Kevin Smith Talks About ‘Red State’

Previously, Kevin Smith had forgone his usual demeanor and was tight-lipped about his current film Red State. However, recently the Clerks director broke that silence as he began answering fan questions on his Twitter account. Red State is a venture beyond the typical for Kevin Smith as he seeks to branch out and bring us a horror film of his own kind.

Opening up and answering tons of questions, Kevin Smith provided several tidbits about the nature of the movie and the production of it. You can find a summary of the information through the link.

• He revealed filming should wrap up around Friday of this week.
• John Goodman made his first appearance on set this past Friday. Kevin Smith goes on to state how awesome it is working with Goodman. Revealing that the whole crew was on hand to just sit behind the camera and watch Goodman do his thing. Kevin saying that Goodman truly is “BELOVED”.
• He revealed the movie is a sort of spin on the 70′s exploitation genre, stating: “In the 70′s, they made exploitation flicks about devil worship. We flip it on RED STATE – so it’s an exploitation flick about angel worship.”
• Later, when a fan made the comment about it being a “Churchploitation”,  Kevin went on to provide a small dose of social commentary in replying that it’s “More like Christploitation – a concept that, sadly, extends far beyond a dopey film genre…”
• When asked how he was pleased with the movie thus far, Kevin replied that he was extremely happy stating that there is not a weak link in the crew.
• Smith has stated that they’re filming the movie chronologically. Even stating that he’s also editing the film as they film it. Meaning that as soon as they’re done, he’ll have a finished print ready for the entire cast and crew to watch at the warp party.
• When asked if there was anybody lined up to distribute the film yet, Kevin Smith stated that there is no distributor. However, he mentioned wanting to show the film at Sundance at the beginning of next year. He says he’ll play it from there, undoubtedly hoping to find a bite or two when the film is shown off at the festival.
• At this point, he says it’s looking like the film will have about an 80-85 minute run time.
• He’s stated that the movie will not be offensive to even Christians. Stating that “s’just a horror flick”. Though given the director’s history, we’ll just have to wait and see how much the film lives up to that claim of being non-offensive.
• And finally, it seems he’s really zoned in for the violence of the film. When asked about how graphic the violence in the movie is, Kevin “Guar-an-teed!” that we won’t soon be forgetting the first kill of the movie.

And that’s all we have for now. As Kevin Smith stated, filming of the movie should be ending before this week is out. Then, if lucky, we may see a screening of the movie come Sundance.