Red State
Travis and his friends Billy-Ray and Randy head off one night in response to an online ad from a woman who’s more than willing to have sex with all three of them. However, they don’t realise they won’t be getting quite what they bargained for.
After having a drink, they pass out and when they wake up they’re captured by a group of religious fanatics lead by Abin Cooper who’s on a crusade against gays and has a rather violent way of ridding the earth of them…
Sound and Vision:
Red State has a washed out look and as such it fits the movie nicely, but unfortunately the black levels suffer highly from this and constantly look more gray than black. On the other hand, the level of detail is pretty decent and we didn’t spot any compression errors. Overall, Red State has a very documentary feel that fits nicely with the story.
The sound is quite a surprise. Dialogue scenes are remarkably absent of background sound, giving full focus on what’s being said, but when the action pops up, the score opens up and we get some good use of all channels. An excellent piece of work that does every scene justice.
Extras:
None
Conclusion:
With Red State, director Kevin Smith takes quite the turn from his usual work. Known from comedies like Clerks or Zack&Miri make a porno, you would expect something lighthearted, but instead Red State is a rather combination of action, thriller and horror. And it works!
Michael Parks is excellent as the psychotic pastor Abin Cooper and his monologue at the beginning of the movie is perfect for giving you goosebumps. You immediately feel there’s tension in the air and things are about to turn really bad for the captured teens really fast. Then when you think you’re in for a standard teen slasher movie, Smith changes the scenery and turns it into a shootout WACO-style.
The only minor downpoint we actually found was the scene with Cooper at the very ending which for us could easily have been left out. For the rest, however, we gladly suggest anyone to check out Red State.
6.0