Red State (2011)

Red State (2011)
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman
Set in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda.

Three adolescents are lured to a trailer home on the promise they can get group sex with an older women. Only it transpires they've been set up by a crazed local preacher of a Christian fundamentalist sect known as the five point church. The sect is composed largely of members from the same extended family. Anyone the preacher deems as being a sexual sinner is killed. The teens only chance of survival, is a set of goverment agents, that have been called in to search the church on the grounds of them stock piling firearms.

Kevin Smith known more for his comedy films than anything of a more serious nature, delivers a real mixed bag of styles with Red State, it's a little bit of drama here, a little of survival horror there, then padded out with chunks of social, religious and political satire. For me it never really worked due to the childish almost tabliod news approach of its script, shares in tone the same over sensationalized approach of Natural Born Killers but did not succeed nearly as well. Another of the problems for me is the films characters are all pretty unlikeable so it was hard really to take a stand, as to which side was actually right or wrong. Does have a couple of good performances by Michael Parks as the nutty constant hymn singing Richard Branson looking preacher and Kaylee Defer as a teen cultist trying to protect the churchs kids. I would not go out of my way to rewatch it, avoid or maybe grab a casual view when it airs on television.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 6 out of 10]
[Deathcount 13]
[Gorequota 5/10]

Themes Included: Zionist Government Agents ● Gun Seige ● Hostages
Crazy Christians ● Religious Sect ● Matricide ● Drugged Beer