I’d say 13 years ago Kevin Smith came into my life. That was when I saw Clerks for the first time and fell in love with his body of work. Mallrats, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks 2, Jersey Girl, Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Cop Out have all been movies I really dig. I await his new flicks just as much as any other filmmaker if not more so, because I feel like his movies speak to me more than most.

Clearly he has fallen out of good graces with some people, but not me. I still listen to every podcast, watch every Q&A and follow him on the Twitter (@ThatKevinSmith). It feels like years since he first announced that he wanted to do a horror movie called Red State and now people are finally getting to see it on his awesome Red State tour. He shows the flick then does a Q&A after. Genius right? Well, to some, you’d think he said he was gonna punch everyone in the face. This is the worst thing to happen to film since the shakey cam. No friends, this is how releasing a movie used to be. They’d release a movie in one city, let it play then move on to the next. AND the movie comes out wide in October, so cool your jets. 

The tours second stop was in Boston last night and I was there. 

“Three boys go into the woods to find sex, but instead find God.” That is Mr. Smith’s one sentence to sum up this movie. Does it? No, this flick is SO much more than that. Its not horror, its not a thriller, its not a comedy…it’s something else. He truly has made his own genre with this flick. A genre, for brevity’s sake, I will refer to as awesome. Its such a brutal, fun flick that has genuine shock moments but also has some true laughs in it. I haven’t seen a film like this in…I don’t know how long.

It stars Michael Parks as Abin Cooper, a Fred Phelps like preacher who leads a church in protesting a homosexual mans funeral among other heinous things. It really is his show. He is incredible and by far the best work I’ve seen him do. He is so believably creepy that I would be mortified to be in his presence. I can’t say enough good things about his performance. Also in the church are Oscar winner Melissa Leo (terrifying), Ralph Garman (also terrifying), Kerry Bishe (Much better than she was on the last season of Scrubs) and Smiths wife, Jen Schwalbach (doesn’t say much, but is nice in the part). They certainly are a creepy bunch and all do fantastic in their roles. 

The three boys who go traveling into the woods are Michael Angarano (Whom I’ve been a fan of for quite some time), Kyle Gallner (Whom I’ve been a fan of since he was on Smallville) and Nicholas Braun (Who I can’t wait to see more from, he was fantastic). They were GREAT together, but are sort of sidelined when we meet Parks and crew, I would LOVE to see more of them. Maybe an extended cut on blu-ray? (please?)

Stephen Root, John Goodman and Kevin Pollak round out the cast and are obviously terrific. I mean come on, look at those names. Goodman? Pollak? Root? All class acts. 

The movie jumps all over the place and I mean that in the best way possible. You truly DON’T know whats gonna happen next or who is safe. We have no idea who to root for and it makes it all that much more exciting. It is Smith’s strongest script since Clerks II and his best directing ever. But let’s talk about the real stand out of the show here for a second. Dave Klein. Holy cow. If you didn’t know better, could you tell this was the same cinematographer who shot Clerks??? Heck no. The picture was beautiful. He’s really grown as a DP and its awesome to see his work here. Such a good looking film with some camera tricks I’ve never seen in a Smith film. I would give anything to able to talk shop with Mr. Klein or Mr. Smith if it was possible.

I don’t wanna give anything away because this a flick that should be seen without much prior knowledge to the plot. Its shocking, fun, brutal and in short, awesome. 

Clerks made me wanna be a director. I haven’t felt much like creating lately, but Red State really has reignited my passion to want to direct. It had so much life and vitality in it that it makes me wanna get out there right now and just shoot. So, thanks for that Mr. Smith.

When this is released wide in October, go see it. If you dig dark brutal films, I think you’ll love it. I give this movie a 9/10. I’d give it a full 10, but I wish there was more of the three boys, they were awesome together.