Mixing horror and religion is a hard gamble. It’s a common one, made most famous in the seventies during the exorcism boom. Those films, such as “The Exorcist” and “The Omen”, dealt more with the horror element, using the religious background as a crutch. For the most part, any personal beliefs and judgments were kept private, not interfering with the main storyline (outside of necessity).
Kevin Smith goes all in with his latest film, his first horror, making the religious aspect the main course. The horror is just side the side dish. This does cause some complications, though he does his best in balancing it out. At the very least, he keeps your attention, whether good or bad, and paces the film with breakneck speed.
The films starts out as a simple abduction horror tale. Three friends, Jarod (Kyle Gallner), Travis (Michael Angarano) and Billy-Ray (Nicholas Braun), answer an invite on Craigslist for a sexual rendezvous. When they arrive, they’re drugged by Sara Cooper (Melissa Leo) and taken captive in the Five Points Church. They are to be sacrificed for their sins and sent to hell.
The leader of this radical church is Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), who believes the world is becoming corrupt. The moral spine has been weakened, as men and women are exposing themselves disreputably. On a mission to save the country, he rounds up a group of followers to aid him in his bidding, injecting their beliefs onto others. In the limelight, it’s protesting funerals and commandeering the local news. In private, it’s capturing the sinners and putting a bullet in their brain.
When they frame the local sheriff, Sheriff Wynan (Stephen Root), who the three boys got into an accident with earlier, he calls in Joseph Keenan (John Goodman), a federal agent who had been investigating the church for awhile. When he and his men arrive, it doesn’t take long for the bullets to fly. He’s given orders to eradicate the entire church, including the children and hostages, that way there are no witnesses.
From here on out, the film becomes a political and religious conundrum, though Smith does his best in holding back his emotions and beliefs. Sure, they creep their way in and become overbearing at times. But, that’s to be expected. The same thing happened in his religious comedy “Dogma”, though that had the benefit of comedy to fall back on.
“Red State” isn’t so lucky. It gets the harder task of maintaining it’s thrills with it’s underlying message, which it fails to do so. For the first half of the film, there is a good balance between them, as that half is more focused on the three teens’ abduction. There’s one scene in particular that has Billy-Ray and Travis attempting to escape that induces good tension, the headache-inducing shaky camera notwithstanding.
Once the police arrive, the film devolves into a dramatic action film with a message. For what it’s worth, these sequences are done well and are engaging, even if the overbearing views weigh them down a bit. The only problem is the change of tone. The film doesn’t switch gears well, hurling itself into the other lane without the decency of a turning signal.
It’s as if Kevin Smith had two varying visions for this project and couldn’t decide which to settle on. Therefore, he shoved the two together to make things easier. He at least made them into one coherent plot, but with separate vocations. Once you get comfortable with the second half’s purpose (which doesn’t take long), this dilemma begins to slowly subside.
“Red State” isn’t an altogether successful film, but it’s a good first try for Kevin Smith in the horror department. Though he’s a bit shaky with the genre, he has a good knack for tension and brings his skillful writing into play splendidly. Just like most of his films, character development and human drama is given careful consideration, never being lost in the shuffle.
If he decides not to retire after his next film and does another horror film, I suggest making it solely that. Bringing in overtly political and religious views distracts from the main selling point, unless heavily sedated. It’s possible his next venture would be able to do so, but I’d like to see him give a straight-laced horror film a shot. He’s shown potential here.
Final Rating: B