Kill Your Neighbors!!!

Rating: 5/10 (2 February 2014)

It's been a while since I've seen a movie so implausible that I've immediately felt compelled to write a review about it. Such is the case with THE PURGE, a futuristic suspense/horror/thriller by director James DeMonaco. A few years from now, America's economy is on the rise, unemployment is at 1% (an all time low) and crime rate is virtually non existent, except for 12hrs once every year. These 12 hrs (from 7pm until 7 in the morning) are called "the purge", the only time frame when all crime, violence and murder is legal without prosecution from the law. The new laws in America believe that, by giving people this time frame to release their pent up anger it will "purge" them and help them become better citizens by "behaving" the rest of the year accordingly to law. The premise is interesting and even some "fascist" undertones are sprayed throughout the whole movie via TV news snippets. We hear reporters and newscasters debating that it is during "the purge" that people can rid themselves of society's less unfortunate population: the homeless, the poor, the crippled, the terminally ill, etc, but as the movie shows, people can ALSO get rid off their yuppie neighbors and virtually anybody they hold up a grudge against.
The movie deals with the tragedy the befell the Sandins, a well off family living in the rich suburbs of an undisclosed city. They live happily in a secluded area surrounded by security fences and wealthy neighbors. We know that James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) is a salesman for a home security company and that he has sold his security systems to virtually all of his neighbors, making his family among the wealthiest in the neighborhood. Everything seems rosy for the Sandins as they prepare to endure another "purge" by barricading themselves from the rest of the world for 12 hrs while all hell breaks loose outside their house. At 7pm, the Sandins security system goes on, shutting all entrances and windows to the house with heavy steel plates. The family then plans to carry on as usual, even planning to watch a movie later on, but Charlie Sandin, the youngest of the Sandins siblings, sees something odd on one of the security screens and find out it's a black man running away from someone, begging for help and for his life. Feeling compelled to help the runaway, Charlie disarms the security system and lets the man take shelter in the Sandin's residence. As soon as the black man gets in the house, he hides away. It is here that the movie starts imploding with unreasonable acting. Instead of being "mad" at his son, James Sanding treats him very, very calmly. Now, I didn't expect a father to hit his son but at least a good scolding. After all, little Charlie may have put the entire family at a life threatening risk. This night is, after all, THE purge, the night ANYONE can kill anyone. Anyway, we soon find out who the black man was running away from; a young group of wealthy twenty-somethings covered in scary Halloween masks (apparently from the same rich neighborhood as the Sandins). This group find out the black man is hiding at the Sandin's residence and demand he be turned in, or the group of "purgers" will take him AND the Sandins by force and kill them. The action, gory violence and suspense pick up considerably after this but it's during this part when I began to ask myself hundreds of questions. Mary Sandin (Lena Headey), James' yuppie wife, can't believe the violence that has been unleashed in her house and questions his husband's suggested violent methods to save the family. Saving one's family should be a TOP of the TOPS priority is an extreme scenario like this so WHY is Mary so squeamish about the violence? I mean, as we know throughout the movie, this "purge" thing has been going on for many years, it's not a new thing. Yet, Mary thinks it will never get to them or that the "purge" only applies to a certain strata of society.
Later in the movie we find out that the Sandins' neighbors are ALSO after them. Their reasons to kill off the Sandins are so ridiculous I almost turned my bluray player off. We're talking wealthy, educated neighbors being "jealous" of the Sandins just because they have a "prettier" house, built from all the sales of James Sandin's security systems. I mean, is that reason enough to kill a neighbor?!?! You have a newer car than me, so I'm gonna kill you?!?!? Now think of the "purge" itself: if I had a family member killed by an acquaintance during the purge, I would certainly NOT wait a year to get my rocks off. By saying this I'm implying that the "purge" only perpetuates the hate endlessly and one day it could certainly snap. The thinly disguised moral is that hate is a bad thing, as much as the casting of this film. We have a mother and father, all nice looking and blue eyed, and one of their kids cast as if he were adopted, because he certainly DOESN'T look ONE BIT like EITHER of the parents. He looks like some Mexican kid or something. There's a daughter in there too, but at least she looks cute.
All in all, THE PURGE is mildly nice entertainment. Is not an "edge of your seat thriller" and it's not as violent as some reviewers might want you to think it is. The implausibility of some of the situations is what REALLY put me off. Watch it and then go kill your neighbors!