The story of how Red State came to be warrants a blog post in itself, and will have to wait for another day. Being one of a lucky handful to get tickets to a screening in Brixton, the length of the queue as we awaited outside the cinema almost reached out onto the road, in front of oncoming traffic. It was clear that these were Kevin Smith die-hards; people who avidly follow his Twitter feed, are regular subscribers to his Smodcast network of podcasts, and could probably recite the dialogue from the “37 in a row” scene ad-nauseum.
Add this to the fact that Kevin Smith was giving the audience a Q&A after the showing, not to mention that Red State has been largely distributed outside the medium’s normal parameters, meant that the sense of anticipation was sizzlingly palpable. But enough about the build-up, what was the film like?
As many who have seen the trailer will know, the story concerns three high-school males who are entrapped, and held captive by a group of fundamentalist Christians, featuring the always underrated Michael Parks and recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo in lead roles. It’s little secret that they have been loosely based on the real-life Westboro Baptist Church; if you have never heard of them, I suggest you look them up, as I refuse to give them any more publicity here than I need to.
The ATF, led by John Goodman are called in to rectify the situation, but it becomes quickly apparent that Parks, and his cult of indoctrinated followers, are armed with a lot more than bibles, crosses and prayers. The movie didn’t get its title due to the setting, but for the bloodshed on screen throughout the 90-odd minutes running time. Be warned, Red State fully earns its 18 certificate in the UK, and its R rating in North America. That’s to be expected with Kevin Smith, but for once it’s more to do with violence rather than profane dialogue.
As long as films are made, the fundamentals remain the same; If your story is well written and well cast, then you’ll never have anything worse than a highly watchable movie. Smith’s best work has always followed this principle, and he achieves it again with Red State. It should be as no surprise that the likes of Goodman, Leo, Parks and Stephen Root are all top class. But a mention should also be given to the cast’s younger members; Nicholas Braun, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner & Kerry Bishe. Gallner in particular has an easy screen presence, while Bishe proves that demented people tend to be made rather than born. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on their future work.
What was very pleasing was how the story reached its resolution. This kind of story has been seen before; Smith later mentioned in his Q&A that he deliberately tried to mirror the independent movies of the 1970′s. This informed the look, and credit must go to cinematographer David Klein, as well as Smith. The joke – often propagated by Smith – about his films looking like garbage can stop. It’s proficiently shot, with the composition bearing similarities to the work of Paul Greengrass. Also, Smith weaves in echoes of the Waco siege into the story, as well as the way that the American authorities – driven by fear of the unknown - deal with potential mischief-makers; The term “9/11″ is mentioned more than once.
I count myself very fortunate to have heard from Smith after the end credits. As I was digesting what I had seen, he explained his thought-processes when creating the story. One thing Smith has always had going for him is that he is fully aware of what he can, and just as importantly, can’t do. Stating that he could never make a horror movie in the vein of a master like Dario Argento, he worked on making Red State unsettling rather than terrifying. The phrase he used was “rope-a-dope”. Which is apposite as even though you may think that you’ve seen this kind of film already, you never feel 100% comfortable. And just when you finally think that you’re settled, you get hit with a haymaker to keep you honest. Tristan O’Field – late of Movies You Should See – described these as, “Oi!” moments; occasions when you are so stunned that only an unintelligible yelp can articulate your feelings. Red State has a few of those, and while it’s not in film of the year territory, it’s a well-crafted, smartly-executed horror flick, and is fully deserving of praise.
