Red State (2011)
Summary
Genre: Drama, HorrorGoodies:
+ Controversial topic of religion and conservatism mixed with horror, + John Goodman, + Social commentaryBaddies:
- Better commentary than followthrough, - Could have been more extreme for the advertised turmoil surrounding the releaseSet in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda.
I was excited for Red State based on the controversy it has been stirring up over the last year. Kevin Smith has been publicly ostracized by the Phelps family (as the movie does trend very close to their radical religious organization). In many ways, this film was extremely horrifying, in a realistic kind of way. A couple of kids out on town to meet up with someone they met online, which was a lure into a church of insanity. The first part of the film plays out much like a horror film (almost Saw-like , not in the torture sense, but sort of the feeling of impending doom for an individual) and the second half plays like the Dukes of Hazard. In the first half of the film, I legitimately was on edge about what would happen to these teens as the pastor recited his passages (which honestly went on a little too long). After his monologue the crazy church people go about their way to prepare for the ensuing chaos as a raid on their weapon cache commences. The film deals a lot with the morality of governmental agents and religious fundamentalists, but I was hoping for a bit more. If the feel of the first half of the film carried through beyond a crazy gun fest, I think the movie could have sparked a really eerie nerve in viewers, but that goes away once the bullets start flying in the air. As much as I am sure the Phelps family hated the film, it did not feel overly ‘pushing the envelope” to me. The film is def. worth a watch, but nothing extremely special or worth a second viewing.
