One Letter Short for 'ABCs of Death 2'

Break out your primers and blood-resistant drop cloths. Drafthouse Films, Timpson Pictures and Magnet have announced the roster of 25 film making teams that will be cutting and splicing together their next anthology, The ABCs of Death 2. 25? Not 26 letters in the alphabet? No, wait, that's deliberate.

Last year, The ABCs of Death ran through the alphabet of ichor, establishing the format: Each director gets a letter of the alphabet and has to create the most gruesome, insightful or ingenious way to dispatch, dismember and generally remove from the gene pool. That first murderers' row of filmmakers included a most wanted list of Fantastic Fest and SXSW veterans including Ti West (House of the Devil), Adam Barrett and Simon Wingard (You're Next), Angela Bettis (Roman) and Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film).

Part two is another chance to catch up with some FF alumni, including Cuban horror-comedy genius Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead), Marcus Dunstan (The Collection), and Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (responsible for the fabulous and freakish Vanishing Waves.) It's also yet more good news for Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary), who just announced they will be helming the second installment in WWE's horror franchise, See No Evil. Then there's a host of future FF stars, including English comedian Julian Barratt (appearing in the upcoming A Field in England) and Sion Sono (a veteran with Cold Fish but returning with Why Don't You Play in Hell.)

There are some real wild cards in here too: Animation icon Bill Plympton will be bringing his trademark pencils to the killing game, while Nollywood mogul Lancelot Imasuen will be displaying Nigeria's finest.

Between them, they'll be ripping and rending 25 segments. So what about that last letter? Just like last time, the producers are using a Battle Royale-style death match to select the final director. Well, actually, it's a film-making competition. According to the producers, the entry instructions are simpler than sticking a fork in an outlet:

1: Choose your own ABCs OF DEATH word starting with the letter “M.” For example, M is For Murder … or ideally something way more creative than that.
2: Create a short film inspired by the word you’ve chosen. How you interpret the word is entirely up to each competitor. You can shoot live-action, animation, stop-motion, use actors, cut-outs, puppets or animals.
3: Upload your short to Vimeo or YouTube and then submit it.

The winner gets $5,000 and their blood-splattered segment added into the film. For more details, visit www.26th.abcsofdeathpart2.com. Here's the full director line-up so far:

Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh, A Field in England)
Todd Rohal (The Catechism Cataclysm)
Steven Kostanski (Manborg)
Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead)
Jim Hosking ('Renegades')
Hajime Ohata (Henge)
Chris Nash ('Skinfections' trilogy)
Álex de la Iglesia (The Last Circus, Witching & Bitching)
Rodney Ascher (Room 237)
Bill Plympton (Plymptoons, I Married a Strange Person)
Erik Matti (On the Job)
Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (Vanishing Waves)
Sion Sono (Cold Fish, Suicide Club)
Vincenzo Natali (Splice, Cube, Haunter)
Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter)
Marcus Dunstan (The Collection)
Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside, Livid)
E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills)
Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary, Dead Hooker in a Trunk)
Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (Rabies, Big Bad Wolves)
Julian Gilbey (A Lonely Place to Die)
Dennison Ramalho ('Ninjas', 'Love for Mother Only')
Lancelot Imasuen (Bent Arrows)
Jerome Sable ('The Legend of Beaver Dam', 'Stagefright')
Robert Morgan ('Bobby Yeah')