by A.J. Focht
Filmed on a budget of just $4 million dollars, Red State shows a side of Kevin Smith that the world has never seen before. Known for his raunchy nerd comedies, the pseudo-horror Red State defiantly stands out from his other works.
Red State has been the fuel of many an internet fire since its announcement in back in 2006. To start things off, the film’s budget did not include advertising money. As an attempt to avoid the “studio math,” the Harvey Boys studio intends to advertise the movie with viral word of mouth. Then in January, at the Sundance Film Festival, Smith announced his plans to self-distribute the film as the first SModcast Picture, launching things with a road tour that started on March, 5.
On Tuesday, March 22, Red State made its stop in Denver, CO; where I had a chance to catch the movie and a Q&A after with Smith.
While Smith has been calling Red State a horror movie, it is mostly because it doesn’t really belong to a traditional genre. Instead Red State spans across the genres, settling somewhere between horror, action, and thriller. During the Q&A, Smith said he knows it’s not really a horror movie, but he didn’t know how else to classify it. He stressed that he is not a master of horror but what he can do is make the audience uncomfortable:
“It’s like I have a row of chairs, and right when you go to sit in the first one, I turn it upside down and you get a chair leg up the ass. It throws you off but you’ll move to the next chair, and I do it again.”
And that’s exactly what he does (make the audience uncomfortable not stick chair legs up their asses). Every time you settle into the film and think you know where it’s going -BAM- shit gets flipped around.
The film starts out by following three teenage boys who just want to get laid. Their plans get shot to hell when they are abducted by a sadistic Christian cult. The church, a cult-like version of the Westboro Baptist Church, is led by Abin Cooper (Michael Parks). With another fateful turn of events, the church is put under siege by the ATF led by Agent Joseph Kennan (John Goodman). The last half of the story unfolds during the course of a fire-fight between church and state.
The socio-political commentary of the movie is a bit heavy, but done in a creative manner. No character is safe or sacred in the film. Extreme flaws burden the characters both in the church and with the government. At one point or another, you want everyone to die. And appropriately, Smith delivers. The entire thing is a blood bath; often the only question you’re left wondering is “Who’s next?”
Overall, the film was a success. Parks and Goodman deliver unbelievable performances, and there is hardly a dull moment. For his first attempt at stepping outside his comfort-zone, Smith did fantastic. With only one movie left to put under his belt before he retires, Red State will prove to be a true Kevin Smith classic.
