Slaxx (2020) Poster

(2020)

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6/10
Fun Little Misfire
FilmFatale24 March 2021
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.
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6/10
This Movie Deserves More
Samisafan9 March 2021
Honestly, not that much more. But it still needs more credit than it's getting.

People are pointing out that this movie is fun, but pushes a tired message, and really, it does do that. The social message isn't really profound or incredible, and if you've seen a lot of films like this, then the message seems all the more cliche. However the movie focuses more on being funny than anything else. The message just gives the movie some necessary structure.

However, if you haven't seen films like this before, then this could be a hilarious and interesting movie for you at the same time rather than just "funny" or "whatever" as some of the veterans of the genre find it.

There are a few movies like this one already, but this one has some pretty great actors for what it is. And again, if you're new to the genre, this would be a great bizarre watch for you.
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6/10
Retail is murder!
youngcollind17 June 2022
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)
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4/10
Pretty bad, even for what it is
I love a good horror comedy. The idea of watching a movie about a pair of killer pants doesn't sound stupid to me at all.

This movie was pretty dumb. If you're going to make a movie about something clearly dumb, there's gotta be something else to hook the audience more than just "Wouldn't it be funny if pants killed people?" The pants had the most character of anyone in the movie, and that's saying something. Every character is an uninteresting, bland caricature of a trope., the plot is limp, and there's not a single line of comedy in the movie. Watch something else.
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7/10
Way more than fun than I thought it would be!
BandSAboutMovies23 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Slaxx has the highest of high concepts: a slasher about a pair of possessed jeans that is trying to kill everyone locked in on an overnight retail floorset. This movie hit a little too close to home for my wife, so has been through decades of managing stores and being part of events just like this. She said that the side of retail that believes too much in the power of the company, the cult that forms around retail management, is all too real.

The real joy of this movie is that it starts as a slasher within a clothing store and easily sets up the heroine, the villain and the victims, just like any number of stalk and kill movies. But once those doors lock and the first kills happen, the movie shifts to a really interesting tale of the myth of fair trade and the need for revenge.

Director Elza Kephart previously made Go In the Wilderness, a movie about Adam's first wife Lilith escaping the Garden of Eden and Graveyard Alive, the story of a shy nurse becoming sure of her sexuality after a zombie's bite. That movie was written by Patricia Gomez, who also wrote this script.

I can't wait to see what they do next, because this movie more than exceeded any expectation I had for it. I expected a gimmicky sub-Full Moon goof and ended up with a film with resonance. You can't do better than that.
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4/10
You got your social issue in my killer jeans movie
selfdestructo9 April 2022
And I was looking forward to this one. Too many lazy modern horror trappings for my taste. The cast is almost exclusively made up of insufferable, obnoxious, one-dimensional, self-absorbed Millenials (along with one sane person, the new girl, Libby, who is borderline-useless), there are several serious lapses in logic, all done for the convenience of the plot, most of the kills happen offscreen (I remember one gruesome kill, otherwise, let's just throw blood at the walls), and, well, let's have a silly movie about killer designer jeans have a SERIOUS MESSAGE. Say what? Yup, serious real-world message about child labor, and as one would expect, it gets the Certified Fresh seal of approval. Literally, the only way a horror movie gets a pass from the critics, is if it has a message or a racial issue, is historical, or has funny accents or subtitles. Would the critics know a clever, creative, quality horror movie if it came up and bit them on the rear end? Absolutely not. Literally, their only criteria is it has to be "important" (or foreign) to be any good. I enjoyed Slaxx to a point. I could not NOT watch a movie about a killer pair of jeans, and I did like how the origin story tied in. But the plot contrivances (never mind hating basically everyone in this) are real hard to ignore. One such thing I saw on Superstore, and I thought it was idiotic then.

