traucki, Nacho Vigalondo, Jake West
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Production Co
Magnet Releasing
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 8, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$7.0K
Runtime
2h 3m
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