Slaxx Proves Skinny Jeans Can Be Murder

SLAXX is the Canadian horror comedy film about the dark side of killer fashion. Produced in 2020, the film made its debut on Shudder and DVD last month to audiences worldwide.

Directed by Elza Kephart, SLAXX is the story of a young woman named Libby (Romane Denis) who takes a position at a trendy clothing store only to have her dreams of working in the fashion industry turn into her worst nightmare. The night before the big launch of the company's newest jeans, called Super Shapers, one of Libby’s co-workers steal a pair of the new jeans from the backroom and puts them on. Little does she know this particular batch of the new jeans have been possessed by the spirit of a young Hindi child laborer who died while threshing the cotton she picked to make them. Out for revenge and thirsting for blood, the jeans kill the worker and proceed to run amok through the store feeding off the blood of all its inhabitants.

Given the ridiculous premise of this film I was not expecting much from it; over-the-top acting enhanced the comedy aspect of the film at times and ruined the suspenseful parts in others. The practical effects and puppetry of bringing a pair of jeans to life to stalk the unsuspecting cast was totally the best part of this movie. Some of the CGI effects seemed cheaply done in some areas, but the practical effects far outshined any and all of the computer-generated gore that a pair of killer pants can throw at your screen.

A fun, mindless, comedy horror film at the start was quite enjoyable at times, it later turns preachy and wants to make a social commentary on an aspect of society. This totally ruined the vibe that the film worked so hard to produce the first two-thirds of the movie. Given they had to explain why the jeans were dead set on killing everyone that squeezed into them, the filmmakers did not need to dwell as long as they did on the social message they were trying to push in your head throughout the whole last half hour of the film. It is a movie about killer jeans, after all; how many people watching his film at the end will gather their picket signs and go protest the consumerist lifestyle we all lead? My guess is slim to none.

The film does have its moments: never before would I have dreamed of seeing a pair of possessed pants running around a clothing store, lapping up spilled blood like a dog. The filmmakers missed out on a great opportunity to really expand on one of the gags when the jeans donned a mannequin’s body and walked down the hallway, a concept I wish could have been used more throughout the film rather than just the section it was featured in.

SLAXX is an off-the-wall story with great practical effects and laugh-out-loud humor, spoiled by poor CGI and social commentary on child labor practices and American consumerism. The film has a durable start, but ultimately falls apart at the seams.