Movie Review - The Purge

The Purge, written and directed by James DeMonaco, is the latest attempt to scare you out of your seat.  Does it succeed with sending chills down your spine, or are those shivers caused by spilling your icy drink product into your lap.  Let's find out shall we.

The Purge sees us in a near future United States, where the "new founding fathers" have, in an apparently successful attempt to reduce crime an poverty rates, introduced purge night, a 12 hour period from 7pm to 7am where all police and emergency services are stood down and all crime, even murder, is legal.  This has also led to a booming business in home security systems that completely barricade the houses of those who can afford it.  That's where James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) comes in.  The number one home security system salesman in an unspecified area is heading home to lock himself in with his family for Purge night, complete with doting mother, Mary (Lena Heady), rebellious teen daughter, Zoey (Adelaide Kane), and nerdy misfit son, Charlie (Max Burkholder).  Soon after lock down we discover that Zoey's secret boyfriend has snuck into the house to talk to James, which leads to the first bit of the night's frivolity.  Shortly after Charlie lets a homeless man who is begging for help into the house, and the gang of affluent youths hunting him turn up wanting their target back.

The Purge appears to be a movie that wants to blend a number of ideas, but comes short in the execution.  There is a pretty unsubtle "rich vs poor" thread which is blatantly laid out in the first few minutes of the movie, but goes nowhere.  There is the daughter's secret boyfriend plot which just gets forgotten about once the main section of the movie starts up.  It ends up focusing pretty much on the gang of "rich healthy kids" who will do anything to get their ball back... if the ball was a homeless guy who has been pretty badly beaten but then seems to have amazing regenerative powers as the night progresses.

The movie progresses from political statement, to family drama, to suspenseful thriller, to slasher flick and then into the "surprise twist" that turns out to be not that much of a surprise.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this movie in places and definitely got a few scares out of it, but it ends up trying to be too many things at the same time and doesn't really end up making a point or wrapping anything up.  Mind you there is an event in the closing moments of purge night that almost makes up for the rest of the movie!

If you want a scare you could certainly do worse than The Purge, but if you want the thriller it initially sets out to be then you will end up disappointed.  Ultimately it is a movie to watch with the lights, and your brain, turned off.

In two words - Face mask.