Red State

Three teenage boys answer an online sex advert and find themselves in the clutches of an extreme fundamentalist religious group in director Kevin Smith's uneasy mix of horror movie, action thriller and social commentary. As the Five Points Church (inspired by Fred Phelps and the "God Hates Fags" slogan of his Westboro Baptist Church) prepares to burn the victims, its urban terrorism agenda is fully revealed, prompting government agent John Goodman to take action to eliminate the cult by whatever means necessary. While departing from his usual slacker product, Smith reveals himself in extended archetypal banter scenes, even as huge chunks of lazy exposition fatally dilute the tension. Undermined further by misplaced humour and Smith's manic determination to hammer home his political point, the finale is an overfamiliar, anticlimactic mess. Although characterisation is minimal, Quentin Tarantino regular Michael Parks makes an incredibly strong impression as the frightening pastor on a murderous mission.