Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Red State’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Branding is a funny thing. It can benefit a business in so many ways, simply because you know exactly what to expect when you walk in or log onto their website. You know you're getting a coffee at Starbucks and you know you're getting a hamburger at Burger King, and the list goes on and on.  

When it comes to filmmaking, branding is equally as important, and after a while, some filmmakers become well known for what they bring to the big screen. After all, if the name is George Romero, you know zombies are on their way and well...if you're Kevin Smith, everyone expects a hilarious ride. That is until a couple of years ago when Kevin Smith decided to try something completely new by making a film unlike anything he had made up to that point with Red State. 

It should be a wonderful night for three teenage boys. For waiting for them on this night is an incredible woman who has promised to show them their every fantasy and desire. But their night takes a turn for the worse when they realize she has drugged all of them and when they awaken from their drug induced coma they discover that they are now in the hands of the Five Points Trinity Church, a radical fundamentalist organization that quickly show the boys they are willing to murder to spread their message. But the boys are now caught up in something far more terrifying, for when the ATF arrives to deal with the church and their parishioners, everyone discovers that the congregation happens to have a wealth of automatic weapons at their disposal, and they’re willing to use them and lose their lives if necessary, in order to defend their temple and their devout beliefs.

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Upon hearing about this film, I was absolutely intrigued simply because of the fact I had to see what Kevin Smith was going to do with a plot like this. There was never any concern in my mind about the film being bad, simply because Kevin is a fantastic filmmaker as is, and his technical skills behind the camera are as sound as they come. Instead, I was more excited about what we would get in a horror/thriller/action flick from a man who has spent his life making us laugh.  

In the end, Kevin once again delivers. Red State is in a word, terrifying. It is intense, playing out at a breakneck speed and never letting up once the nightmare gets rolling. Plus, we have to take a moment and discuss the incredible cast that Kevin pulled together for this film. John Goodman, Michael Parks, and Academy Award Winning Actress Melissa Leo are just stunning in this film. In fact, major kudos go to Michael Parks for his incredibly bone chilling turn as the leader of the congregation. His performance leaves you about as uncomfortable as you can get, and truly sells the premise of the film.

Oddly enough, this is perhaps the only Kevin Smith film that he’s written and directed that appears to be devoid of a deeper meaning and quite frankly that's okay. This is just a look at fanaticism and it definitely features echoes of the Westboro Baptist Church, or the madness of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians and well...it does a great job of showing us how much people in this vein believe in their cause and how far some of them are willing to go. See this one if you haven't, since it's a great story, a great movie and this film serves as a transition picture for Kevin Smith, one that shows him graduating from comedy films to something far more cerebral.

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