The Purge

Rating: 5/10 (31 May 2016)

I had seen clips or trailers for this dark looking film, and then I heard a little bit about the concept, it certainly sounded like something I could like, and I'd also seen the creepy poster a few times, so there was nothing stopping me trying it. Basically in the late 2010s came economic collapse, so "The New Founding Fathers of America" established a new totalitarian government and a police state, in 2017, the 28th amendment of the U.S Constitution is ratified, establishing one night a year, March 21 to 22, from 7pm to 7am, called "The Purge", in which all crime, including murder, is legal, and all police, fire, and medical emergency services are unavailable for 12 hours. The only rules of the Purge are that high level government officials are not to be disturbed, and high grade weapons such as explosives, grenades, bazookas, rocket launchers and so on are forbidden, those who violate these rules will be publicly executed by hanging, the Purge has resulted in crime and unemployment rates plummeting and a strong economy, it is meant for catharsis, but in reality it is a method of artificial population control, as unemployed poor people are usually the main targets. In 2022, in an affluent Los Angeles suburb, top security systems salesman James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) lives with his wife Mary (Game of Thrones' Lena Headey) and two children, Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and Charlie (Max Burkholder), they are preparing to wait out Purge Night. Zoey's boyfriend Henry (Tony Oller) managed to sneak into the house before the security system was engaged, he plans to confront her father about their relationship, meanwhile Charlie is watching the security monitors, he sees a wounded man calling for help, he temporarily disables the system to allow the bloody stranger (Edwin Hodge). James races to reactivate the system, he holds the man at gunpoint, then Henry enters to pull a gun on James, he fires at James and misses, James fires back, mortally wounds and eventually kills Henry, during this chaos the man disappears and hides, James takes Mary and Charlie back to the security control room. As James reprimands Charlie for letting the stranger into the house, they view on the surveillance cameras a group of masked young adults armed with guns, axes and hammers approaching the house. The leader, a polite stranger (Rhys Wakefield), removes his mask and demands they let out the homeless man, or they will "release the beast", meaning they will break in and kill them, James admits to Mary that the security system is only supposed to discourage potential invaders and cannot protect them against heavy force. The gang cuts the power to the house, the man reappears and attempts to take Mary hostage, but James and Charlie subdue him, the family know they are no better than the gang waiting outside, they decide not to turn over the man, but instead to fight back. Their deadline passes, the gang uses a truck to rip the metal plating off the front door and enter the house, James kills four of the men, before the leader stabs him to death, Charlie sees on the surveillance cameras their neighbours leaving their homes to fatally shooting gang members, just as the gang is about to kill Mary, several of the neighbours arrive and kill most of the gang, the leader is shot dead by Zoey. Mary thanks the neighbours for their support, but they reveal that they are angry at the Sandins for their their wealth acquired by the money they paid the Sandins with for various security systems, they tie Mary, Charlie and Zoey up with duct tape and plan to kill them. As the neighbours make final preparations for the murder, the homeless man from earlier reappears and shoots dead one the neighbours, he holds another neighbour Grace Ferrin (Arija Bareikis) hostage, he forces the neighbours to free the Sandins, he asks for Mary's call to kill the neighbours, she decides to let them live, instructing them there will no be further killing for the remainder of the night. As dawn breaks and the end of Purge is minutes away, Grace attempts to grab a shotgun, but Mary pulls it away from her, she uses the stock of the gun to hit Grace in the nose, she breaks her nose throwing her face down into the glass table, Mary strictly reminds her there will be no more killing in the house for the remaining Purge. After some time, sirens are heard, announcing the end of the annual Purge, the neighbours leave to return to their homes, and the homeless man leaves, Mary, Zoey and Charlie wait and watch the emergency services retrieve the dead, a news broadcast states that this year's Purge is the most successful to date. Also starring David Basila as George, Nathan Clarkson as Freak, Tisha French as Mrs. Halverson, Chris Mulkey as Mr. Halverson and Dana Bunch as Mr. Ferrin. The performances are fine, and writer/director James DeMonaco is used to these kinds of films, having done The Negotiator and Assault on Precinct 13, political and ethical questions come into play, is is a thriller with a simple survival of the fittest premise, the threat and a little blood is creepy, it is not that scary, but it is an interesting enough social science- fiction action horror film. Worth watching!