Title: The Purge
Directed by: James DeMonaco
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: June 7, 2013
Rated: R
Synopsis: A family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized. (Via IMDB)
Brian: The Purge is a flawed but thought-provoking horror film that asks what would happen if for one 12-hour period every year crime and murder were legal. The film is set nine years in the future, with Ethan Hawke as a security developer named James Sandin who gives the rich the opportunity to feel just a little bit safer during the yearly Purge. Most of the film takes place in his lavish home, which houses his wife (Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey) and two kids. It looks like this year’s Purge will be just like any other, until James’ son opens the timed windows to let in a homeless man who says he’s going to die. Unfortunately a group of young adults who want the men dead find out where he’s stashed, and will do everything in their power to get to him. My favorite part of The Purge was the opening 20 minutes, the setting up of the high-concept story and how at ease James’ family thinks they are, in all their supposed safety and comfort. It’s when the horror and action set in that the movie becomes a little routine.
Shaunta: You know how sometimes there’s an idea in a book that you can suspend your disbelief for, but it doesn’t translate to the harsh light of film? The Purge is like that. Only it wasn’t a book. It was an idea that I think I would have liked better if I was reading it, rather than watching it. Ethan Hawke was a little plastic for me. Keeping the teenage girl in a Britney Spears-like Catholic school girl uniform throughout the whole film was kind of weird. I couldn’t stop wondering why, if there were no consequences for the crimes, the bad guys all wore masks. I had a hard time really believing that if there really was a ‘purge’, it would look the way it did in the film. The whole idea didn’t hold up to being watched the way I think it might have been if it was read, if that makes sense. There were bright spots, though. The son, Charlie, was great. I loved his creepy little motorized toy. Also, I liked the stranger, but wish he had more time in the film.
Brian: This film opened with a jaw-dropping 34 million dollars, a stunner for a movie that cost only 3 million to make, so it’s probably we’ll see a sequel to The Purge in 1 to 2 years. Even though I found this first installment to be just OK, I actually think a sequel, with a little higher budget, would be ideal, because there are more places for this concept to go. The second half of this movie is basically your typical house invasion scenario, which we’ve seen a hundred times before, and the movie’s central what-if premise gets lost a little. It comes back around in the very end, to solid effect, but a good forty-five minutes of The Purge is the kind of material we’ve seen before, which was disappointing.
Shaunta: I appreciated that, even though it could have so easily, this film didn’t disintegrate into gratuitous gore. I really loved the very end of the movie, which I can’t talk too much about without giving it away. I’ll just say that I loved how it left me thinking about what the rest of the year would look like if there really was a purge. How do you live with your neighbors after living for twelve hours as an ax murderer? The film suggests that allowing the wealthy to literally purge the sick and poor from society would keep crime and poverty to bare minimums. What a disturbing, ugly idea. I hope if there is a sequel, that theme is explored more deeply. No body plays snooty, rich lady quite like Lena Headey and I would love to see what happens next in her story. I’m not sorry about the one major casting change there will have be if there is a second movie.
Brian: I also didn’t understand the crazy twenty-somethings who want to break into the house. They should be just normal people looking to let loose for this annual event, and instead they’re made into horror movie monsters, with masks. Why are the girls skipping through the house? These characters are made to be so heinous that I figured they’d try to kill and break into houses any night of the year, not just during the Purge. The Purge is serviceable entertainment, and nothing quite memorable, I love what producer Jason Blum is doing with these small, independent horror films. I really loved Insidious and Sinister, and look forward to more from him.
Shaunta: I agree with Brian about the crazies. They’re so unreal. It felt like the creepiness was just for the audience, when it would have been far scarier if it had been believable. And it was far, far too easy for them to get into the house. If part of the story is that the elaborate security systems aren’t as secure as they seem, then that needs to be expanded. It seems to me like if it was that easy to break into the wealthiest houses, it would have been done before. Over all though, this movie was scary and entertaining. I have high hopes for a possible sequel.