If you sat through the sorriest of sorry assortment of DVD extras included like I did, you'd also realize what a pill this director is.
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7/10
There is literally blood in these jeans
nouyrigatantoine15 March 2021
A good little gory film, and a first realization which seduced me by its criticism of the textile and fashion industry. There is blood in our clothes as in our cellphones, the marketing advocating ethical and organic clothes often being GMOs resulting from the exploitation of childrens and underpaid employees. Here the jeans come to life and want to do justice, against the wild and cynical Western consumer society, the pretentious influencers and the upstart store managers, which gives rise to funny scenes with gore effects and CGIs neither prodigious nor failed. . The staging and the photography is rather successful, and makes me want to watch the next achievements of Elza Kephart having until now mainly worked in the artistic department on several films including several X men films.
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5/10
The characters are harder to stomach than the gore.
BA_Harrison13 March 2021
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.
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6/10
Good For A Bit
ellenmorrison-1248510 May 2021
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.
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4/10
Slaxx-ing off
Stanlee10727 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The concept of killer jeans (born out of a vengeance victim) is ridiculous but they play this out straight. It may be a dark comedy in disguise. Most of the characters are self obsessed which might be a dig at the fashion industry & some of those social media influencers.

Furthermore, the tragic story of girl accidentally killed supplying the material to create the jeans could be social commentary of what happens in reality. That the big companies in the world exploit the poorer countries (& often using child labour) to make their products from which they make absurd amount of profit. The blood spilt may be a metaphor for the harsh reality of those exploited as many have lost their lives for the selfish betterment of the multi-millionaire/billionaire companies.

The film itself is typical for this genre. It is ok but it is far from being a great film.
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8/10
Fun
ryanlewiz-864-75126117 March 2021
It is never hilarious. Socioeconomic statement is clear but doesn't dominate. It is never really frightening. It is still well edited, clever, fun film with a great lead performance. The brief outtakes during the credits are worth your while. Creative. 7.5/10
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6/10
Justice for Keerat
jfgibson7327 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Here is a horror comedy that comes very close to my style of humor. It's pretty wacky, but what makes it fun is all the terrible people that work in the trendy clothing store. A pair of evil jeans kills them off one by one, and it mostly fun. Then, we get the backstory: a little girl working in the cotton fields where the jeans were sourced from was killed while helping gather the materials for the clothing. Now the jeans stop to dance whenever Bollywood music plays. It doesn't slow them down much--everyone dies, even the well-meaning heroine who tries to talk that pants down from its murderous spree. When it ends with shoppers tearing the door down to buy the deadly clothes, you don't really mind what happens to them. I don't think I will watch it again, but this is one I HAD to see.
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5/10
Killer Jeans - Jeans to kill for(?)
kosmasp29 September 2020
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
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4/10
Dullsville
Go_For_The_Jugular21 March 2021
Starts off well...but goes downhill quickly. Gets unbearably slow after the kills. Exposition that seems to go on for an eternity. Some ridiculously silly scenes that will make you cringe and a whole lot of 'plot convenience'.

Some really good CGI though.
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6/10
Pretty entertaining
josephjanz3 August 2021
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.
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3/10
This was something else...
paul_haakonsen25 April 2022
Right, well just when you thought you had actually seen it all; killer clowns, killer toys, killer tomatoes, then there was "Slaxx". And what is "Slaxx", you might ask? Well, a 2020 horror comedy from writers Patricia Gomez and Elza Kephart about killer pants. Yup, you read that right; killer pants.

Sure, "Slaxx" is a horror comedy, but the movie just didn't really work out all that well, especially because the movie was frightfully devoid of comedy elements. So it was somewhat of a struggle to sit through the ordeal and watch a pair of CGI animated jeans kill store workers at a fashion outlet.

I will say that the concept idea definitely had some potential to it, but it was just a bit far out there. I mean, I get the whole thing about pants to die for, but pants that will kill you was just a bit too far out there for me.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Slaxx", but the actors and actresses definitely put on good enough performances, despite of having such rubbish contents of a storyline and script to work with.

Visually then "Slaxx" was okay. I mean, you're not in for a groundbreaking CGI experience in horror movie here. But CGI animated pants where the pockets made the pants look like it had eyes, sure, why not?

