The Purge

Humans have a natural instinct as predators to kill, but society forces us to repress these feelings by living in a ''civilized'' way....according to new Ethan Hawke led film The Purge, a very interesting concept of a film, which explores a future society in which all crime is allowed for one night a year...

It's 2022 (not actually that far away), and unemployment in America is 1%, crime is at an all-time low, and generally, everybody seems happy, especially James Sandin (Hawke), a rich citizen who makes his fortune selling security systems for houses to use during the annual Purge. Basically the reason why unemployment and crime is so low is because, for one night a year, a Purge occurs, where all crime (murder, raper robbery, the whole lot) is made legal, and no police or emergency services are allowed to interfere. Mad. But also intriguing. James and his family happily avoid the Purge by using a security system outside their large house while the rest of society kills each other, but all that changes when their youngest son Charlie decides to let a stranger into the house......

This starts off as a really captivating film, the concept of legal crime kept me hooked, but soon enough, it descends into a stereotypical action film where Ethan Hawke fights off gangs from his house with a variety of handguns,and all originality gets lost in a haze of bullets (literally). The short running time (85mins) and variety of twists every 5 minutes makes sure that it doesn't get too boring, so overall a decent watch, but nothing that provokes any thinking afterwards.

6/10- A lesser version of Panic Room

The Purge (2013)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Annoying, dumb and eventually cruel film dealing with the one day of the year when America allows you to kill anyone who want without being punished. This "purge" is supported by a security system seller (Ethan Hawke) and his wife (Lena Headey) but during the 12-hour period they find themselves the target of a gang of murderers. THE PURGE pretty much gave away its story during the theatrical trailer and I thought to myself that we were going to get something fresh or something that has a few interesting ideas but just didn't work. Sadly there are some interesting ideas floating around but the screenplay is simply so bad and so clichéd that it pretty much kills anything positive. The biggest problem is that the film is never scary, which is just downright disappointing. Another problem is that the film itself doesn't know what to do with its "free day to kill" idea. It takes a while for the viewer to warm up to this futuristic world where we can kill but as soon as you accept this "law" the screenplay then pulls a quick one and starts to challenge the morals of such a thing. We then get a bunch of political non-sense thrown in just to make us question the whole thing. Why sell a film on an idea and then not know where to get with it? Even more annoying is that this film contains some of the dumbest and most annoying characters in the history of cinema. Yes, the history of cinema. The couple's young son is someone I wanted to be off the screen ASAP. The daughter isn't much better but just wait until the two twists that happen. Both Hawke and Headey give good performances as does the rest of the cast. If you're expecting a horror film then you're going to be disappointed because even though there's quite a bit of violence, for the most part this is nothing more than a rip-off of STRAW DOGS but set in the future with this one "change." Sadly, THE PURGE just never works and in the end you're left with a major disappointment and just a cheap excuse to kill.

From the producers of Paranormal Activity (as is all horror films these days) The Purge tells the story of a near future were crime is at an all time low and unemployment stands at under 1% of the US population, to compensate for one night a year all crime (including murder) is legal for 12 hours allowing society some kind of release.

The film revolves around the Sandin family who are confronted by a group of college students hunting a man on the night of the Purge who the family had allowed into their home after lockdown. The Purgers (lead by Rhys Wakefield) drastically try to break into the family's home causing James (Ethan Hawke) and Mary (Lena Headey) to protect their children from the invaders in order to survive the night.

The main problem with the film is the premise itself, whilst interesting is filled with flaws and holes that just make the whole idea ridiculous. Such as what happens to the serial killers and career criminals of this world? Do they just control their urges to kill or steal for the other 364 days until the next Purge, as well what if someone has a heart attack on the night of The Purge? Is it just a case of bad luck you chose the wrong night to need medical care?

Despite the flaws of the premise, the film repeatedly ignores the possibilities of the premise, instead of exploring the ideas behind the Purge or the events that occur on the night of the Purge from different perspectives and situations. Instead the film settles for a typical home invasion story that although done well, is nothing we haven't seen done in many other films. The Purge in the end seems to only be the premise of this film to stop the age old question of "Why don't they just call the police?" in home invasion films.

