The Purge is an American action horror thriller from Blumhouse Pictures and director, James DeMonaco. It’s stars Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Adelaide Kane, and Max Burkholder. And it has some pretty interesting producers: Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, and Sébastien K. Lemercier.

This film was released on May 2nd, 2013 at the Stanley Film Festival in Estes Park, Colorado. It was released into theaters in the US on June 7th, 2013. It did well at the box office but critics were not happy with the “mind-numbing” violence. I am watching the 4K version on Google Play.

Synopsis

In an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity-including murder-becomes legal. The police can't be called. Hospitals suspend help. It's one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin's (Ethan Hawke) gated community during the yearly lockdown, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a family apart. Now, it is up to James, his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their kids to make it through the night without turning into the monsters from whom they hide. (Universal Pictures)

Analysis

I don’t like horror movies that introduce a gun to the party. It ceases to become scary at that point. There are some exceptions to the rule, of course. But for the most part guns in horror movies suck. That’s my biggest issue with The Purge. It doesn’t actually become a horror movie until the final ten minutes of the picture. Instead we end up bumping around with this dumb family for most of the flick.

Man the Sandon family pisses me off. The blame for this falls solely on both of James’ kids. His son Charlie and his daughter Zoey both act like morons that have never lived through a Purge before, even though this kind of thing had been happening for years at this point. Also, I didn’t understand how big their house was supposed to be. It’s a mansion. But there are family members are yelling, people are sneaking around, it’s like the Overlook Hotel or something.

The best part of the film is the violence. But the actual gore and blood is again, nothing special. It doesn’t help that Director James DeMonaco commits the ultimate sin of using CGI blood and far too many cuts during the fight scenes. Yeah, fight scenes. No slasher style murders. No. In this “horror movie” you have frat boys literally bursting in through the windows with uzi’s. It kind of made me want to see this movie if it were made in the early eighties. It would have been awesome. In fact, the structure and bare-bones setting of the film, would make for an interesting stage show.

The acting is alright. I didn’t think it was anything special. Ethan Hawke is great. I always like his work. And he blew it away with Sinister. However, in this, Hawke just comes off as another drab executive. I mean, that’s his character sure. But I feel like James Sandon (Hawke) is just extra bland and generic.

I appreciated the character development that we did receive. I was interested in the relationship between James and his wife Mary. When the security system breaks down Mary is so disappointed in James. You feel it. The director did a great job there.

Overall

The Purge is a confused film has some very interesting concepts. However, the execution and delivery are slightly off. This is essentially an Old Dark House tale with guns and action. No supernatural or psychological elements at all. This isn’t really how I like my horror movies. But it wasn’t all bad. It’s just a shame that the terror and horror doesn’t ramp up until the final ten minutes.