In an alternate version of America, the government allows a 12-hour period each year called The Purge in which any and all criminal activity, including murder, becomes legal. The police can’t be called and hospitals won’t even help people.
Hey, this is cool! As I lamented upon watching the trailer for You’re Next, the home invasion sub-genre of horror hasn’t brought anything new to the table for a long time, and since they’ve never been my favourite kinds of movies I rarely get excited for them. They all tend to follow the same routine: a group of friends goes to a remote place where they’re tormenting by some mask-wearing strangers (they even called one of these movies The Strangers). The fear that these movies are supposed to generate stems out of long, tense situations and gratuitous scenes of torture and there’s little more to the sub-genre beyond that. There are exceptions of course, like Funny Games, but the point is that I know the routine.
Not so with The Purge, a home invasion movie with a dystopic, original science fiction bent. Here’s a premise with a dark, disturbing commentary on humanity mixed into it, but hidden behind intrigue, mystery, and, yes, gratuitous violence. Finally something I can get behind! Can you survive the night?
The Purge comes out May 31, 2013.