Austin Vesely’s modest but sweetly bonkers Joliet-shot widescreen horror vision, “Slice,” tempts the question: has the twenty-eight-year-old writer-director brought his eclectic chops over from videos, including those for his collaborator Chance the Rapper, or was he just making Austin Vesely movies all along? Turns out Vesely’s work is of a piece, and the brash color, bold compositions and outrageous bursts of horror pop throughout “Slice.” Deliverymen from Perfect Pizza are killed on the job, leaving two survivors (Chance, Zazie Beetz) to set out on an otherworldly quest for the murderers, who may well be… werewolves. Is “Slice” toppling with ingredients or simply sloppy? It all depends on your taste, as well your level of patience for gleeful don’t-give-a-fuck kitsch smorgasbords. With Hannibal Buress, Joe Keery, Chris Parnell, Katherine Cunningham, Y’lan Noel, Paul Scheer, Austin Vesely, Rae Gray, Rebecca Spence, Will Brill, Kelli Simpkins, Gary Houston, Bishop Stevens. 82m. (Ray Pride)
“Slice” is available on iTunes and other video-on-demand.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
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