“Red State” is a sadistic little film about a cult that is a mixture of the Westboro Baptist Church and the Branch Davidians folks from Waco. It’s definitely an odd film considering it is from director Kevin Smith (“Clerks”). I would have much rather watched Smith’s religious comedy “Dogma” again than sit through “Red State”.

Some teen boys receive an online invitation for sexual intercourse. However, they soon find themselves the hostages of a sinister religious movement. Trapped in the Five Points Trinity Church, the teens are slated to face capital punishment for their sins. As Pastor Abin Cooper (Michael Parks “Kill Bill: Vol. 2”) preaches against the homosexuals and consumerist culture to his flock, law enforcement soon surrounds the building but the believers are heavily armed and will not go down without a fight.

The teens in the movie are like the ones you find in slasher movies. This movie actually feels quite like a slasher film near the beginning before it transcends into a huge shootout between the authorities and the cult members. John Goodman (“King Ralph”, “The Artist”) is good as Joseph Keenan, who leads the siege efforts. Michael Parks steals the show as the sinister Abin Cooper. He’s easily the most interesting character in the movie.

This is a sinister film that features scenes of torture and extreme homophobic language so be aware that this is not light-hearted film. What the movie has to say about cults is not particularly new and I was ultimately bored by the majority of the film. There are dozens of films about cults out there including “Kill List”, “The Master” and two versions of “The Wicker Man”. One cult movie that I would recommend is the first “Children of the Corn”, which is at least an entertaining film. If you are a fan of Kevin Smith and have not seen “Red State” then you can ignore this one because it is so vastly different to his other movies.