Running riot

Rating: 3/10 (9 July 2015)

I have seen the Purge films the wrong way round having seen The Purge: Anarchy first and rather liked the film although it was not entirely original.
This is the original written and directed by James DeMonaco and stars Ethan Hawke in a future America which has reduced employment and violent crime through the annual purge where almost anything goes between evening and dusk for 12 hours. The sequel and this are unconnected although they seem to share a minor character.
Hawke is a home security sales executive, rather handy to protect oneself from Purge night and has made a lot of money from selling the security system to his neighbours as one of them remarks to him jealously.
Hawke lives in an affluent neighbourhood with his wife, sulky teenage daughter and young son. They expect to be safe from the Purge however Hawke is not happy that his daughter is seeing an older boy who sneaks into her bedroom and decides that tonight is the night to have a serious talk with the overprotective father.
However things get manic when his young son lets in to the house a homeless black stranger who is on the run from a mob of rich kids who are hunting this man as their prey for Purge night. Hawke is given an ultimatum by the rich kids to throw the stranger out or else they will attack the family. Problem is the stranger is hiding in the house and Hawke does not know where he is and the rich kids are ready to attack his fortress.
Hawke starred in the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 which DeMonaco wrote. You know this is really the plot of the original Assault on Precinct 13. It's the fortress under siege plot. There are a few twists here and there and lot of its incredulous. The sulky daughter is a dimwit if she thinks the boyfriend just wants to talk to the dad on Purge night. It's never made clear why the boy was let loose on this night of all nights on his own with the security controls.
The family should also had taken more notice of his neighbours and realised they are not exactly the most popular people in the area. In fact the house did not seem to be very secure at all given how the boyfriend could casually sneak in to the daughter's bedroom.
Still DeMonaco retooled the film for its sequel which made for a better film, it also gave it more social commentary than this one.