del Toro, another spawn of the nineties independent scene, by following every crowd pleaser with a more “personal” work. In any case Red State, which comes to DVD after sparse theatrical distribution is unlikely to do much for Smith’s career one way or the other. The film resembles what Gus Van Zandt or Richard Linklater might have done with a Rob Zombie script. In case I’ve made it sound too interesting, let me put it another way. It’s a trite mélange of horror, action, and social conscious elements directed in standard “edgy” style (i.e. handheld camerawork). Horror fans need not be too excited. In spite of Smith’s description of Red State as “horror”, it’s not really, though it does contain plenty of violence and an all out psycho turn from Michael Parks, whose character is scarcely any more realistic than Hannibal Lecter. Smith takes inspiration from Fred Phelps, the repugnant minister who makes a habit of taking his followers to protest funerals of gays and other sinners. Smith gives us a fictional version of Phelps in the form of Aden Cooper (Parks), but his insight into misguided zealotry is limited to having various characters talk about what a douche bag he is. Cooper’s followers are so reprehensible that even neo-Nazis disavow him. Red State at least offers a star turn for Parks, a previously underused actor of the seventies. His Cooper is creepily insinuating and full of low key menace. At first he seems like a sincere, albeit twisted man of faith, but something about his tone suggests that he may be a con man in disguise. Unfortunately the performance is undermined almost immediately when Smith grants the character a ten minute sermon on homosexuality which will tax the patience of even the most patient viewers. Once it quickly becomes clear that Cooper is simply whacko, any interest in the character vanishes, though Parks must have surely relished such a prominent comeback role, one which includes the chance to sing “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” in a wispy voice. The plot begins in tried and true horror fashion as three teenage boys head to a trailer for a four way gang bang with an older woman they’ve met on Craig’s List. Want to bet it turns out to be a trap? Yes, and these boys soon awake to find they’ve been caged and forced to attend a weird religious gathering. But the horror grinds to a halt before it can really get started, as the invasion of Cooper’s compound by the ATF leads to much shooting. Strange as it seems, the film gives the vague impression of having been inspired by the old John Russo movie Midnight. Things show signs of brightening up when John Goodman appears, but grow dreary again when it’s obvious little of the actor’s usual good humour
will be allowed to show through. Goodman’s ATF agent, whose conscience brings him in conflict with his superiors, and a young cult mother whose concern is for her child leads her to betray her family, are the closest thing to likeable characters. Everyone else is pretty scuzzy, from Parks’ gunhappy religious nuts to the horny trio of loser teenagers. (Kevin Pollak’s cameo as another agent is over quickly.) Smith’s humour is his usual lowbrow stuff - a sheriff who sneaks off for the occasional gay tryst, but his “serious” dialogue is no better - the kind of preachy exposition that might turn up on Law and Order or some other “relevant” TV show. When a federal officer makes a wisecrack about prison rape, we’re apparently supposed to be shocked at his insensitivity. But since this is exactly the sort of irreverent comment that the heroes of one of Smith’s comedies would have made, and that Smith would have expected us to laugh at, the moral highhandedness seems extremely unconvincing. Smith has so little understanding of small town fundamentalism that the juvenile Catholic satire of Dogma seems positively profound and nuanced by comparison. The DVD includes no commentary, nor even a Red State trailer, but only a series of previews for previously released movies like Religulous and Kick Ass. By Brett Taylor Coping with Obscurity in the Horror Market By Alan Spencer People have been asking me how my latest novel Cider Mill Vampires is fairing on the market lately. For those who aren’t familiar with me (and you are many), I recently self-published a vampire novel and wrote an article for Morpheus Tales about why I decided to publish it independently. I’ll be honest, the response isn’t overwhelming as far as sales go, but again, this isn’t my first book that’s been left idling in obscurity. Remember Zombies and Power Tools or Inside the Perimeter: Scavengers of the Dead? For those who do know about it, I thank you, but I don’t take it personally if you haven’t. I understand. It’s a big world out there, and I’m only one author. And I’m all about being positive, so I’ll talk about what I’ve been doing after releasing my novels to promote them. Honestly, I’m a cheap, cheap man. Spendthrift is my middle name. So I’ll talk about the kinds of promotions that are free or cheap, because cheap is good. I want to go back to when I published my first book, The Body Cartel. Getting reviews was at the top of my list of things to do when it came to