Customer Reviews

The Purge [DVD] [2013]

The Purge is set in the near-future (2022) in the U.S. - all crime is legal for one night a year in a release deemed necessary by the New Founding Fathers to vent all the pent-up rage and anger that we as humans amass. The Purge is working, unemployment is at 1% and there is barely a crime recorded outside of the Purge night. The Sandins are a successful family in plush suburbia, although it is clear they are the envy of the neighbourhood - head-of-household James (Ethan Hawke - Training Day) makes his money selling the high-end security systems to rich folk looking to protect their homes on the night of the Purge. However, this Purge, his security will be tested to the absolute...

Spoilers probably follow; so stop reading here if you don't want to know. Firstly, this is such a great concept, they could have gone for a much larger macro-picture of the society that the Purge creates; the rich having humility for fear of invoking their neighbour's envy, bosses being nicer to employees and people being all-around fairer to each other for fear of the great karmic correction that can come about from one night without laws. This was what got me to see this film, this premise in itself is fascinating. I would love to see a film about the larger and longer-term consequences of the basis of the Purge. Alas - such cerebral societal exploration was not to be in this production.

Instead, we have a poorly-explained narrative involving a homeless man getting into the Sandin's house and the kids actively undermining the Father and Mother to further the plot. Then some mask-clad homicidal prep-school kids headed by the creepy Rhys Wakefield (Sanctum) show up and declare they want the man hiding in the house - for no other reason than to exercise their right to purge - fair enough - but they then proceed to waste the next few hours storming the bastion that is the Sandin residence to kill one homeless man - despite there probably being a myriad of other options to do in these precious few hours. At first I was certain there must be a reason why they hungered after this one specific homeless guy (espionage or some other such motive) but no, they just REALLY wanted to kill THAT one guy. There is an inordinate amount of character development spent on the kids remote controlled toy that goes literally nowhere, despite the alluring possibility of a Home Alone-style trap set-up etc.

When it all plays out, it's somewhere between a [bad] home invasion movie like Trespass which also had some inclusion of inter-class friction - the haves and the have-nots - and a jumpy slasher movie. The cohorts of the excellent Rhys Wakefield (star of the show here) all wear the creepy smiling mask and sharpened machetes for the duration - but during their assault they prefer jumping out at people and at one point even saying "Boo" rather than actually getting on with finding the reason they are even at the house in the first place. The Purge also has more moments where A is pointing a gun at B and then is shot by an off-screen/unseen C just in the nick of time than any other film in history. This set-up must happen literally 10 times in the film, so much so it actually seems to be an instant death sentence for any character pointing a gun at another...

Whilst it's not the worst film out there by a long shot - and even out-performing some other big name films at the box office at the time of writing - the Purge will hold a spot in my memory not for what it was but for what it could have been.

The Purge is an evening where there are no laws and people run amok killing each other, sort of like Detroit on Halloween on steroids. The theme is stated in the beginning during a radio call in program, "The poor can't protect themselves, they are the victims." Indeed that was part of the theme. The film concentrates on one family of some wealth. They lock themselves in their home with steel windows and doors. Unfortunately the outside world has a way of making its way indoors as the film becomes a home break-in movie with a theme, and study in individual character mirroring us as a society. Lena Headey plays "the mom." She represents compassion, the "It is not about who they are, it is about who we are." The film has some dark comedic moments, sudden plot twists, and things that go bump in the night.

Worth a view for those who like a film with tense scenes.

Parental Guide: F-bomb, no sex or nudity.

What an intriguing idea this is, if for one night in every year you could commit any crime and get away with it - what would you do? It sounds unthinkable to me, but that's exactly what the US government are allowing people to do, leaving plenty of potential for a high drama movie.

Set in near future America (2022), the crime and unemployment levels are down to an all time low. The economy is in fantastic shape, and as news commentators constantly proclaim, it's a ''nation reborn''. This is largely due to the annual 'Purge', allowing all criminal activity, including murder to be legal for 12 straight hours. The event is a way of getting out any frustration and anger that people harbor inside of them, and where the poor and those unable to defend themselves end up dead.

One family, the rich and privileged Sandings decide to take no part in it, and lock themselves into their comfortable, seemingly secure home, preparing themselves for any mayhem that is likely to come. However, they are unaware that the daughter's older boyfriend is also with them in the house, the father (played by Ethan Hawke) does not approve of the relationship, but the boy finally decides to do something about that.

But that's not all, their youngest son spots a man, hunted by a gang of mask wearing teenagers, outside begging for help and shelter. He lets him in, but the youths quickly form outside their door, and threaten to kill them if they don't return their 'victim' to them. A dilemma is then formed, should they lead the man into the hands of those wanting to murder him, or should they refuse and potentially risk all of their lives if they don't?

The whole idea is excellent, and the film is actually very good, there are more than enough moments of tension and dark comedy spots to keep you interested and entertained, as well as some nice performances from an established cast of actors. It did have the potential to be more original maybe given the unique circumstances, but I thought that 'The Purge' was a thoroughly decent thriller, and certainly better than a lot of the dross out there at the moment.

You know, I can't bring myself to write a full and expansive review for this film. With mainstream horror it actually doesn't matter what you put down in type on internet forums, your rating is all that matters and will be equally reviled or lauded as being right or wrong!

Of course there's a hint of sarcasm in what I write, not that I'm trying to provoke a response either way, it's just that with something like The Purge, it's guaranteed to be divisive.

As it happens I enjoyed the film but found it utterly frustrating, a waste of a smoking hot premise that resorts to home invasion clichés as dumb characters do dumb things.

The lead villain shows great promise but is sadly under used, and the snarky asides at work in the narrative (you know, preoccupation with violence, America is a bad gun loving place etc) get lost in the formulaic broth.

Still, action is fun, the violence imposing, and cast perform adequately in lieu of the material. But horror lovers should approach with caution... 6/10

Thought this would be very scary but was just a bit creepy m disappointing , OK to watch once but would rather have rented then brought it !!

Enjoyed it.

Good movie and the idea of one day every year where you can do whatever crime you want is

scary and new that it should have 4 stars alone for that crazy insane idea. And the story and the acting is good in this movie

and i would recommend it to anyone who likes a good scary movie.

A tense and thrilling film that compels you to the end. The announcement of a sequel certainly denotes the success of this film.

I found this movie to be rather enjoyable with an interesting story, the idea is crazy of course and could never possibly happen but its certainly one of those films where you sit a watch and think what would I be doing in this situation? so you constantly question it which I think is great, the movie is a little absurd in certain ways and you can probably predict what's going to happen, well until the end at least there is a nice little twist added that throws you off for a bit, the cast is good, there is some good violent action once everything kicks off in the house, overall its really not a bad movie, lots fun to be had here if you love a good suspenseful thriller, interesting concept, could be many interesting sequels here!
Blu-ray quality is pretty decent bit lacking on features though!!

Not the scariest film I've seen admittedly but a good gory horror where your unsure whats going to happen next, a good plot and story line that does keep you hooked! Ending however is a bit of a let down as its not quite what you may expect but overall good film.