Red State (2011) [Blu-ray]
Action | Horror | Thriller

Tagline: Love thy neighbor

Three teenaged boys are lured to the town of Cooper's Dell with the promise of a party. But instead of enjoying the night of their dreams, the teens are plunged into the nightmarish world of Pastor Abin Cooper and the Five Points Trinity, a fundamentalist group with a stockpile of weaponry and a deadly moral agenda. When word of the teens' disappearance reaches the authorities, a military task force is mobilized. With Cooper's Dell teetering between salvation and damnation, the ATF braces for a furious gun battle with Cooper and his heavily armed followers in this fever-pitched action thriller from writer-director Kevin Smith.

User Comment: info-13-903949 from United States, 19 July 2011 • I had the pleasure of seeing Red State at the final stop of the tour in Los Angeles, CA. I drove in from Phoenix, AZ to see it. Now granted, I knew enough about the movie going in that I felt the money and the drive would be worth it. But when you add the fact that I had to stay in an awful hotel near the Wiltern Theater (where the show took place) which had a ton of flies and a room that I'm sure was probably frequented by prostitutes, the movie had to be near perfect for me not to walk away a little disappointed. I'm happy to say this was indeed the case.

Before I start to ramble, I would like to take a minute to mention some of the other user reviews. First, there are several who claim this is a remake. This is absolutely not true. It's difficult to make anything 100% original these days, so I wouldn't be surprised if Red State contains some elements which resemble a film or two that had been made prior, but when we do a remake in this country we own up to it. As far as writer/director Kevin Smith is concerned, this was his idea, loosely based on the delightfully hateful publicity hounds, The Westboro Baptist Church. The reviews which claim this is a remake all seem to think it was based on a Bollywood movie, although none of them agree on the title, and I'm sure the writer(s) of whatever movie(s) they were talking about aren't aware of the WBC. Also, while I know Smith watches A LOT of movies, I'm not sure how often Bollywood films come into his viewing rotation.

And speaking of our good friends at the WBC, I'm almost positive that (at least) one of the negative reviews, written by one "Monsieur_Poopoo", was written by a WBC member. The claim made that the movie is "VERY loosely based on fact" is the giveaway. While the Phelps' tribe was mentioned, it was made clear that the movie wasn't actually based on them. IF this was the case, that the review was written by a WBC member, I can tell you they had no business writing a review as it was well publicized that they walked out of the Kansas City screening after 15 minutes.

Anyway (sorry, I guess I started to ramble about something else entirely) as for Red State, I would say if you're a fan of horror, action, or extremely dark movies, this one is for you. The mood established by Smith was nothing short of brilliant. Tense, gritty, and brutal are a few words that come to mind. And when I say "brutal" I don't mean that this is torture porn, like so many horror movies of recent years have come to be, but in a sense that the villains are cold and hardcore killers. And the scariest thing about them is that it isn't too far fetched to think this might actually happen. A number of cults throughout history have committed mass suicide, so how long, do you suppose, before they turn their blood lust from in to out?

Brilliant acting from all the players involved, especially by Michael Parks, who is absolutely chilling to watch. Great dialogue, made even better by the fact that Smith allowed the actors a little room to deviate from the script instead of forcing them to read word for word what was on the page. And finally the look of the film is just mind blowing, especially for someone who is familiar with Smith's previous work. I'm not knocking the guy, I am a fan, but it has always been clear that Smith's strength, by his own admission, is writing and not necessarily his visual style. Not the case with Red State.

All that having been said, I will say this movie is not for everyone, especially those of you who aren't accustomed to Smith's free use of vulgar language. Based on that, 9 out of 10. If you aren't the least bit squeamish, you're in for an enjoyable viewing experience.

UPDATE: "Monsieur_Poopoo" has changed their user handle to "Lord_Fecal_Matter" and the review is entitled "Hollywood Leftwing Propaganda". I'm guessing I hit the nail on the head with my "WBC Invaded" assertion based on the user name change and the number of people who found my review "not useful". Troll all you want WBC, no one buys your nonsense.

Summary: Looks Like the WBC Invaded the Review Board!

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center. It is headed by Fred Phelps and consists mostly of members of his large family; in 2007, it had 71 members. The church describes itself as following Primitive Baptist and Calvinist principles, though mainstream Primitive Baptists reject the WBC and Phelps.

[CSW] -1- Sorry but it didn't really address any major human or theological issues. This is one of the few films that I truly disliked because from an intellectual standpoint it was completely pointless. I am as much a fan of horror as the average horror fan but since I never developed an emotional attachment to any of the characters there was no horror. In other words if I could care less it couldn't be horror.
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.

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