Red State Boston MA

Well, as to be expected for an audience of a Kevin Smith movie it was filled with mainly 25-35 year old males, many of whom had the physique of Mr. Smith himself. The crowd arrived early and stood in line to grab beers before the main event. Sadly I was driving and unable to drink. Anyway, on to the movie.

The movie starts with a group of three teenage boys who have been invited to have a three-way with a much older woman. Pretty much sounds like the beginning of a Kevin Smith film. It is at this point the film takes an extreme right turn into an action-horror movie dealing with some fanatical, right wing, gay hating, god fearing crazies that are loosely based on the God Hates Fags guys in Kansas, and the Branch Davidian's in Waco TX. The crux of the film is that there are so many things you do not ever see coming. When my wife and I watch horror movies one of the first things to do is to figure out which one of the main characters is going to survive till the end. While certainly some of the main characters survive in this exciting horror movie, you will definitely guess incorrectly. Another major twist in the movie comes with about 20 minutes left in the film when the movie not only changes tone, but the way the storytelling is presented is completely different as well. This works flawlessly in order to take the edge off a VERY intense movie.

While I explained to my wife going in that this was not a typical Kevin Smith movie, she just could not wrap her head around what she was in for. I think she was expecting Scream or Scary Movie. This movie is not at all like those comedy horrors. While there is certainly plenty of comedic breaks throughout, the movie is much more along the lines of Saw or Halloween in its intensity. So if you are planning to see something like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back you are not even in the ball park, this is so much different it is like Rob Zombie directing the next National Lampoon movie!

On to my review. This is by far the crispest, best looking of Kevin Smith's indie movies. He takes his $4 million dollar budget and makes it look like there was about $40 million to spend. So what is the bad side of this movie? There is a long, very long, preachy scene early in the movie. And by long I mean like 15 minutes and it really feels like it drags, but right after this all hell breaks loose and the film instantly draws you in. Ok, that is about it for the negatives what was good about the movie? One, it is a very original idea for a horror movie. While it takes some formulaic approaches, it quickly yanks you in another direction every time you think you know what is going to happen next. Plus each kill is unique and rarely seen coming, or at least in the way you would think it is going to happen. There are also great little touches that will remind you of other Kevin Smith productions strewn throughout the movie such as flashing the time in white letters with a black background ala Clerks and the horns of the apocalypse so similar to Dogma you are almost prepared to see Ben Affleck come to earth with angel wings. Lastly, the final 20 minutes of the movie are not only different from the rest of the movie, but they are a new way to wrap up a story, and it is well executed. John Goodman is just fantastic at this and everything else in the film.

So while I am quite certain to be biased due to watching the movie in a setting full of unabashed Kevin Smith fans who were able to yuck it up and clap and yell when the movie required it, I am giving a great review to the movie overall. I would say as a movie on the whole I will give it 4 out of 5 stars, it was damn good, but that is not the whole story. As Smith has pointed out, he is not trying to make the new Citizen Kane or anything, this is a horror movie and as horror movies go he nailed it. The intensity was palpable in the theater and the plot twists were extremely welcome in a very formulaic genre. So as horror movies go I give it 5 out of 5 stars and anoint it into one of my top ten horror movies of all time. It may be in my top 5, but that will be decided as it holds up over multiple viewings. Highly recommended everyone!