Kevin Smith’s doing a horror movie? Red State.
Aug 31st, 2007 by Bryan White
I’m not the Kevin Smith fan that I used to be. Since Clerks, his once exciting career has been a slow slide into mediocrity. Bigger budgets, wordier scripts and a disastrous flirtation with movies that don’t feature Jay and Silent Bob have done nothing for me. I realize that I’m going to take shit from the cult of Kevin Smith for saying such things, but I’m already on a roll taking shit from the cult of Rob Zombie for publishing a mostly-negative, wishy-washy review of his latest movie, so what the fuck, right?
Hopefully you’ll be able to detect my genuine interest and building excitement over the latest View Askew news to emerge from New Jersey. Maybe you’ve heard about it already, the earliest word of this project dates back to April, but Kevin is working on a horror movie. Posted today at the View Askew site, Kevin has finished the first draft of an off-beat, allegedly uncharacteristic script for a movie called Red State. From the mouth of Kevin:
” It is written.
Finished “Red State” today.
Shortest flick (in terms of page count) that I ever wrote. Least amount of dialogue, too (not to say there’s no dialogue; just that there’s about half as much as I normally write).
Unlike any other script I’ve ever authored, to say the least. Very fucked up. If I’d never said anything about it in the press and put it out under a pseudonym, I doubt anyone would ever connect me with it.
Can’t wait to shoot it.”
The premise has something to do with the infamous Westboro Baptist Church and their antics, but that’s all I know. Knowing what I do about Fred Phelps and that this is a horror movie we’re talking about, I can only imagine where this is going to go.
All along, I’ve been wishing that Kevin would outgrow the New Jersey mythology that he has spent so much of his career illustrating and this sounds like a step in the right direction. I seriously cannot wait for this to happen.
By the way, congratulations with your daughter.
What a nice looking child !
I hope you can find the time to write.
Hi, Henrik! Thanks. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you post here. Everything’s going well. I hope. How is your blog going?
Yes, Im sorry. It´s difficult to write in a foreign language, and I can´t find my dictionary. Anyway, I still enjoy reading your articles,especially what you wrote about remakes, and the lack of ideas in Hollywood. I couldn´t agree more.
I guess i preferr the old Carpenter movies, since I consider him a master - they just cant´t make movies like that anymore !
I had some problems with Network Marketing Ads on Shabbit.net. I therefore write on my other blog “lidtomfilm.”
Too bad you can´t read and comment on it. I just wrote something about “The Gumball Rally” from 1976, a superior Cannonball racemovie, nobody seems to know.( But i have to admit that danish is a small language)
I have Gumball Rally in my Netflix queue but it won’t get to me for a while. I took in Two Lane Blacktop a while back, the hippie road race movie with James Taylor and Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. My plan was to review it here, but I just couldn’t find the words to do it.
I think I understand. I have been trying to write about Two-Lane Blacktop myself,
but I´m finding it difficult - It´s really a strange movie.
It´s interesting however, that Vanishing Point and Two-Lane Blacktop, inspired the real Cannonballers back in 1971, and got them started.
But you have something to look forward to - Gumball is superior to the Cannonball movies from 81 and 84.
By the way - What do you think about the performance of Warren Oates, in Two-Lane Blacktop ?
It´s too bad, he died back in the early 1980es. He´s one of my favorite actors.
I will never forget his performance in “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.” from 74.
An interesting guy - he allways looks angry or depressed !
My whole thing with “Red State” as a “Horror” movie, is that Kevin Smith is one a known media whore (he did the commentary track on “Roadhouse” for crying out loud). and he made the statement after saying that it was a movie about the religious right…. OK I updated myself with some news and it proved my point exactly. This movie will be a dystopia view of what might come when the religious right overwhelm the population. Sure It is a terror, but to be horror movie is a call back to the old days of horror, maybe even the twilight zone. I get a strange sense that one day the history books will call “red state” liberal propaganda.
Hey Wes… I bet if they asked you to do a commentary on Roadhouse (being the kick-ass film that it is) you’ld jump on it in a second!!!
But as far as Red State goes, I hope it actually gets made. From what I have read farther into it, people that have read the script are polarized. Some love it, and others think that it might not go over so well with the overly sensitive general audience and that the Weinstien brothers (who have green-lit most, if not all of Kevins other films) may chicken out and not let it get made.
Kevin also seems to have a lot on his plate right now. I’m hoping that Red State goes to the head of the class because I’d really like to see Smith branch out and try something like this. I’m pretty confident that he could turn out a surprising horror movie. But he also has that episode of Reaper, the first episode of Heroes: Origins, Zack and Miri Make A Porno and some still unknown superhero flick in the works.
Also, I’d do a commentary track for Roadhouse even if they didn’t ask me to.
Possible subtitle: Night of the Living Strawmen. Phelps is a registered Democrat, who just happens to have gone completely batshit insane from meth. All of his followers are members of his immediate family. There’s no coherent ideological content to his shtick.