Review: The Purge
Our buddy, and long time podcast supporter, Darren Goodfellow sent us this early look at THE PURGE.
A family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized.
In the near future, America has been overrun with crime and it’s prisons have reached breaking point. Realizing that the status quo cannot continue, the government initiates The Purge, an annual twelve-hour period where all crime is legalized and no law enforcement services will be provided. Anything – up to and including murder – goes. Miraculously, The Purge, is successful and the citizenry quickly embraces it, leading to a picture perfect society for 364 days of the year.
As set ups go, you have to admit, ‘The Purge’ has a strong one. Directed by James DeMonaco (writer and co-producer of the ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ remake) and starring Ethan Hawke, ‘The Purge’ is a dystopian home invasion film that sadly squanders it’s interesting set up in lieu of tired jump scares, scary* masks and routine death scenes.
Hawke stars as James Sandin, a security systems specialist who has used The Purge to become very wealthy, selling state of the art home security to those who wish to sit out The Purge without getting all murdery or being all murdered. This is the plan for Hawke’s family too; one which goes awry when his teenage daughter (Adelaide Kane) has a crisis of conscience and allows a stranger into their home**, a stranger who is being hunted by a gang of masked killers. When the gang track him to the Sandin house they offer the family a choice; give up the stranger or be killed themselves when the gang gain entry.
What follows is a very quick (85 minute runtime!) home invasion horror film where the barest of lip service is paid to the big ideas that the film has set up. Do you doubt for a second that the family refuse to give up the man? Of course you don’t. Do you doubt for a second that the gang gains entry to the house? Of course you don’t. You know all this going in; what you have to hope for is that the film will present it all in an entertaining manner. Unfortunately, ‘The Purge’ does not.
Hawke is, as always, a solid lead and his natural – and I genuinely don’t want to cause the man any offence – air of being weasley lends itself well to the role of a man who profits from other’s death and fear. Lena Heady is a good but if I had one gripe it would be that she wasn’t give enough to do. Heady has proven time and again that she is one of the best badass actresses working today (if you aren’t watching ‘Game Of Thrones’ then stop reading this, idiot and go see her in that, she’s AMAZING – oh, also ‘Dredd’, chump) and going in I thought she’d be provided with at least one great, badass moment but apart from some so-so fisticuffs and a lot of gunplay, her character is a bit of a limp noodle. The kids are both fine too, never overselling the situation, which I often find is the downfall of child actors.
Kudos also has to go to Cinematographer Jacques Jouffret, who managed to make the Sandin house look like a truly awful place to live in, never mind be trapped in. It was also nice to see a horror film that did not have every frame saturated in darkness simply to wring “where will the baddie jump from next?” tension out of a scene where a character walks slowly down a hallway.
The Bad?
The worst thing in this film – apart from any real scares or tension of course – is Rhys Wakefield as the leader of the gang that invades the Sandin house. I don’t know what film this guy thought he was acting in but he is so over the top, so pantomime that he verges on the comedic. Maybe it’s because I’m from Scotland that his whole “Polite Psychopath” didn’t fly, I don’t know. Maybe he’ll be better received in the U.S or abroad but at my screening there were flat out giggles when he was on-screen and trust me, people weren’t laughing with him. I can’t imagine what Hawke and the rest were thinking when he launched into this routine in front of them.
It’s not all his fault of course, he’s only an actor after all. So blame has to lie with Screenwriter and Director, James DeMonaco, who is very much from the “Tell, don’t Show” school of filmmaking. In case you are dead or dim, he gives Wakefield an especially on-the-nose speech about “killing Have-nots, rather than the Haves”, so that the films message on the effects of social inequality doesn’t pass you by.
Also, consider that it’s stated over and over that literally all crimes are legalised I expected a lot more in the gore/kills department. There was an opportunity here to go over the top and at least redeem some horror cred from the SFX or makeup work but it never materialised with most of the kills being quite tame.
The Ugly?
Hawke’s son is presented as the usual Hollywood-misunderstood-tech-
Overall, ‘The Purge’ is not a bad film but it’s far from a good one. As a horror film it fails to deliver and as a warped “What if?” film, it fails to capitalize on its set up.
*In an age where you can have a villain wear a woman’s face turned inside out as a mask (Hello, American Horror Story: Asylum!) on TV, you really need to up the game on your “scary” masks in horror films. These guys look like they’ve picked up their masks in the craft aisle of Costco.
**Hey Ethan Hawke, Security Specialist! I don’t know why you’ve installed a GIANT RED ‘DEACTIVATE SECURITY’ button in your house but maybe, just maybe consider turning it off on the ONE NIGHT A YEAR when you don’t want stabby people getting in your house. Just a thought.
Grade: C-