In terms of revitalizing the anthology horror film, 2012's The ABCs of Death was just what the Cryptkeeper ordered. Released on the heels of the woeful V/H/S, the movie upped the ante in a huge way and represented the boldest step forward the genre had taken in some time. A motley crew of directors -- each armed with a letter of the alphabet to inspire them -- earned free rein to cook up the craziest scenarios they could involving all matters dark and disturbing. While the final product had its highs and lows, one still came away from it confident, with visions of future collaborations between filmmakers of various disciplines dancing in our skulls. ABCs of Death 2 is the first attempt to carry on this fledgling legacy of terror, and though it's about as mixed of a bag as its predecessor, the film at least achieves its primary goal of informing viewers just how wide and weird the world of horror can get.

Following in the first flick's stead, ABCs of Death 2 supplies one short film for each letter of the alphabet, all involving the concept of death in some respect. There's no wraparound story to tie them all together, for the movie opts to power right on through its twenty-six twisted chapters:

A Is for Amateur - A hitman's efforts to take out a target go horribly awry.

B Is for Badger - A documentary crew runs afoul of nasty little critters supposedly killed off by nuclear waste.

C Is for Capital Punishment - When a woman goes missing, an angry mob takes the law into its own hands.

D Is for Deloused - A dead man brought back to life finds that resurrection comes with a hefty price.

E Is for Equilibrium - Two guys stranded on a desert isle find their way of life shaken up with the arrival of a third party.

F Is for Falling - Soldiers from opposing sides in a conflict encounter each other when one of them parachutes into a tree.

G Is for Grandad - A jerk learns the hard way that he should know better than to mouth off to his grandfather.

H Is for Head Games - An amorous couple discovers that love can be a literal battlefield.

I Is for Invincible - Greedy relatives try to kill their extremely resilient granny and collect their inheritance to no avail.

J Is for Jesus - An attempted exorcism backfires on the preachers performing it.

K Is for Knell - The arrival of a strange spherical object in the sky ignites a wave of murders.

L Is for Legacy - A bloodthirsty monster lays waste to an African village.

M Is for Masticate - A shirtless zombie embarks on a midday feeding frenzy.

N Is for Nexus - Tragedy meets a cast of characters who converge on Halloween night.

O Is for Ochlocracy (Mob Rule) - Former zombies decide to put the humans who tried to kill them on trial.

P Is for P-P-P-P Scary! - After making a jailbreak, a trio of stuttering criminals encounter a strange man.

Q Is for Questionnaire - An intelligence exam prepares an unsuspecting subject for a horrible transformation.

R Is for Roulette - To save their lives, three people trapped in a basement must play a certain game with a gun.

S Is for Split - A man on the phone with his wife listens helplessly as she experiences a home invasion.

T Is for Torture Porn - The crew of a sleazy adult film shoot cross the wrong would-be starlet.

U Is for Utopia - A lower-class man suffers the consequences of infiltrating an upper-crust paradise.

V Is for Vacation - A woman learns the truth about what her boyfriend's really been up to on his Thailand getaway.

W Is for Wish - Two kids get sucked into the world of their favorite action figures.

X Is for Xylophone - A child's instrument drives her babysitter past the brink of madness.

Y Is for Youth - A teenager fantasizes grotesque fates for the people who've wronged her.

Z Is for Zygote - While waiting for her husband, a woman proceeds to carry on a thirteen-year pregnancy.

Although it soars and falters in its own ways, ABCs of Death 2 is just about on par with the first movie when it comes to overall quality. As with the original, the selected segments cover a wide range of styles, mediums, and countries of origin. The bulk of the shorts abide by a certain sense of fantasy, while others (particularly the "F" section) are much more grounded in reality. Telling a satisfying story in the short time these filmmakers are allotted is tricky, but we get some who pull through and deliver the goods. The "O" short is without a doubt the movie's highlight, for running the gamut of emotions and taking on multiple tasks (simultaneously being a social satire, a family drama, and a zombie gorefest) while feeling totally complete at the end. "A" was a wickedly fun spoof on all those improbably well-prepared cinematic assassins, while "Y" is a touching glimpse into a girl's distraught mind that serves up some of the entire film's most bizarre images. As far as the other side of the extreme, nothing in ABCs of Death 2 is overtly awful (save for perhaps the pointless and grating "P" short), but there does seem to be a greater abundance of vignettes that are completely and utterly forgettable. "Okay" seems the operative word in describing the majority of what's seen here, with a lengthy succession of shorts striking out with promising set-ups, only to quickly shed their novelty upon ending on predictably ironic notes. Though it's great that nothing sucks to the point of frustration, the myriad of mediocre stories amounts to an uneventful show, most of whose twists and diabolical denouements you can spot creeping up on you from a mile away.

However, the plentiful presence of bad apples in ABCs of Death 2 hasn't squashed my curiosity to see this series unfold. The premise is too irresistible for me to give up pondering the tales other genre talents could spin, and without an overarching story to connect all of them together, there aren't any hang-ups to popping these flicks in expressly to check out your favorites. ABCs of Death 2 may be an uneven horror showcase, but this franchise's potential "ain't down for the count" just yet.

(Released by Magnet Releasing; not rated by MPAA.)