The ABCs of Death

This horror anthology, consisting of 26 alphabetically arranged short films by various directors in a number of languages (mostly Spanish, English, and Japanese), only sporadically rises above mediocrity and often descends into sheer awfulness. The sole directives imposed on the contributors were to begin and end their films in the color red and to include at least one death in their scripts. Overall, the funnier pieces come off best, including a couple of amusingly scatological animated entries, and Adam Wingard and Simon Barretta's live-action “Q is for Quack,” about two low-rent filmmakers who decide to make their short stand out by including a real death in it. A few of the more explicitly gruesome contributions carry real punch—like Marcel Sarmiento's “D is for Dogfight,” in which canine bites man (and vice versa), while others, even Noboru Iguchi's crudely obvious “F is for Fart,” sport eye-catching visuals. But, generally speaking, the grosser, more surrealistic pieces fall flat—such as Timo Tjahjanto's “L is for Libido” (about a masturbation contest)—and there are far fewer hits here than misses. Likelier to cause squeamishness (and impatience) than fright, this is not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by more than 30 filmmakers; behind-the-scenes segments, “making-of” featurettes, and deleted scenes for the various shorts (81 min. total); and an ASX TV-produced segment (4 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are three additional behind-the-scenes segments (40 min.) and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an uneven horror anthology.] (F. Swietek)