ABCs of Death 2.5

The challenge was to make a horror short of three minutes or less, inspired by the letter 'M'. Over 500 entries were submitted from around the globe, of which 26 finalists were compiled to make The ABC's of Death 2.5.

With such a short run-time in which to try and tell a story, the majority of 2.5's episodes prove predictably insubstantial, mere excuses for the film-makers to be as bizarre or outrageously gross as possible ('M is for Munging' being the winner there!). And as much as I enjoy the occasional spot of weirdness or gratuitous splatter, this rapid-fire collection left me longing for something a little more coherent.

Of the 26 entries, only a handful manage to impress: opening effort 'M is for Magnetic Tape' delivers a fun premise and some great special effects, 'M is for Malnutrition' ends with a neat Twilight Zone style twist, 'M is for Morman Missionaries' has a warped EC comics style payoff, and 'M is for Mother' features a big-ass spider.

The rest of the entries left me either disappointed or scratching my head in bewilderment.

ABCs of Death 2.5 is a production created by Drafthouse Films. The good people at Drafthouse Films invited directors from all over the world to submit a short film (sometimes less that 2 minutes long)about their take on dead. Out of the 500 films submitted ABCs of Death 2.5 is a compilation of the best 26 shorts submitted. Just when you think it couldn't get any better each short film begins with the letter 'M'.

The film is basically like Rob Zombie and Quentin Tarantino both got together, got drunk and then make a completely over the top compilation of the weirdest ways to kill people, or kill themselves in some cases.

Even for the content there's nothing too gory here if you seen either one of their movies but I wouldn't bring the kids.

I enjoyed abc of death 1 & 2! I find this 2.5 disappointing and quite boring.

Were as the first two entries did deliver pure gore and horror this next part in the franchise isn't the best. It do offer some gory moments but there also shorts that make you go, what is this and what has it to do with the ABC franchise.

All shorts are only 3 minutes long and so you have to put all the segments to make it a horror or a watchable flick into those moments. And that's the problem with this compilation. There are parts that like the first one you are thinking oh yes, this is gonna be a hell of a ride because it did contain gore but also absurd moments. And there are a few with that kind of story. Just have a look at ABC 1 and 2. The time the short take were overall longer and you were sucked into the story. here you are left sometimes with a bitter feeling, it's like these shorts were leftovers.

It do has a bit of gore here and there but I can't say that it is something of a gore galore compilation. Just another mediocre entry.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Technically, this shouldn't be counted as one of the pieces of the original series cause there are a couple of reasons backing up this verdict. For one, this time the shorts are collected from fan entries around the globe as opposed to submissions from professional filmmakers. And two, it doesn't obey the alphabetical pattern of the last two; instead, they have decided to only employ the letter 'M'.

Not only did this particular decision influence the established format of this conception, but it also constrained all the creators from an artistic point of view as well as from boundlessly exhibiting their skills and creativeness. While the clips themselves aren't anything terrible, it's rather the quality on a collective level that took an apparent hit this time around as the gradual degradation in their typical standards is quite observable.