Red State (2011)

Kevin Smith. Not a name synonymous with the horror/thriller/psycho genre but nevertheless, he gave it a go with Red State. Not a bad movie by any means, but he should stick to his comedies.

Travis, Jared and Billy Ray, three high schoolers in search of sex, borrow a car and travel out into the country to meet with a woman offering to them a night they won't soon forget. The teens arrive at a trailer and meet Sarah (Melissa Leo). She tells the boys to drink beer in order to get their treat, but the booze is spiked and the three of them pass out. When they come to, they realize they are at the mercy of Abin Cooper (Michael Parks) and his church of religious nuts. The revelers are prepared to sacrifice one of the boys when a local deputy disrupts the service. Once the law finds something amiss, all hell breaks loose and the boys are running for their lives while the local sheriff calls for help from the ATF. Agent Keenan (John Goodman) and his men quickly realize the situation is going to go from bad to worse if they don't take immediate action. But between the guns, the zealots and the law, what could possibly end up going right?

This movie had enough action and pretty solid dialogue to keep me interested, but the lack of plot really hurt some sections of the film. I loved the idea of a Westboro Baptist Church-type group being involved in a scheme like this, but some of the back stories and characters seemed thrown together just for the sake of having them. Kevin Smith is a talented writer/director, and he navigated the action scenes very well. On a scale of Smith movies though, I'd rank this probably right in the middle, between Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jersey Girl. Smith fans should like this, but they may be the only ones. Grade: B-