To the films credit it is quite subtle, there's a running theme that the Purge is just an excuse for the upper classes to exterminate the poor, driven by all the attackers wearing prep school blazers and the person they are chasing wearing dog tags around his neck. The film also contains some strong performances, especially from Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Lord of War) and Lena Headey (Dredd, Game of Thrones) who carry the film throughout. The film also has a twist near the end which allows the audience to get inside the heads of the people during this night.

That cant be said for the leader of the Purger's played by Rhys Wakefield (Sanctum, Home and Away)whose performance is slightly cringe worthy, hes trying to be psychotic yet in control of the proceedings but it just comes across as a amateur dramatics' version of The Joker. He just never seems like a really threat and just a creepy next door neighbour.

The film also contains some bizarre and just plain weird set pieces, such as the families' son who builds a spy camera on a chard baby doll on the top of a rhino tank from Warhammer 40,000. The thing looks like a demented contraption from Sid's bedroom in Toy Story.

Overall, The Purge is an OK home invasion film, there are moments of suspense and a couple of jump scares are effective. The wasted potential of the premise is the films main downfall which could have lead to a more effective and possible original film then what we got in the end.

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadger

First off, this film could have been amazing. The plot and premise are very original and had a lot of potential. But sadly, the story is full of clichés such as stupid teenage kids, bad decisions, and clueless villains. If they had only made the film in a way that we could see multiple Purge stories, it would have been better. The ending is the probably the best part of the story.

The acting is okay at best. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey perform the best. Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane play two of the most annoying, stupid, and idiotic characters I have ever laid eyes on.

The film starts off very slow and continues to have slow pacing until the end.

The blood and gore aspect of the film is very good. This is one of the highest points about the film.

Pros: Very original story, the ending, good acting from Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey, and a good use of blood and gore

Cons: Slow pacing, wasted potential with the story, annoying characters, Max Burkholder and Adelaide Kane and their terrible performance, and a lot of clichés

Overall Rating: 4.3

The Purge (2013)

Well, this is either the stupidist movie ever or it's a mishmash of something audacious and creative and a slasher film with campy expectations. It doesn't make the grade as a great movie mostly because of an hour of redundant ax-wielding around a big suburban house. But the first half hour is really great—some potential here that went aground fast.

The premise is clear right away: it's the near future, maybe 2021, in the United States. Once a year for twelve hours everyone is allowed to be an ultra criminal without repercussion. None. Kind of like Devil's Night in Detroit without any cops. You can murder, destroy things, be a general naughty boy or girl, and have no criminal consequences the next day. Hurray!

Everything is just okay! Or not.

Well, the reason this works in the first half hour is the calm, steady, well appointed believablility of the acting and scenario in this fancy (upscale American) house. Ethan Hawke plays a great regular, successful, nice Dad. His wife (Lena Headey) is a sweetheart in the clichéd way (she is sadly the typical Hollywood female, incompetent but nice to have around). They have two children in the standard mode, talented and slightly disaffected.

So 7pm rolls around and the family has a fortress of a house (steel doors drop down in front of the windows and doors). So they watch on their monitors the calm and then the lack of calm on the nice street outside, at night. And things go sour badly.

Okay, so a great set up. Of course, if you think about it, it's about as believable as zombies. And so therefore you can go with it if you decide to. So the public can expunge their violence by killing a few people and the other 364 days are crime free. Great. Except, well, uh, really?? Yeah, it implies that we would kill without compunction, and that the next day you would walk by your neighbor, who just killed a few people during the Purge, and say, "Good morning Mrs. Johnson," as if all was fine. And there is no guilt. Or feeling. Or morality.

But that's if you think about it. A lot of Hollywood's idea of the future is not meant to be parsed out and logical. Look at "The Giver," or even (yes) "Avatar." Etc.

So on a simpler level we have the problem of a movie that turns into a slasher film. Because the bad people do, of course, get into the house (you saw that coming) and the family tries to defend itself. This part of the movie is not especially well made, or well acted, or original. It destroys all potential, and makes it a disturbing bore.