Slice is a 2018 horror/comedy about a local pizza shop that is home to all kinds of trouble when it’s discovered it’s built on a gateway to hell.
I like cheese pizza, plain and simple, nothing extra, no crazy toppings and absolutely, fight-to-the-death, nothing in the crust. That’s how I roll. Writer/director Austin Vesely‘s I suspect is the opposite, stuffing everything and anything possible on and in his pie, at least judging by his latest release, Slice, a sometimes funny but often sporadic horror/comedy that is, despite its toppings, surprisingly bland. It’s got loads of potential, and a few charms to boot, but never strikes with the zing it feels primed to deliver.
Getting in on the action, Vesely starts the film with himself as a pizza delivery boy on the front porch, quickly getting his throat sliced before the film’s title even appears on screen. Naturally, the locals become concerned, since the pizza shop the guy worked at, Perfect Pizza Base, and the mall it is located within, is built on an ancient burial ground and home to a former insane asylum. No worries though, or at least the town folks thought, since all the ‘ghosts’ had been relocated to another place (fittingly called Ghost Town). Jack (Paul Scheer), is the owner of the pizzeria and now deals with Astrid (Zazie Beetz), a former employee and ex-girlfriend of the dead delivery boy, looking to investigate. Meanwhile, the town of misfits finds themselves at odds over what’s happened, some protesting the mall and others trying to learn the truth.
Tongue firmly in cheek, Vesely creates an amusing alternate reality, where 40,000 ghosts once caused all sorts of tourism issues before getting a new home, even though some have remained and still find gainful employment, including Joe (Lakin Valdez), who works at Perfect Pizza Base. Now, with a fresh murder, things get kicked up again, luring in reporter Sadie (Rae Gray) and her scrappy photographer Jackson (Joe Keery). They meet a host of characters, including Mayor Tracy (Chris Parnell) and Dax (Chance Bennett aka Chance the Rapper), a werewolf who seems like a likely suspect … at first. There’s more of course, with all sorts of curious folks populating the town, though not many are given any sense of place or value, the film sort of half juggling-half tripping over its assorted plot points.
One can’t fault Vesely for his vision, the idea to skewer and homage the genre with some trippy humor definitely sound, and for the most part the cast is game. But at less than 80 minutes, it’s a whirlwind of come and go faces and moments that never build to anything substantial, even as Vesely reaches for hyper stylistic moments that actually pad things out. This leaves much of it feeling undercooked, with cuts and edits that chop the film up into small vignettes that don’t quite mesh. Worse, the laughs aren’t all that on target, though that’s not to say there are a few that don’t land, including some off-center pop culture references.
Slice is a little disappointing because it sure seems like there’s something in the making here that might have been a lot more fun. This is Vesely’s feature length debut (having directed a number of Chance the Rapper music videos) and he certainly has the energy and some tricks up his sleeve to merit keeping an eye on. A soft recommendation, this might find the right audience.