I wasn't particularly impressed or entertained by "Slaxx", but I managed to sit through the ordeal to the end. This is not a horror comedy that I would recommend you waste your time, money or effort on, because director Elza Kephart didn't rise to the occasion and deliver anything funny here.

My rating of "Slaxx" lands on a three out of ten stars.
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7/10
A pair of twisted killer pants please.
frank-liesenborgs9 November 2021
The movie is about a clothing shop or brand launching a new blue jeans, the Super Shaper Jeans. As a shop works overnight to prep, they have no idea the hexed pants in the stockroom are thirsty for blood! After seeing "Rubber" I had to see this movie. And what a movie. The plot and storyline is just absurd and weird but it works. The acting performances of Romane Denis (Libby) and Sehar Bhojani (Shruti) or believable enough to make this a good and very watchable movie. The fast pace of the movie, including the plot twist make this one a must see! This twist stretches the movie into something meaningful.
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5/10
Meh
kingshilow26 September 2020
Starts off promising but gets old very quickly. Then it's just a clichee horror flick, for a mere 75mins runtime that's an accomplishment..
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7/10
The clothes come back to haunt
punisherversion126 March 2021
Slaxx Directed by Elza Kephart. Written by Patricia Gomez and Elza Kephart

Slaxx is about a pair of possessed pants who go on a rampage in a locked down boutique clothing store. That's right I said it. Sentient evil pants. They make your butt look terrific and then consume your flesh at the same time. What will they think of next? I will say naturally this completely bonkers concept drew me in. It caught my wife's attention as well. It is only 77 minutes. I'll watch almost anything once. I have to say this movie is a hoot. The pants effects are terrific. They move on their own. They believably move around and in the end credits they reveal the secret for that. It's honestly quite brilliant. There's a scene where the pants viciously eat the hands of somebody. Blood is spurting everywhere like a wild out of control gusher. The pants are growling like an actual animal. I laughed so far. Giggling like a silly little boy. This scene reminded me a bit of the Chuck E Cheese scene in Clown where the Cloywn is eating the kids in the ball pit. It was a gruesome delight. This is a movie that naturally knows it needs to be heightened in perception and reality. The store called CCC has employees who are forced to buy the latest and greatest merch. My wife mentioned how much it felt like a pyramid scheme. The company is bleeding its employees dry in the name of fashion. The employees are hyper focused on their sales and their jobs to the point of not having basic common courtesy to Libby, the new employee. This opening for the new collection is important. They've got a Youtube influencer coming to review it. All hands on deck. The pants are at a buffet. Romane Denis is Libby and she acquits herself well. She is the conduit to the madness. I was genuinely invested in her plight. Same with Sehar Bhojani as Shruti. She was a connection to the pants that you will not see coming. I might be giving away too much so I'll leave the remainder of the plot alone. The only real issue this insanity has is there is not enough story to successfully engage the entire time. The movie does get bogged down after the initial massacre. It realizes that it doesn't have much else to say before the ending it has inevitably chosen. It definitely could have been a strong short but I understand also the reason it wasn't. It is a movie that is strongly skewering fashion culture and the lies corporations tell us. The evils they perpetrated for the easiest way to make money comes back to haunt them. You can't treat companies in a cult like revelatory way. Libby comes into her new job excited. This culture is going to give her a wake up call. The selfishness and carelessness leads to the pants and their massacre. This is a wild ride. I do recommend this. Be prepared for the silliness that comes ingrained with the concept. It is certainly a satire in that regard but the pants coming to life is magnificently done. I give this movie a B.
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5/10
OVERRATED BY THE CRITICS.
andrewchristianjr10 October 2021
Ludicrous premise, cheap production, neither funny nor horrific, way overrated by the critics.
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8/10
Highly enjoyable horror/comedy with a few minor flaws
kannibalcorpsegrinder6 April 2021
After a series of strange incidents, the staff at a high-end clothing store find themselves under attack by a murderous pair of possessed jeans controlled by the spirit of a young girl angry at the company she was working for and must find a way to appease it and get out alive.

