Unholy Spirit: Watch the New Red Band Trailer for Kevin Smith's Red State

Red State isn't an ominous enough title for Kevin Smith's new joint, the one that he ceremoniously purchased for his own distribution at Sundance, before Lionsgate chipped in to help with the VOD release. This is a grisly caper that combines the freaky backwoods barbarism of a Rob Zombie picture, the noir grandeur of There Will Be Blood, and the shape-shifting terror of Melissa Leo. Save our souls, indeed! (NSFW language, violence.)

We've all gotten ourselves into similar trouble on ole' Craigslist, right? I was taped up in a camper just last week. I can't help myself if you're going to offer two beers.

Sundance buzz indicates that Red State isn't exactly a must-see, but the trailer alone has enough of a jolt to warrant cineplex viewing. Let's give it up to Melissa Leo for resembling even less of the auburn-tressed Det. Sgt. Kay Howard from Homicide: Life on the Street; she's unrecognizable as the fundamentalist trickster here. I also dig John Goodman here as the quipping cop, and maybe that's because he's playing more of a Melissa Leo-type role on Damages right now. I'd see this damn thing just to find out if Kyle Gallner meets a ghastlier end than he did in Jennifer's Body, but all the citizens of Red State seem to deserve reverence too.

VERDICT: Dogma's intense underbelly.

Red State is also getting an Oscar-qualifying run (no kidding) at the New Beverly in Los Angeles for a week starting on Aug. 19. Click here for tickets.