Yay, On Demand! These are the means by which I was able to catch Kevin Smith's highly anticipated, upcoming horror movie, Red State, significantly sooner than I thought I'd be able to.

Now... I've got mixed feelings about Kevin Smith. On the one hand, I grew up watching his films (and Clerks animated series) in my mom's basement with some very good friends, some of whom would become best friends (it's with one of said best friends that I saw this film). And, to be honest, he's made a few good ones (Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy). On the other hand, he's made some criminally bad ones (Cop Out, Mallrats). Further more, a lot of his recent films were made for really bad reasons.

For instance...

- "I'm trying to cash in on Judd Apatow's career." (Zach and Miri Make A Porno)

- "I'm getting old and want to make a movie that I didn't write and am not personally attached to." (Cop Out)

- "I directed Jersey Girl and totally alienated my fans." (Clerks II)

Disclaimer: None of these are actual Kevin Smith quotes and only inferred from actual Kevin Smith interviews.

Consequently, Smith plans to retire after his next film following Red State (Hit Somebody) and seems to be making an attempt, intentionally or unintentionally, to finish off his career with two uber-legitimate and anomalous (for him) films. After Cop Out, he's really on the chopping block as far as he's going to be remembered with these last two.

Long story short... Red State is, for Kevin Smith, as anomalous as it gets; a horror movie inspired by the exploits of everyone's favorite funeral-picketting religious zealots/bigots/morons, the Westboro Baptist Church. So, naturally... I'm interested.

Okay. Super longwinded preface but it's been a long time coming. On with the review...

Not much of a plot to speak of with this one; it jumps around a lot. But it does have a very classic horror movie setup: three teenagers answer an ad on a Craigslist knockoff and in hopes of laying a thirty-something MILF, they end up in the clutches of Abin Cooper (Michael Parks) and his disciples of the Five Points Church who specialize in murdering homosexuals and anyone else they deem sinful.

I suppose I'll start by using the word "anomalous" for the third time because Red State really is as different from Kevin Smith's previous work as one can expect. The tone is stark and the film quickly uses up its humor within the first ten minutes. This is an honest to God attempt at a real horror movie, to the point where it has even less humor than a conventional horror movie might have (depending on how funny you think "Coke can dicks" are).

Unfortunately, as a horror movie, Red State is a complete and utter failure. Michael Parks ramps up some decent tension in a ten-minute sermon kicking off the second act but once they get to the killing, it's over pretty quick. There are literally no scares or horror atmosphere to follow. And if you're expecting any gore or creative kills, you will be severely let down. With the exception of one or two jabs from a cattle prod, 100% of the violence in Red State involves guns. No torture porn shenanigans here. Not even a mildly satisfying supply of blood. So if you're looking for a horror movie, you're not going to find it. Case closed.

As an all around film, I wouldn't exactly call Red State a failure. I do think it was a pretty weak film. The structure is piss poor. The protagonists set up in the first act are abandoned midway in favor of ATF Agent Keenan (John Goodman) and his team who lay siege on the Five Points Church after gunshots erupt earlier on. So if you're looking for plot, again, look elsewhere. The ending is also a complete and utter copout, if you can appreciate the irony in the phrase.

However the film did have some good elements. Elements you wouldn't expect from a Kevin Smith film, for sure. For starters, the performances were spot on. Parks teeters on the brink of campy but just never quite falls. He really sold me on his character who, on paper, could easily have been little more than a caricature. Even more impressive was Melissa Leo, his daughter. Remember that MILF I was talking about earlier in the plot... that's her. She won an Academy Award earlier this year for her performance in The Fighter and indeed, she's got top tier acting chops. Unprecedented for a Kevin Smith film. Kerry Bishe has a minor role as Leo's daughter but definitely comes into her own towards the end as the one Five Points member who puts aside the teachings of her family as a means to save her brothers, sisters and cousin from being shot down as terrorists.

...which leads me to another element of Red State that I really enjoyed: the Five Points congregation wasn't necessarily all in sync. Some of them were ardent militant Christians but others, like Bishe's character, really just want to be good people who believe in God and, secondly, their families but don't want to get involved in the warfare Cooper facilitates as it puts the lives of younger members in jeopardy. The children in the congregation are 100% normal and could just as easily have gone to the same schools as some of the church's victims. It's a mixed bunch and in the end, it seems more real that way.

Finally, every character in Red State seems on the table as far as getting taken out. You really can't be secure that any one person's going to survive because they're protagonists or something. Because... they don't. There were definitely some unexpected turns of events that occurred throughout.

At the end of the day, I think Red State had certain elements that could've really sold the film had the other elements not been so wishy washy and poor. And I do think that overall, it was really wishy washy and poor, which is sort of sad. Cop Out had zero potential. Some of Smith's films preceding it were little more than products of very bad choices on the director's part. There was definitely something here though. It was just squandered somehow.

Oh well. Despite the nostalgia he's provided me with, Kevin Smith is, more often than not, a disappointment. Either that or a flat out disgraceful director.

Let's hope he goes out on a high note with the next one.

