Slaxx

Ok this movie is completely aware of what it is. A horror comedy! The script is wonderful. The satire of the current retail culture is spot on. The special effects are hilarious. I love the kills in this movie. I didn't think I would be entertained by a killer pair of jeans but I was completely wrong. This movie was the perfect fit.

Right before a new product launch, a killer pair of jeans eats all the staff at an upscale hipster store. The new girl has to stop the pants from getting out and killing more.

Here is a movie that had a nice over the top premise and manages to botch it in almost every way. First of all, it was shot way too drab and self-serious. The acting was all over the top goofy, and the attempts at a political message were way too heavy handed for what they were making. If you want to make a "Bad good" B movie you have to treat it seriously in presentation but lean into the goofiness, not do what this did and treat it goofy in presentation and lean into the seriousness. Tonally opposite of what it needed to be. Waste of a tremendous premise and a few cute scenes. BLEH.

Crazy Canadian horror Slaxx not only boasts a bonkers concept - a pair of possessed jeans kills workers at a fashion store - but it also squeezes in some social commentary as well, taking swipes at companies that use unethical methods in order to reduce manufacturing costs, whilst mocking the superficiality of those working in the clothing retail industry.

The problem is that, in doing so, it reduces the majority of the characters to ridiculously unpleasant one-dimensional caricatures that are hard to endure. Most irritating is store manager Craig (Brett Donahue), but his associates aren't far behind: there's his loathsome rival Barb (Tianna Nori), irksome CCC managing director Harold Landsgrove (Stephen Bogaert), self-absorbed YouTuber Peyton Jules (Erica Anderson), and the obnoxious floor staff with serious attitude problems. While I understand that they're played this way in order to parody vacuous slaves to fashion, and to make the violent deaths all the more welcome, the OTT performances quickly become extremely grating.

Only idealistic and enthusiastic new employee Libby (Romane Denis) is portrayed as likeable, a single ray of light in a world inhabited by the narcissistic and egocentric.

Where the film does succeed is with the special effects: the living trousers are well executed, with a particularly fun scene where they dance to Bollywood music, and the kills are nice and juicy, the jeans spilling plenty of claret whilst graphically dismembering its victims. Gore fans will definitely appreciate the carnage. Oh, and the downbeat ending makes a nice change.

So, not a roaring success in my book, but still fun at times: try it on for size... there's a chance you might enjoy it more than I did.

A cursed pair of form fitting blue jeans winds up on the shelf of a cheesy corporate clothing emporium and terrorizes any of the employees who dare to try them on as they set up for a major sale.

There's a lot of fun stuff about Slaxx and it works for about the first 50/60 minutes, but the last act runs out of steam right as it should be swinging from the rafters and it lost me.

There's a tinge of interesting social commentary, but starts trying to get a little too serious after an hour of absurdist humor and gore and the tones don't match. It's still worth a watch for fans of cheesy, funny horror movies.

A trendy, eco-conscious, holier-than-thou clothing chain experiences a reckoning at the hands (legs?) of some possessed jeans as its flagship store launches it's new denim collection. There's some attempted skewering of social media influencers, snobby store employees, and environmental hypocrites that doesn't really work as well as it should, but I was pretty happy with the gore and quick pace of the first two acts; unfortunately, the third seems to take forever even though the whole movie is only 77 minutes long. I enjoyed the VFX of the pants though, and there's a cute behind the scenes shot during the credits. Slaxx didn't wow me, but it was a pretty good fit for a rainy night at home.