RED STATE Review: Kevin Smith's Real Horror Story
Red State is a confused mash up of genres that doesn’t know what it wants to be or what it wants to say but manages to feel as preachy as the cultists that it concerns.
rating: 1
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Two months ago I was primed to watch a screening of Red State only for it to be cancelled at the last minute with the director That Kevin Smith (his twitter name) citing the reason for his cancelation as him not wanting people who werent true fans of his and those who wouldnt appreciate his movie seeing it for free. This was a press screening. His less than cordial relationship with the press has been well cited after his instantly forgettable Jersey Girl and more recently Cop Out were rightfully savaged. Nevertheless, apart from the fact a cancellation at zero hour is grossly unprofessional and reeks of fear and insecurity at another savaging, his reasoning is far worse. Despite my disdain for his more recent films, I enjoyed Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and while I may not have cared for Mallrats or Chasing Amy but consider Clerks to be a gem, one of my favourite films of the 90s and perhaps more than any other, a sign of the indie revolution. And I know Im not the only member of the press who feels this way. So for Smith to generalise members of press as unworthy of seeing his film for free is disrespectful above all else and apart from lowering my opinion of him gave me serious doubts about his latest endeavour, Red State, which is sold as a horror movie, with Smith returning to his roots to make independently. What starts off as Clerks meets Hostel with younger versions of Randall, Dante and Jay all heading off in search of some cheap sex in an area of Jersey where a religious cult is prevalent, quickly turns into a stand-off between the police and a group of heavily armed cultists before concluding in a government tribunal.