It may be easier for anthology sequels to be better than follow-ups of a more regular kind. It’s more possible to totally ditch anything (and anyone) that wasn’t working out, and there’s less baggage of trying to do something with a story that may well have reached its natural end in the previous film. Nonetheless, the achievement here is impressive, an even bigger leap in overall quality from ‘The ABCs of Death’ than ‘V/H/S 2’ was from ‘V/H/S’. I’m pretty sure there’s also a higher level of gore in this one, which is overall a good thing.
A strong start is reinforced by the presence of the lovely Andy Nyman and Julian Barratt playing a right couple of arseholes – in ‘A is for Amateur’ and ‘B is for Badger’, respectively – and the compellingly messed-up stop-motion animation ‘D is for Deloused’. ‘I is for Invincible’ has an enjoyable ‘Evil Dead’ feel to it as a family desperately try to kill off their elderly, but somewhat devilish, grandmother. Also notable are more serious shorts like ‘J is for…’ – never mind what it’s for, it’ll spoil the end – and the playfully bloody ‘M is for Masticate’, elevated by a very funny punchline.
There’s a scattering of more ordinary ones, but thankfully nothing I’d just dismiss as being outright shit. ‘T is for Torture Porn’ was a definite crowd-pleaser, not just because those behind it were in the cinema at the time, and was an unusual short film in that it felt it was cut back too soon, rather than being a more self-contained piece. Is that a negative or a positive? I don’t know, but what I am saying is, I think I speak for all of us when I say if it’s a choice between (a) more anal assault by demons, or (b) less, I’m so rarely in the mood for (b).
‘W is for Wish’ was another funny but unsettling highlight, combining the aesthetics of 1980s’ toy adverts with the stuff of childhood nightmares. Actually, those things are pretty close together as it is, so maybe it’s not such a great achievement after all.
Possibly the best, and it felt much lengthier than the others, was ‘Z is for Zygote’, detailing a 13-year pregnancy and all the complications you can imagine going into that, and a fantastically splattery sequence truly deserving of a standing ovation.
Right up until the end of ‘U’, I thought it was going to be called ‘U is for Ugly Police’. But it wasn’t. It should have been. My title is better.
I would happily watch ‘The ABCs of Death 3’.
redandblackrainbows 
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