Caught this on VOD, sadly, I missed the Kevin Smith Q&A showings downtown.
I'm excited for Kevin Smith's work again and then he announces his film retirement.
On the heels of that, is the announcement of a new reality show for AMC.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/07/kevin-smith-recruiting-comics-fans-for-reality-show/

Red State is a jolty patchwork of a film that sizzles and frustrates, but rarely bores.
A little less hocus pocus and more characterization would've elevated this.
I mostly like when Smith gives the middle finger to plot conventions here.
And John Goodman's character has that George C. Scott in Strangelove vibe going.

However, the elements are shoehorned together in an 85 minute theme park ride.
But I can't entirely fault Smith here, this is ambitious stuff.
At times, it feels cartoonish, when I should be horrified.
It'll throw a funhouse shock at me, instead of filling me repulsion.
Still, I felt that the overall effect left me unsatisfied, but mostly entertained.

E.D.

Kevin Smith will always hold a special place in my heart. This is the man who gave us one of the '90s most underrated movies: Chasing Amy. His Silent Bob speech still holds true and resonates today. If ever there was a moment of Kevin Smith saying what really matters to him, this was it.

The guy's taken a lot of criticism from fanboys for his decisions. F*ck them. Not one of them is capable of a film like Clerks or Chasing Amy. Fanboys cannibalising their own. It's a vapid as anything they decry from the 'average folk'. Kevin Smith helped usher in a new breed to the mainstream. Not because he was there first, but because he's talented and people like his work. Can that excuse him for some poor decisions? No. But it shouldn't open him up to criticism that is largely unjustified.

Prior to watching Red State, these types of thought were flowing in my head. An objective look at Red State will tell you it's an imperfect film. It runs out of gas as soon as one of the original three is gunned down so near to escape. The pursuit of these fanatics with fanatical means is obviously commentary but was clumsily handled. You want superbly handled social commentary, I see nothing better than Network and RoboCop. Fearsome movies that 1984 (the movie) should've been. When Goodman receives the call to take these bitches down, it felt weak. It was difficult to reconcile these actions. With better prepping, it's not entirely implausible as satirical comment on the Iraq war. As it is, you know that's what's happening, but there's no real basis to arrive at the conclusion with what's in front of you. My suspicion is that Kevin Smith wanted to tell a serious story but found it difficult to rein in his natural instincts. He's often talked about his admiration for Quentin Tarantino and the influence is undeniable. But Tarantino, IMO, is one of the greatest filmmakers we've ever known. Sure, he effectively synthesises (hell, outright steals, if you will) work from others but in doing so creates a truly unique proposition. He effortlessly melds humour, drama and violence to create bizarro genius. My point being that I found moments of Red State hankering after a similar quality and that was counterproductive.

The ending was a mix of Magnolia (completely nonsensical frogs) and No Country For Old Men (deep metaphorical mumbo jumbo) but without making the unworkable work. Those two films worked. They shouldn't have worked, but they did. But then again, we're talking about PTA and the Coens - directors who naturally fit into a pantheon of greats. It's said that Smith edited as he went on this film and perhaps that was part of the problem. He aspired to the end game of a Tarantino, PTA or Coens, but didn't apply the necessary dedication, elbow grease and diligence to arrive there. But when all is said and done, Smith remains a very talented guy who's more geek than suit.

The performance of Parks must be mentioned for its rawness. He perfectly captures those Smith - justifiably - seeks to mock. There's a lot of fun to be had in this film and is worth seeing warts and all.

First of all, in no way is this a great movie, or 1 of 2011's best.  It's not even a good movie.

But on the other hand, it could have been all of the above.

It's a patchwork of all that's right and wrong in film.  There are moments of sheer horror, handled very convincingly.  Moments of exciting, gritty gunplay.  Lots of good performances...some great dialogue.  But, on the flipside, it's way too longwinded...almost purposely, way over the top cliche, to the point that it's stupid, and so obviously, hammer over the head message-laden, that the end result is both disappointment and anger.

I'm not nor have I ever been a Kevin Smith fan.  Not sure what all the strong word of mouth is about him or his film's, honestly.  But I don't base my decisions on who write, directed, or stars in a film...I base it on the end result, and the end result here was a 2 star rating on Netflix.

The film has so many obvious flaws and mistakes, that on many levels, it comes across like an amateur production of a mishmash of several genres, with an obvious tongue in cheek, wink-wink message delivered.

The first 19 minutes or so of setup is very poorly executed, right down to the incredibly cheap looking film and photography on display.  It's both corny, cliche, over the top cheesy-bad, and actually shockingly bad.

The next 19 or so minutes is exactly the opposite.  It's intense, it's horrific, scary, well shot and well acted.  Seriously like 2 completely different movies, on 2 completely different budgets.

And then things get incredibly bizarre and flip flop back and forth between good and terrible, culminating in a very disappointing experience, because it could have been so good.

This is not a horror movie in any way, shape, or form.  There are elements of horror, but they're completing abandoned in favor of a bizarre action/satirical message movie, but the heavy handed approach to delivering this all too obvious message is totally mishandled...maybe even shockingly mishandled.

