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#170 - The Purge
James DeMonaco, 2013
In a futuristic America where all crimes are temporarily legalised once a year, a wealthy family is targeted by a group of masked murderers.
I'll admit that The Purge at least has an intriguing enough (if inherently absurd) B-movie premise that made me want to watch the original simply to get some background on the sequels that seem to be making better use of the scenario's potential. Of course, The Purge itself doesn't really manage to be a good film in its own right as it proceeds to create a rather flat (but thankfully lean) home-invasion thriller where the premise only creates one or two unique complications to distinguish itself. Those complications do offer the film a modicum of personality as its core dilemma - the young son of a rich family disobeying his parents by letting a homeless stranger into their high-security home, thus drawing the attention of a gang of rich killers looking to murder the poor - prompts some degree of classist commentary that is fairly potent but not strong enough to override the film's underwhelming execution that is a bit too dependent on familiar horror tropes for its own good.
James DeMonaco, 2013
In a futuristic America where all crimes are temporarily legalised once a year, a wealthy family is targeted by a group of masked murderers.
I'll admit that The Purge at least has an intriguing enough (if inherently absurd) B-movie premise that made me want to watch the original simply to get some background on the sequels that seem to be making better use of the scenario's potential. Of course, The Purge itself doesn't really manage to be a good film in its own right as it proceeds to create a rather flat (but thankfully lean) home-invasion thriller where the premise only creates one or two unique complications to distinguish itself. Those complications do offer the film a modicum of personality as its core dilemma - the young son of a rich family disobeying his parents by letting a homeless stranger into their high-security home, thus drawing the attention of a gang of rich killers looking to murder the poor - prompts some degree of classist commentary that is fairly potent but not strong enough to override the film's underwhelming execution that is a bit too dependent on familiar horror tropes for its own good.