Misunderstood Monsters: Undressing the Greed of Capitalism with ‘Slaxx’
By Matt Konopka
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Welcome fellow monster kids to Misunderstood Monsters. This is where I, Matt Konopka, sink my fangs into all sorts of beasts, ghouls, and creatures from above while I search for the humanity behind their frightening exteriors. From monster favorites such as The Wolf Man to obscure monsters like the whistling Shadmock, there is more to these fiends than bad hair days and gooey tentacles. Within them all is a piece of ourselves.
I swear if I see one more article about “quiet quitting” or asking where the workers have gone, I’m going to lose my mind. Here’s a thought; Maybe we’re just sick of your capitalist bullshit, you money-grubbing dungeon dragons! If there’s anything good that came out of Covid, it’s that the pandemic opened more eyes to see our absurd work system. The year 2020 proved we’re all human sacrifices to the almighty dollar when underpaid people were asked to risk their lives so stores could remain open. Film has been talking about this for decades, though. Look no further than director Elza Kephart’s killer jeans horror-comedy Slaxx, a flick that hugs the hips of everything that’s wrong with capitalism.
Written by Kephart and Patricia Gomez, Slaxx introduces us to Libby (Romane Denis), a naïve employee starting her first day at CCC (Canadian Cotton Clothiers). Libby’s favorite clothing brand, CCC prides itself on being sweatshop free. Yet when a pair of jeans from the new line dubbed “Super Shapers” comes to life and begins killing her co-workers during an overnight sale prep, Libby learns this supposed white knight company is more of a white greed stain on society.
I still remember the excitement of that first retail job at a store I liked. Eyes wide. Giddy smile. Exhausting joy juxtaposing your dead inside co-workers like a puppy in a sea of zombies. “I’ve been wanting to work here since I was sixteen,” exclaims Libby to the eye-rolls of others. They know what she doesn’t. What most of us learn the hard way. Corporate doesn’t give a shit about you.
During her first few minutes on the job, Libby is forced to drop two-hundred bucks on new clothes as part of CCC’s requirement that she always be dressed “in season” with the brand’s latest attire. Robotic employees repeat cringe mantras like “making a better tomorrow, today.” Signs like “theft hurts us all,” hang everywhere. Christ, different sections of the store are even dubbed “ecosystems.” CCC is vomit-inducing Hell. That’s corporate for you. An endless parade of capitalist nonsense designed to drain your soul until you don’t have the energy to fight back against it.
Lining the fabric of Slaxx is the idea that corporate America will say and do anything for an extra buck. “You are all soldiers in its army of success,” declares Libby’s CCC higher-ups. It’s a war to beat the competition, and we are all expendable. As Libby later learns, the jeans that have decided to try murder on for size are possessed by a 13-year-old Indian girl named Keerat (Pritha Mazumdar) who got pulled into a cotton separator. Keerat is a victim of child labor abuse who has literally poured her blood, sweat, and tears into the jeans rampaging through the store. These killer threads stand for every person who has been abused and misused by the capitalist system. You’re damn right I’m on the side of Keerat’s slim-fit justice…especially after the body-less jeans perform a Bollywood number to die for.
Various styles of unlikeable characters are folded into this wildly entertaining tale that makes it easy to root against them. The pettiness. The fakeness. Whether it’s the store manager who employees refer to as “The Robot,” Craig (Brett Donahue), snarky jerk Lord (Kenny Wong), or obnoxious influencer Peyton Jules (Erica Anderson), they’re all living mannequins dressed in the cloth of greed. Keerat is making a better tomorrow today by consuming these assholes the way they consume useless junk.
None are more deserving of this fate than Craig.
You’ll find a Craig almost everywhere you work. That sniveling weasel with a too-perfect smile. You can practically hear the rattles of his serpentine nature the moment Craig slithers onto screen, but it isn’t until Libby discovers Jemma’s (Hanneke Talbot) body folded up like an item off the clearance rack that Craig’s true fangs come out. It wouldn’t be in team spirit to freak everyone out by alerting them, he says. Kephart plants Craig in front of a glowing red hue as he lays out to Libby why they’re going to ignore Gemma’s murder to imply his greedy bloodlust. This “Monday Madness” sale has to go off without a hitch. And he will do anything to get that regional manager promotion.
But here comes the crux of Slaxx, the truth that we have to put our adult jeans on and accept: None of us are free from responsibility when it comes to the ways in which capitalism corrupts. The Craigs of the world may carry more blame in their pockets, but Kephart’s film paints an ugly picture of the rest of us, as well. “You were supposed to be the good guys…I came here to do good,” says Libby…right before Craig reminds her she also took the job to get that employee discount. I hate to give him credit, but he’s right. Most of us don’t spend our time researching every product we buy. So, we take a company’s word for what they promise. GMO-free? Sure, why not! Child labor? We would never! Living wages? Why are you asking so many questions when you could be spending money, dummy!?
Yeah, I’m sure we can trust the faceless corporations, it’s fine.
Libby, sweet as she is, isn’t innocent. Aware or not of the lies she’s been fed, she’s supported CCC. The killer jeans don’t harm Libby or Shruti (Sehar Bhojani) — the one other character who doesn’t totally stink — but neither is allowed to escape the film with their lives, either. Both die at the hands of people, either in the name of greed or the madness of consumption. I’ve worked Black Fridays in retail. People really do stampede into the store like raging cattle afraid to miss a sale. They bite and tear and grab and pull and push anyone in the way of something they want. We only see the jean-clad legs of the customers crowded outside the store in the end because Kephart doesn’t want us to see them as people. Just lifeless mannequins wearing what they’re told to buy. They don’t care about Keerat’s death. They don’t care about trampling Libby into a bloody pulp, or about the possessed jeans waiting to slaughter them. All that matters is the prize of a new pair of pants.
Slaxx zips up on a downer of a note to hammer home that, for as goofy as the concept of killer jeans is, there’s nothing funny about what happens to kids like Keerat all the time. She isn’t the monster here. It’s capitalism. It’s consumerism.
It’s us. 🩸
About
Matt is a writer and wannabe werewolf who began his love of horror at the ripe old age of 3 with Carpenter’s Christine. He has a horror podcast called Killer Horror Critic which he does with his wonderful wife and has previously been published on Bloody Disgusting, Shudder’s The Bite, and Daily Grindhouse. You can also find more of his reviews and ramblings at his blog, KillerHorrorCritic.com.
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