Slice is a Wonderfully Bad B-Movie
Austin Vesely’s feature debut channels enjoyably bad B-movies of the 80s.
After seeing the trailer for A24’s very independent release Slice last year, I knew immediately that I was going to love it. That’s not to say I knew it was going to be a good movie. Far from it. It looked like a throwback to the horrible B-movies of the 80s, such as Mom and Dad Save the World, Teen Wolf, or my personal favorite, Night of the Creeps. These movies were not objectively great by any means, but I grew up absolutely loving them. They had a sense of fun that overshadowed the shoddy production values and hackneyed scripts.
These types of movies have been emulated consistently in today’s industry, the most popular example being the Sharknado series, but those, like most, try and fail to have the exuberance of the previously mentioned films. Slice, however, captures the spirit of 80s B-movies perfectly.
Set in a fictional small town named Kingfisher, Slice revolves around a series of murders from someone who appears to be targeting pizza delivery drivers, specifically from local pizza parlor Perfect Pizza Place. These murders are taking place in Ghost Town, a neighborhood in which ghosts (which look more like zombies) are forced to live due to the ghost-phobic mayor. The racism analogy never goes further than this; after all, there’s too much going on here to dwell on anything in particular.
After the opening scene, in which ill-fated delivery boy Sean gets his throat cut, the movie moves along from character to character, introducing the rest of the crew at Perfect Pizza, a group of zealots determined to close the restaurant, a mayor who keeps ghosts in their own neighborhood, a whip-smart reporter and her dim-witted but good-natured photographer, and a pair of constantly-bickering police detectives.
On top of these characters (yes, there’s more), we are also introduced to Astrid (Zazie Beetz), the ex-girlfriend of the first victim and a former employee of Perfect Pizza, and Dax Lycander (Chance Bennett), a werewolf and former employee of Yummy Yummy Chinese Food, whose delivery drivers suffered the same fate years ago.
Beyond this, there’s a drug dealing plot that doesn’t go anywhere after the first half of the movie, getting dropped at about the forty-five minute mark. The movie is full of moments that are equal parts frustrating and entertaining, like writer/director Austin Vesely (who also portrays Sean), didn’t know if he’d get a chance to do another feature and threw every idea he had into one. That being said, the movie never drags. At a tight eighty-three minutes, it keeps moving from scene to scene.
Despite all of its pieces never really congealing into a cohesive whole, every ingredient here entertains. The ensemble cast, made up of rising stars, comedy vets, and unknowns, all shine. Chance Bennett is especially funny, showcasing the comedic chops he displayed on Saturday Night Live in his feature film debut. The movie could actually use more of him, as his face is covered by a motorcycle helmet throughout the first half. A scene in which he kidnaps reporter Sadie (Rae Gray) is particularly humorous.
All of these scenes do eventually build to a showdown that’s clearly restrained by the budget. It’s over before you totally realize its the climatic showdown. The makeup effects in this scene are painfully obvious. With a better budget, it could have been a very cool scene. Instead, it falls a bit flat.
Now, you may be thinking that I am tearing this movie apart. And in a way, I am. On a technical level, there are a lot of things wrong with this movie. But a combination of great set design (gorgeous neons and bright colors populate this movie), a fun concept, and a totally game cast also elevate this movie beyond what it would have been in lesser hands. When characters die and come back as ghosts, they react in humorous ways. There are offbeat and unique style choices throughout. And the score, by Ludwig Göransson and Nathan Matthew David, is tremendous, setting the horror-noir-comedy mood perfectly.
Honestly, I can’t say that Slice is a masterpiece, or anything remotely great. What I can say is that I totally enjoyed this movie from start to finish and will probably watch it again multiple times. I look forward to what writer/director Austin Vesely does next, and hope that Chance Bennett continues doing projects like this. If you enjoy B-movies, real, honest-to-film B-movies, then Slice just might be for you.
