Slaxx

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.

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.

First there were movies. Then there were bad movies. Then there were movies that were so bad, they were good again. Then there were movies that knew they were bad. And we knew they knew. And they knew we knew they knew. And this brings us to Slaxx.

It's not the first film to knowingly embrace it's own stupidity. Coming in not quite as juvenile as Thankskilling, while not as meta as Rubber, Slaxx attempts to maintain the surface veneer of a genuine horror movie. Except it's a horror movie about pants, which aren't scary, cause they're pants, and this is where it becomes a comedy. The humour mostly plays off the deadpan reactions to the ludicrous scenario, and for the most part it lands.

Seeing as it's a parody, it can't really be faulted for it's rote characters. The overly obvious final girl seems necessary for the genre exercise, though the insufferable influencer hits the valley girl stereotype a little too on the nose and ends up being even more annoying than intended. The store manager is similarly over the top and maybe needlessly cartoonish, though his blatant denial of the obvious is the source of some of the best laughs.

I feel neutral about the moral bend of the film. Obviously, something this goofy doesn't need to have any truly deep things to say, and "sweatshops are bad" is pretty surface level social commentary. However, it's peppered in sparingly enough to not detract from the main attraction, and like, sweatshops are bad. Even though we seemed to have abandoned the cause in the 90s since we don't want to have to pay more for our shoes, it doesn't make it any less awful. Maybe a movie about killer jeans will finally wake up the world to enact long overdue social change! (It won't)

Generally I like social messages, I like it when people realize that they can change things, even with the smallest effort. And maybe this movie achieves to change some peoples mind on buying clothes every other day. Cheap clothes that is (I won't even mention the stores that sell them). So making a movie about a Jeans that is out for blood (literally) is as far out as it sounds. There is nothing more to add to that.

But the movie itself (if you can deal and dig all the violence) is quite cliche. And the finger pointing and over the top characters will either work for you or against you/the movie. It is tough to sympathize with anyone in this (even with the explanation given) and painting them as one dimensional as possible does not add to that either. If you either don't mind and just want to enjoy some rather fine blood and special effects, good. Maybe the message makes it all good for you .. but there will be quite a few that probably will just plainly be annoyed by most of the movie ... just a fair warning. Overall I would rate it decent myself, all things considered

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.