The Purge

THE PURGE

Director : James DeMonaco

Year : 2013

Genre : Horror

Rating : **

Every so often, an idea is unleashed in the movie industry that excites our imaginations and conjures up imagery beyond our wildest dreams; pushing the boundaries and widening a seemingly limited scope. Case in point; 'The Purge', the newest horror film from Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes, which has been responsible for destroying the legacies of some of the best and most influential shockers ever made including 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'Friday The 13th' and of course, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'. Telling the story of a near -  future America in which all crimes become legal for 12 hours a year, 'The Purge' is given endless opportunities to deliver a powerful political commentary while also being a truly scary horror movie that taps into our fears and our worries about our seemingly crumbling society. However, director James DeManaco turns what could be an immensely allegorical and strangely prophetic picture into a very standard home invasion movie that sticks to the tired conventions of slashers and fails to give us anything new at all. Badly paced and poorly directed, 'The Purge' will probably end up being one of the most disappointing films of 2013. I really wanted to like it and by the end credits, I ended up feeling the opposite.

2022. America has hit a golden age with virtually zero unemployment and crime levels are at an all low. 

However, this apparent nirvana comes at a price and every year, Americans are given free rein to commit any crime they wish for a designated 12 hours called the purge to cleanse themselves from any hatred, malice or evil intent that has built up inside them. By doing this, the weak can be exterminated, the negative emotions are drained and the USA can continue it's long period of tranquility. These crimes come with no punishment at all and any offense is allowed including murder, rape and theft. While millions of Americans agree to the 'cleansing' nature of the purge, many others do not and a lucrative market has emerged providing those against the new law to protect themselves and their families from any harm. Ethan Hawke plays James, a provider of these house security systems and on the night of the purge, he and his family lock down their home and wait for the 12 hours of murder and mayhem to pass them by. Equipped with high tech cameras, the family can watch the violence outside from the comfort of their living room, but when a homeless black man is seen to be wandering the streets in terror, James' young son Charlie (who doesn't agree with the process) allows him in to the barricaded fortress  Hiding the stranger from those trying to kill him, Charlie inadvertently puts his entire family's life in danger when a group of teenagers and young adults come searching for the homeless man, who they believe is not worthy to live during the purge. Threatening to kill both the parents and the children if the vagrant isn't handed over to them for prompt execution, the intruders begin breaking down the metal barriers protecting the family from the wrath of the purge. While at first toying with the idea of sending the poor man outside to his imminent death, James decides to protect him and soon the family must deal with the crazed fury of the of the masked adolescents outside who believe that they have been cheated from cleansing their wicked thoughts and their right as an American to kill whoever they please.

Given such a golden opportunity with this frankly genius idea, you would think that a good filmmaker would take full advantage of the gigantic scope they have been given.  We could see the full extent of the purge and view how many Americans feel about and deal with this barbaric mass genocide by travelling across the country and seeing multiple story threads, covering all walks of life. Instead however, we are given a narrative that is a cross between 'The Strangers' and 'Straw Dogs' and the end result is a very ineffective work that does nothing to convey the horror and the inhumane nature of this plot. To compare, think of Barry Levinson's brilliantly squeamish shocker 'The Bay' which utilized the seemingly done to death device of 'found footage' to great effect and gave us a true feeling about the way in which the parasite affects everyone in the town. Now, I am no fan of the sub genre  but if the director wanted to give us a more convincing story and a more threatening atmosphere, maybe he should have gone down the found footage route so that we could see the national events of the purge rather the ways in which a small group of people deal with the onslaught of mindless violence. Even during the opening credits, we are given a montage of various crimes committed during past purges and this is what I would have liked the movie to be. 

Shot mostly in the dark, 'The Purge' mostly relies on jump scares to shock us, but due to the slow nature of the film and the conventional nature of the direction, I found myself predicting (almost to the second) where a shock moment was about to happen. This may work for a haunted house movie or a very standard slasher movie, but with a film like 'The Purge', the horror should be coming from the events taking place around the story lines and the bigger picture. The ideas behind the movie are much more terrifying than the action depicted on screen and watching the film, I was constantly wishing that DeMonaco would leave Hawke and his family and explore other events happening during the purge. Yes by doing this, we may be privy to a lot of bloody violence, sexual violation and random executions, but this is what the advertising campaign seemed to imply; that we would see all sorts of depravity, corruption and senseless killing right there on the screen. As for the film itself, it's not particularly gory, it's certainly not scary and the concepts are barely explored. So we end up asking ourselves, what really is the point of the film? 

Much better in concept than in execution, 'The Purge' is sure to disappoint horror fans across the world, who are waiting for the next revolutionary shocker. Watching the film, it is clear that James DeMonaco has talent and given a better narrative and screenplay, he could become one of the better horror directors working today. But as it stands, 'The Purge' is just a let down and a film that could have been so much more. I just hope that in the inevitable string of sequels sure to follow, other filmmakers will explore the vast array of options and narrative arcs that the basic premise so clearly welcomes.