The insane alternate ending to Kevin Smith movie ‘Red State’
The American filmmaker Kevin Smith perfectly bridges the gap between viewer and director, becoming a beloved artist of cult cinema during his rise to fame in the 1990s. Sharing a close friendship with Quentin Tarantino and actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, Smith quickly made a name for himself with his fondness for sharp, candid dialogue and eccentric, violent concepts, first emerging in his debut feature Clerks in 1994.
Clerks, a low-budget comedy buddy film, struck a chord with critics and audiences alike, taking home two awards at Cannes Film Festival in 1994. Sparking the creation of his Silent Bob character, who would regularly re-appear throughout his filmography, appearing in 1995s Mallrats, 1997s Chasing Amy and 1999s Dogma, Smith created an iconic role of ‘90s filmmaking that would become beloved by fans.
After this period of Silent Bob movies that each shared a strange inter-connected universe, Smith switched gears, making the Hollywood comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno in 2008 with Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen, followed by the curious horror flicks Red State and Tusk in 2011 and 2014 respectively; with the latter due for a sequel in the near future.
Whilst Tusk achieved cult status at the time for its bizarre plot that saw the protagonist be transformed into a walrus through surgical operation, it was Red State that would gain the attention of critics and fans long term.
Starring Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman and Nicholas Braun, Smith’s curious 2011 movie is set in Middle America and tells the story of a group of teenagers who receive an online invitation for sex only to be trapped by a group of religious fundamentalists with a far more sinister plan in mind. Far darker than many of Smith’s comic-book-inspired flicks, Red State demonstrated that the filmmaker was capable of far more serious if fantastical, drama.
Managing to struggle free from the hold of the religious group, the boys attract the attention of law enforcement and prompt a violent Tarantino-style conclusion to the film in which the faith group comes to blows with the police. This all concludes when the group are encouraged out of the church at the film’s climax upon hearing the sound of deafening horns that they interpret as the coming rapture.
The nature of the fantastical sound was later explained by Goodman’s ATF Special Agent Joe Keenan, who features in the film’s final scene debriefing two government members. It’s something of an anti-climax, especially considering that Smith cranks up the tension so well throughout the film, but this becomes more understandable when you hear that the director wanted to end the movie with far more fanfare but simply couldn’t afford it.
Smith’s alternate ending for the film involved the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and a giant angel who came down to slaughter all the congregation members. Don’t believe us? Take a look at an animated impression of what the alternate ending would have looked like below.
