Review of Red State (2011) by Xgary X — 23 Jul 2013
Three high school boys go off in search of internet sex and find themselves kidnapped by a heavily armed religious cult. Kevin Smith's first attempt at a "grown up" film, Red State is an offbeat thriller with horror overtones that continually tries and occasionally succeeds at confounding your expectations.
It begins as a Porky's style road movie, veers into torture porn territory only to become a siege thriller. Smith's willingness to dispose of key characters on a whim always keeps you guessing, but it also means that you never really connect with any of them and his dialogue is a little too pleased with itself in places, turning into ranting monologues rather than genuine discourse.
The plot is also rather too far fetched to be taken seriously as drama and it's not OTT enough to be considered exploitation, but it is off-beat and unusual enough to always entertain thanks to watchable performances from John Goodman and Michael Parks.
Despite its faults, this is probably Smith's best effort to date.
This review of Red State (2011) was written by Xgary X on 23 Jul 2013.
Red State has generally received mixed reviews.
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