Red State

Kevin Smith is known for his comedies. He's known for his profanely jocular college rants. He's known for being too fat to fly. He's known for making Batman pee his pants. He's not been know as a creator of horror movies until now with "Red State."

He still might not be known as a creator of horror movies.

Honestly, after watching it I really don't know what to think about it. It might have started with the tropes of a standard horror film but by the end it was way off the reservation. If anything this film in the end reminded me more of "No Country For Old Men."

The film starts with horny boys basically daring each other to do something sexually risky. In this case, all of them going out for sex with one woman who advertised online that she was horny. They go (Not before accidently sideswiping the car of sheriff) and at first looks like a scene that you might see in "Porky's." Unfortunately, the lustful interests of the boys are dashed with the help of drugged up beer. They wake up the prisoners of Westboro like church/creepy cult. Unlike the Westboro jerkerinos these guys (lead by Michael Parks) are more than bark. They plan to take out one sinner at a time.

Things look dire for the boys, then a series of events occur that alert the law that there is an arsenal under the church. Now things look dire for everyone as ATF agent John Goodman tries to keep things in control.

He fails.

Badly.

Things go all Waco and a lot of folks we were introduced to earlier are gunned down fairly quick like. Things get darker and darker, and then something happens that I'm only going to describe as a miracle. In some ways, this IS the scarey part of the film. When you are dealing with a religious crazy nut and something that might be a miracle happens it sort makes you question which side of the fence you are on. That's not a comfortable thing to think about in the best of times, and when everyone is holding an AK-47 it is by definition not the best of times.

There are points in this movie where Kevin spices things with his usual wit, but he wisely keeps it down. This is a very grim affair. I doubt you'll finish watching this in an upbeat mood. Thoughtful, perhaps. Upbeat, not so much. I think it's a good effort, and I would recommend this to others as long as they understand they are not going to feel comfortable watching it at times.



The next is Not Safe for the Workplace