Red State (2011, Kevin Smith)

I consider myself a moderate fan of Kevin Smith's earlier brand of slacker comedies and the idea of the pudgy, stoner film maker conceiving a horror film left me fairly interested, though mostly skeptical. What I got out of "Red State" was a garbled attempt at low-budget horror from a director who was obviously FAR out of his element.

The idea behind "Red State" consists of a cult of religious wackadoos - led by a Fred Phelps type of "fag hater" - who lure homosexuals and perverts to their ritualistic demise, via internet message boards. A trio of high school boys begin as the focal characters who think they're headed to gang bang an old hag, but quickly find themselves in the clutches of a very deranged family of God fearing killers...

This portion of the premise seems promising enough, though Smith's intentions of straying from the norm in his pursuit of making an "unconvential" horror film ultimately led to disaster. With the inclusion of John Goodman's character, who appears about halfway through the film, things take such a ridiculous turn that my neck got sore from unthinkingly shaking my head in disgust. At this point, Smith attempts to wedge in a staggeringly rushed and banal amount of "twists", such as an endless shootout, FBI agents attempting a "no witness" type of cover-up, heavenly trumpets (??), and inane metaphors.

Other than that, "Red State" is an over-blown jumble of ignorance shown through stereotypical southern characters with that typical one-dimension that western culture likes to endlessly stigmatize. Smith's desire of illustrating religious fanaticism just made for a horridly laughable and shallow motif for the basis of the film. From what I saw, it all stemmed from the awful writing that actually failed at making Michael Parks and John Goodman's performances even remotely memorable. And I love those fucking actors!

Overall, it's clear to me that Kevin Smith is looking to do away with his lowbrow raunch comedies and wants to "grow" as a film maker. Unfortunately, "Red State" is FAR more disjointed and childish than ANY of the dopey comedies he has done in the past, showing that Smith has not yet found his footing in the horror genre, as much as he clearly wants to. Everything about "Red State" reeks of desperation and sloppy writing. Pass on it, folks.