There was a lot to like with this one. One of the brightest aspects of this one is the degree to which it manages to convince the ludicrousness of the setup as possible. As the first half here features the engaging setup of trying to focus on the contrast between her bright-eyed enthusiasm against their world-weary skepticism, the series of incidents and accidents that occur around the edges of this framework offers a rather engaging build towards the eventual discovery. That provides some rather tense scenes here with the slow-building revelation about the bodies being found and the reveal about the sentient pants being involved seem rather believable. As well, there's plenty to like about the actual execution of the killer pants in action. Seeing the enchanted pants seduce and force everyone it comes across into being tempted into putting on the pants in order to be killed off in gruesome fashion gives this some fun cheesy moments early on. The revelations that continue with the gruesome left-overs provide a fine launching pad for the main massacre that follows which is exceptionally fun as the pant comes to life unexpectedly killing everyone it comes across leading to some wholly inventive kills. Given the series of stalking scenes generating some solid tension and some inventive means of trying to combat the deadly denim, this one manages to have a lot to like that holds it up overall. This one doesn't have too much really wrong with it. The main issue here is a decidedly unnecessary and useless need for introducing a human antagonist into the story which isn't that clever or realistically added. The individual to become this is a cliche the second they pop up to be included in the twist later on, the motivation to be such a thorn in their side isn't that well-handled and the whole thing feels like a concession to the style as a result. Likewise, the film's premise seems to be awfully forced on the back-half hour to the series of random and somewhat uninvolved chasing that highlights how underdeveloped the characters in the beginning are since we know nothing about them or what's going on until then, leaving this section to fall flat. Still, there's not much else really wrong with this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
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6/10
Ripped down the middle
afrocut9 August 2021
If you told me that I was about to watch a movie about a pair of killer jeans 2 days ago I'd instantly say it was going to be a cheap and soulless spoof along the lines of "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and would at least be worth a laugh. What I wouldn't expect is what I got from "Slaxx", two different fun and interesting movies struggling for dominance in a killer pants movie. It's true, not only is its two tones fun in their own right, but its also its biggest problem. The first half is a consumer work place comedy, that is funny and purposely cheesy as a pair of jeans come to life to kill, drink blood and clean up a crime scene. It's actually quite funny to watch the CGI jeans drink blood and move after it's killed an over the top stereotype. But then , oddly and I wish this were the entire tone, it becomes a dark look at consumerism in america as we find out the tragic reason the pants are alive and angry. This half almost feels at home in an episode of "Black Mirror" , especially with its technology based fabric that forms to its wearer. It's dark and ends on a bitter note, I really dig the guts on this. It's just a shame that it struggled to waste time to get to that deep and dark stuff. These two tones together will surely not work for many people, it hardly works for me, I do believe that there will be those who still have fun with the overall product as I did.
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1/10
Anything over 3-stars is by cast, crew or family member
frosteliza25 March 2022
Don't waste your time with this one.

Terrible CGI.

No humour whatsoever (unless perhaps you've worked in a fashion store).

Characters are so over the top they're completely unbelievable, so when they die you really don't care.

Hard to find a pair of jeans that can walk on its own scary, really.
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4/10
better if it was a pair of undies
chrislawuk24 March 2021
You know when someoe is killed, a bucket of paint gets thrown at the wall. Although this saves on special effects, it makes for a less than enjoyable b movie. The premise for the movie, although hardly high art, was not bad for a b movie. A bigger budget may have helped. The effects are largely badly edited sequences of pairs of jeans using stop frame animation. Could have gone further with the sense of humour but was on the right tracks. Ran out of steam well before it arrived at the station.
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6/10
Killer pair of Jeans 🤘🏼
mshmyr22 March 2021
This is a B (C?) movie and it does it great! Funny jokes, good kills, completely ludicrous storyline. I recommend for some mindless fun.
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