THE PURGE (2013)

Film: I always find it funny when you observe a piece of science fiction pop culture after the date that that sci-fi piece takes place. I still find it hilarious that the science fiction magazine 2000AD still calls itself that, but branding is a strong and important part of any pop culture, unfortunately, and it restricts creativity at its very source.

The Purge was written and directed by James DeMonaco, who wrote the screenplay for the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 in 2005, another film, like most thrillers in the vein of this, that sees people banding together in trapped environment against something trying to get inside.

Remember the Alamo, indeed!

Our plot involves James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) and his family, wife Mary (Lena Healey), daughter Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and son Charlie (Max Burkholder) on the most celebrated American night of the year, the night of The Purge. The Purge is one night a year where no crime will be punished for: murder, assault, robbery… it’s all on the cards and the police will do nothing about it.

James loves the Purge as being a security contractor, he has made a lot of money from many people, including his own gated neighbourhood, by selling them state-of-the-art security systems.

The family are well prepared for the Purge except for two things that James does not expect. The first is 16 year old Zoey’s boyfriend, Henry (Tony Oller), an 18 year old young man who James doesn’t not approve of, has hidden himself within the house… for nefarious means on the night when no crime will be punished? Maybe.

The second issue is that Charlie observes a vagrant (Edwin Hodge) being chased through the streets by a gang led by an unnamed leader (Rhys Wakefield) who have decided to use the Purge to cleans the city of undesirables, and lets him into the house to save him as Charlie doesn’t believe the Purge is a good idea. The vagrant immediately disappears within the mansions walls.

It’s an even worse idea when the gang descends upon the house with an ultimatum: give up the vagrant or the whole family pays the price.

As the Sandin’s are attacked from both inside and out, the question will be asked: who will survive the night?

The Purge is a violent sci-fi horror film released in 2013 that takes place in 2022… yep, three years prior to this review being written… and even though we thankfully have not reached the point where a yearly violent purge is how we sort out the world’s problems, I think the elements of society not being nice to itself for monetary reasons is sad.

There is some exciting things about this film that really thrilled me. One is that the people attacking the house and the vagrant have no character name. The fact that, like in real life, people move in and out of your life and do things to you and around you but remain nameless. That anonymity makes the story so much more terrifying; people having their lives assaulted for no reason other than a governmental edict.

There’s a great tale of the difference between the haves and the have-nots and just how even the haves feel like have-nots in comparison to successful people.

This film certainly riffs on ideas presented in The Strangers from 2008 which borrowed a bit from the French films Ils aka Them from 2006. The difference is that those films had terrifying elements as there was no reason for the attacks, which is an awful thing to encounter. I think what makes The Purge worse is that citizens are being given permission to commit these assaults, which suggests a corrupt government that no longer works for the people.

The casting is excellent as well. Hawk and Headey make for a great couple, and honestly I love everything Headey does anyway so I may be prejudiced on that point. Kane and Burkholder are pretty good too, even though Kane feels like weebish eye-candy with her school uniform and Burkholder suffers a little of annoying child syndrome. The real heart of the piece though is Wakefield as the unnamed leader of the gang: self-important, self-justified, arrogant and with a mullet that lends legitimacy to the world worst haircut, he steals every scene he is in.

The story is deliberately told and has a great pace and the violence, even though you know it’s coming, is still surprising when it happens. I found the film a blast to watch and I look forward to getting stuck into the sequels which are going to be awesome, right?

Right?

Extras: Only one little pisspoor extra on this disc, which is a making of called ‘Surviving the Night: The Making of The Purge’. Its brief but does explain the origins of the story, but it’s mainly a fluff piece.

Film: 8/10

Extras: 2/10

Rewatchability: 8/10

This Bluray was purchased from JB Hifi