Suspenseful and genuinely scary

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2014)

When I heard that the concept of The Purge was basically 12 hours of legality for all the horrible crimes that plague society I was immediately intrigued by the movie and with leads such as Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey, I was sure the movie would be well acted and entertaining. I have to say I was not disappointed and while I would have also liked to see a movie about the questions this theory raises, I didn't mind the path the movie chose as it played out well as a horror movie.
So the story focuses on one particular family during The Purge. A family that, due to their economic status, can afford to protect themselves from the dangers of the night. But after the young son lets a wounded victim inside their house, chaos will ensure, as blood will be shared and the family's believe in the cleansing that is the Purge will be tested. Having also made Before Midnight last year, it was hard for Hawke to top his performance there, but he pulls off a great turn as the leader of the Sandin family and with a strong performance by Lena Headey and decent secondary performances, the acting is generally acceptable. While the rest of the movie is okay in terms of the crew's functions, it's the whole mood of the film that makes it feel very eerie and darkly mysterious.
At the end of the day, The Purge is a suspenseful and entertaining way to spend 85 minutes. As far as the ethics of it all goes, I guess we'll just have to wait until a more serious filmmaker takes this story into account and makes a thoughtful and engaging movie about it.
Rating: 8/10