If you've ever struggled to put your jeans on, Slaxx is for you. The horror/comedy is about a pair of killer jeans seeking revenge on an "eco-conscious" retailer. That premise alone made me rush to interview co-writer and director Elza Kephart, solidifying my eternal belief that in horror, there is no such thing as a bad idea. While on the phone with Kephart for our 15-minute interview, we discussed pitching a movie about killer pants, the social message behind the film, and working with practical effects.
So what does the concept pitch look like written down for such an insane premise? Kephart explains, "It took me a long time to craft the logline, realizing the movie was about killer pants. I would tell people the premise and that’s what really got people interested, then I pitched it from the point of view of a child who dies while making the pants."
While the premise is what attracted me to the film, it’s the social message that thoroughly impressed me. According to nature.com, more than 92 million tonnes of waste product is produced by the fashion industry.
"No one should be making new clothes and no one should be buying them," Kephart said.
"Behind that is capitalism. Stop making and selling things people don’t need."
In the 77 minutes of the film, the story is told through the perspective of new hire Libby; a mousy, excited young woman who praises the retail store Canadian Cotton Clothiers for their eco-friendly, social-conscious platform. While Kephart has not served in the retail industry, she did work in corporate; an experience she parallels in the story.
"I worked as a temp for a corporation prior to filmmaking. I hated the word 'ecosystem,' which is used a lot in Slaxx," she said.
When asked about using practical effects for the movement of the pants, Kephart offered advice for directing action scenes.
"[The effects are] 100 percent practical. Directing is hard because there are so many bits coming at you and not every take is going to work," she said.
"I’d never shot an action scene before and that scene was so complicated we actually had to go back and shoot more to get the pieces we needed. I’ve now learned to just shoot a bunch of different angles so you have everything."
In the end of the film, a shocking decision is made that even caught me off guard. As not to spoil the ending, I asked Kephart how she came to the conclusion that the film must conclude with this shocking event.
"We wrote three drafts of the script, but the last iteration was the final ending that you saw," she said.
"There was something lacking in the script prior to that, and my writing partner made a suggestion and we went with it. As soon as she said that ending, I knew she was right. I really wanted people to come away with a 'what was that?' response."
To wrap up our interview, I asked Kephart a Final Draft favorite: What advice do you have for your younger writer self?
"I sort of got sidetracked [while working on Slaxx] by plot. I had to go back and find the character's voice. Write through the characters first and that’s where the project finds itself," she said.
RLJE Films will release Slaxx on VOD, Digital HD, and DVD on September 7.