31 Days of Halloween Films #21: Red State
The Lowdown: Three friends scouting out the internet to have a unique sexual encounter find themselves tangled up with an insane religious cult and their charismatic, yet horrifyingly cold leader.
The Breakdown: Variety is an important element for a film to have, especially nowadays. Playing with audience expectations can be a gamble, especially from a filmmaker as polarizing as Kevin Smith. Smith’s fans, before Red State, had come to know and love his brand of humor, despite a few minor missteps with Cop Out and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. In most of his filmography, Smith has essentially been riffing off of the same jokes and characters with great success, seen throughout all six installments of his Jay and Silent Bob saga. It wasn’t until Red State, however, that the filmmaker finally stepped forward with something new to say. I know it isn’t the most popular opinion out there, but for the first time since Clerks, Smith had the raw indie passion and creativity back, for the better.
Red State is unique in that it has no main character. As a conscious effort, Smith purposefully took unexpected turns every chance he got. The theory behind the story was that just when the audience settles in and starts to follow one situation, the film cuts away to another, introducing new story elements and characters. It creates this unique tone where there really is no main character, other than the situation. I would even argue that the film has a quasi-documentary feel to it in that it focuses so much on the kidnap, torture/killing of the boys and then the subsequent siege of the compound. Just when you think the three boys we met at the beginning are our leads, they’re reduced the victim roles and ignored for sections of the film. John Goodman enters as a government agent, but by the time we meet him much of the expository stuff from the film has already been taken care of. Red State is a unique experience if only for its’ inability to stick to normal movie rules and break the mold of what we’ve come to expect from similar genre films.
I can’t write a review for this film without mentioning the incredible Michael Parks. While his speech is universally considered to be the best part of the film, it would be a shame to negate the rest of his performance. Much like Tarantino, Smith knows exactly how to write for Parks and he shines as the mad Abin Cooper. It’s his gravitas and emotional push that carries much of the first act through, creating a hate-able, but utterly magnetic and compelling bad guy. His character is nothing more than a misbegotten fool, vehemently believing in his church and that his work is for “the Lord”. He is an obvious and exaggerated jab at the Phelps clan and their Westboro Baptist Church, but he represents the cynicism and arrogance of many people, giving explanation to the true root of the films’ horror.
The Comedown: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Red State could be Kevin Smith’s finest film. It has the audacity to do what IT wants, not what YOU want, and because of that it stands as a strong statement on organized religion, insanity and the breakdown of family values in the name of God. For what it sets out to do and achieves, Red State is a misunderstood masterpiece that I hope finds its’ audience in the years to come. While Tusk will tell us whether or not Smiths’ foray into horror was a one-off, at least we got this gem.