We've got a $4 Million movie here that at times looks like a $50,000 no budget amateur film, and at others looks like a big budget action flick.  I just don't get it.

The acting is so good at times, and so incredibly inane at others, again, I just don't get it.  Michael Parks is great for the most part, but a little over the top cliche.  John Goodman is OK to good to piss poor in his 45 minutes of screen time.  Kevin Pollack is shockingly terrible, with a constant sneer on his face, almost like it's a parody we're watching.  The rest of the cast is pretty good, but again, the script they're working off of, is so hamfistedly cliche and heavy handed, there's really only way to play it.

I don't know why the opening was so lame and poorly shot.  I really don't get it.  If you want to say Smith was providing an homage to shitty horror setups...well...he sure prvovided one, but again, why?  Why not take a cliche, crappy horror staple setup, and run with it and make it awesome?  Why not make us really like our Protags?  Why not let the horror play out longer...make us squirm...let the fear really sink in?

I could go on and on but I won't as this movie doesn't really deserve it.  I think the results are quite clear here.  Kevin Smith's a much loved writer/director, with alot of success in his career.  He put together a very sold cast in a movie that had fans squirming in anticipation, and what did it all add up to?  A solid 2 star rating on Netflix streaming (and you know many fanboys gave this a 5 star rating, so you have to understand the average rating was either 1 or 2 stars), and a whopping $1.1 Million BO.

Pretty fucking weak...

Having watched all of Smith's feature films besides Jersey Girl and Cop Out and being a avid listener of his Smodcast the past couple of years I can safely say I'm much more a fan of Kevin Smith the personality rather than Kevin Smith the filmmaker.

For me, Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back are my two favourite films of his, with Clerks a close third. Chasing Amy and Clerks II have their moments while I don't care much for Mallrats or Zack and Miri. He's very much a mixed bag in my opinion, more good than bad.

However, I really liked Red State, easily gets into the top three.

I know its preachy, attacking both religious fanaticism and governmental op cover-ups in a bawdy, unrestrained way, its overtly verbose at times particularly with Abin's sermon (although I still enjoyed it) and Officer Keenan's testimony (even though I was still intrigued by the explanation for the apocalyptic horns). There is a noticeable lull in the middle with the back and forth shooting seemingly in a loop as various plot points are moved forward both inside and outside the house and its billed as a horror when it feels more like an action film but goddammit did I have a great time watching it.

Say what you want about the bible quoting, religious zealot rambling, Smith has certainly done his research and is clearly somebody who knows the subject matter being from a devoutly Catholic family.

I'm delighted to see him try something different, outside his comfort zone. I was willing to forgive the hammering-over-the-head messaging and just sit back and enjoy the performances, outrageous plot developments and unpredictable murders. You really didn’t know who was going to get it next as people were dropping like flies on both side which made it all the more entertaining . He has received a lot of backlash for his comments and pseudo auction at Sundance and this has resulted in some rather vitriolic reviews (I'm not talking about the comments above here) aimed more at the filmmaker than the film itself.

I can get over the misleading genre tag, the tonal shifts, the switching of protagonists halfway through because I flat out enjoyed the film experience, was with it for the whole way and found the twist ending oddly satisfying and amusing. Loved the closing line too.

I'll admit I did want to like this without having much faith in it but I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised. I only hope this will encourage him to be bolder and more ambitious in his next project.

Awful. Just plain awful.

Disappointed, too, because I was hoping for some classic Kevin Smith dialogue. I guess his expertise is relegated to comedy.

Not going to write a long review here...as I pretty much agree with everything Jeff said.

(no, I'm not drunk!)

I'll maybe add this brief thought: Smith is obviously aiming to make a statement about religious cults and police corruption, among other things, and his intention is to imbue this with realism.

Which is the problem. I am not religious, so I have no problem with the general attempt to portray a harsh and vicious cult; not do I have a problem with the characterization of the ATF as inept, bureaucratically incompetent, and overly concerned with headlines.

But both of these portrayals are SO over the top that all credibility is lost.

Let's look at the cult church, first. These groups arm themselves because they are paranoid. But Smith did not add any paranoia to this cult. Human sacrifice? Kidnapping people who are not part of the church for these purposes? That's not consistent with paranoids who want to be left alone, and there is no real world model for this.

There is no attempt to show how the flock has been brainwashed, or even anything convincing to demonstrate a cult of personality. Yeah, the pastor is all powerful, but there is no attempt to reveal why.

And then's there's the ATF. When the cop, following orders, places a plant handgun in the hands of the woman trying to escape so he can shoot her...come on. Now the story has crossed into cheeeeeeeeeese. No cheese, please, in a story that seems to want us to take it seriously.

Now, if Smith had not tried so hard to create an atmosphere of realism, maybe he might have had better luck. If he had added a lot of color to the characters he could have embraced the over the top nature of the tale instead of being sunk by it. But sink it does, quickly and to the bottom. Just awful.

I thought it was a @$!#ing piece of $@%*&. I don't even really have anything to say about it. Just absolutely not worth watching, at all, for any reason.