If I was to declare that a film about sentient trousers on a killing spree would be utilised to draw attention to the ethics of big business, then you might wonder…how? Sure, it’s not the first time possessed everyday items have run amok in horror, and it’s not so long back that we had a cursed frock on the rampage in the wonderfully odd In Fabric (2018), so clothes can easily turn on us too. But trousers as the root of a rather gory, practical-effects driven film? That’s what Slaxx (2020), is all about; happily, there is enough blood splatter and enough in the way of set pieces to render this an enjoyable horror film, although its avowed aims to shine a light on exploitation and hypocrisy will likely not chime with everyone, as it thereby positions itself on a very fine line in terms of tone.
Libby (Romane Denis) is about to start her dream job in retail, working for the hyper-ethical, no-GMO, no-sweatshop clothing company Canadian Cotton Clothiers (CCC). She has arrived at an important time: the CEO is in town to launch a brand-new range of jeans which, if claims are true, adapt to the wearer’s body, providing the perfect fit. This will be a Monday Madness like no other, and it’s all hands on deck: not only that, but renowned fashion vlogger Peyton Jules (played with worrying aplomb by Erica Anderson) will be stopping by, to offer exclusive! access! for her channel.
Even without a shred of horror content, most of these people are horrific – and recognisable, if you’ve ventured outside or online for any amount of time in recent years. The absurd jargon, the aspirational rebranding of existing things as new, more relevant things (calling parts of the shop floor ‘ecosystems’, for example) and on the flip side of that smiley, happy claptrap, a cut-throat ethos which sees colleagues ready to maul one another for a promotion, or even a bit of attention from the bosses, people who under any ordinary circumstances you’d avoid. I often felt that The Descent (2005) would have worked well without (spoilers?) the subterranean humanoids; it feels as though Slaxx could have worked pretty damn well as a kind of retail-based Starry Eyes (2014), an examination of what barefaced ambition and pressure does to people. But, things take a turn when shop assistant Jem (Hanneke Talbot) sneaks on a pair of the new wunderjeans ahead of their official release. They look great – but she pays an extraordinary price soon after. The jeans don’t just fit where they touch, they chew straight through her.
It isn’t long before the trousers – which can move around of their own volition – butcher more victims, all of whom, well, if they don’t entirely deserve it, don’t exactly deserve to escape, either. Most of the shop workers are fairly disposable and interchangeable, much like most of the ethically-sourced clothing ranges. Things become somewhat more complicated when Libby and the less-vile Shruti (Sehar Bhojani) seem to be in the firing line, too. In order to escape, they need to work out what is going on.
For the audience, the clues have been stacking up, as we have been made privy to other footage – of somewhere in India, where it seems that CCC haven’t been entirely honest about either their workforce or their product. There is a direct link from producer to product, the product now sitting in the store waiting for the big launch, and herein lies Slaxx’s key serious point. I can see how it’s a divisive one. On one hand, you could argue that the film uses unconventional means to shine a light on decidedly unwholesome practices, the kind of thing which does indeed come to light from time to time: fast fashion exploits some people and rips off others, and it’s hardly as if the biggest brands are that size because of their pleasure in handing out fair wages. On the other hand, where you have a grisly, often darkly-humorous storyline like this, the addition of real-world politics – particularly where a child is involved – could be seen as an ill fit, something a little too real given the nature of the fantasy elements which both precede it and mesh around it. Perhaps it’s one plot device too far, a contrast which throws the other elements out of balance.
Whatever your take on the film’s big plot reveal, though, you certainly can’t argue with its snappy dialogue, its observational humour and its inventive splatter scenes. It’s an unusual film which attempts much and achieves much, as well as quite literally skewering a lot of people who roundly deserve it: there’s plenty of the ridiculous and the sublime here.