Kevin Smith directed a horror movie? Yes, my initial reaction was one of bemusement too. It’s hard to imagine the man responsible for the likes of Clerks, Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back being able to create any suspense or terror amongst all his trademark penis-joke-cracking and joint-smoking. Unsurprisingly then, Smith’s latest venture Red State doesn’t exactly fill one with fear. But more strangely, it doesn’t really have any penis jokes, either.

Red State follows a group of teens who receive an online invitation for sex, and set off into the back-roads of Middle America to collect on the offer. So far, so good. But in true afternoon special style, Red State quickly dishes out a warning to those who think they’ve found something real on the interwebs. The moral of the story: the lady who is promising you triple-penetration from behind her computer screen actually only wants to lure you into a fundamentalist Christian sect, glad wrap your whole body up and shoot you in the head. Kids, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The bulk of the movie takes place in the compound of said sect. Apparently, leader Abin Cooper (played by Michael Parks) and his band of followers in the Five Points Church have a big problem with homosexuality. Or any sexuality. So to remedy the perceived crisis, the Church is taking it upon themselves to kill off the sin virus, one unsuspecting victim at a time. Essentially, what ensues from here on in is a battle between the unfortunate, horny teenagers and the Christian-crazies – something that’s made all the more bloody when the ATF (apparently some form of law-enforcing body), led by Agent Joseph Keenan (John Goodman), stage a show-down outside the compound.

In some respects, Red State includes some traditional horror elements – crazed hillbillies out for blood is a tried and tested concept, as is death to those who have (or try to have) sex. But this really isn’t a horror movie – there’s no opening death scene, no boobs whatsoever, and while there are a couple of gross-out moments, there’s not really any scenes that are (or try to be) scary. The deaths are more of the shoot ‘em up variety, and that all combined with a sprinkling of black humour leads me to think that perhaps, Red State would be more appropriately labelled as an action flick.

But genre aside, is Red State a good movie? Well, sort of. It definitely has its moments, most with thanks to John Goodman, the acting is decent, and on the whole it’s entertaining enough. In theory, the unconventional nature and lack of formulaic dross to the film should be an asset, but in reality the constantly shifting character viewpoints makes it hard to know who to root for. Additionally, some of the scenes drag on far longer than necessary and the movie doesn’t really have a satisfying conclusion. However, there is an underlying political message about religious extremism and terrorism to the film that’s interesting – the title of the flick refers to more than spilt blood.

Kevin Smith said in an interview “I called it horror because, honestly, and I stand by this: What else do I call it? The things that happen in it, to me, are horrifying.” Fair enough, but I find LMFAO horrifying – doesn’t mean I’d put them in a movie and expect the audience to cower.

Red State is screening nationally now.